Dear Bebebalm team,
I hope that you are well. I just came across something on the internet that was a little worrying and I was hoping that you could comment. I was looking up Neem oil and its uses found the following note on Drugs.com:
Toxicology
The seeds of neem are poisonous in large doses. Severe poisoning in infants from neem oil have been reported.
http://www.drugs.com/npp/neem.html
I know that you have Neem oil in Bebebugs. Should we be concerned?
Thanks!
Best,
Michelle
Dear Michelle,
Thanks for emailing us about your concern. There is no concern about using Bebebugs on the skin. You also don't need to worry about an occasional lick on hands moisturized with Bebebugs. Rest assured, we did our research on the ingredients and how they interact, since we formulated this for our own baby.
Bebebugs may be used as an external moisturizer by babies 3 months old and up, kids, adults, pregnant & breastfeeding moms. It is non-toxic.
In a nutshell, when studies state "neem oil treatments" or "avoid use", they generally refer to internal use using massive amounts of pure concentrated neem oil. The "poisonous in large doses" refer to ingesting concentrated neem oil INTERNALLY in large doses, everyday, over extended periods of time. (Actually, everything in very large doses is toxic, including water or vitamin C).
The EXTERNAL use of diluted neem oil is SAFE. To add, we use a very very very diluted form of neem. We use Bebebugs on both our babies, and I used it too throughout pregnancy with my 2nd baby and while breastfeeding.
Here's are some links you may want to read:
"Neem oil is safe to use externally"
"It is generally safe to ingest small amounts of neem oil.... ", "The study used huge amounts of neem oil fed to kids..." (To put that in perspective, you'd have to eat like 200 sticks of Bebebugs everyday to get that amount)
"Pure Neem Oil taken by mouth is likely unsafe"
I hope this puts your worries to rest. If you've got more questions, just holler :-)
Cheers,
Carol