A note to readers: We have published a post with new information about this issue. Make sure to read it after you read this one!

Last week we reported on skin lesions being suffered by infants wearing Carter's tagless clothing, and have since received dozens of similar reports from readers, many of them intensely frustrated because their pediatricians declared the issue simple eczema and prescribed medication without examining potential underlying problems. Since that time we have been in frequent communication with Janell Cleveland, Carter's Senior Director of Consumer Affairs, throughout the week regarding the issue some consumers are having with the brand's tagless infant clothing, a story we first reported on last week. So far, we have received responses to some of our questions, a statement from the company, and the promise that they will work to provide us with additional information.

What we know

According to Cleveland, Carter's labels do not contain formaldehyde, but might contain phthalates, which are common in tagless apparel applications. Their labels undergo frequent redesigns and their Fall 2007 line had a full-screen label that used an estimated 300% of the plastisol ink used in previous or subsequent collections, which may account for the skin reactions, as the formulation of their tags has not changed in that time. The company is working to get us information for publication regarding the presence of phthalates in these labels and, if present, which phthalates are being used. The company is accepting clothing for refund and requests reports be directed to them as they further investigate the problem.

Right now their working hypothesis is that it is the Fall '07 line that is the problem, so reports of injuries relating to other seasons, especially later ones - Spring '08 and Fall '08 - would be tremendously helpful to them. We'd appreciate receiving these reports directly as well at editors (at) zrecs (dot) com.

A statement from Carter's

At our request, Carter's drafted the following official statement for publication:

Carter’s is aware of several reports from consumers whose children have experienced skin reactions while wearing apparel products containing heat-transferred, or "tagless" labels. Some of these products have been identified as Carter's products. We want to assure our customers that we take this matter seriously and are doing everything we can to ensure their continued confidence in and satisfaction with our products.

Carter's has used different types of heat transferred labels for many years on hundreds of millions of products. Our experience with these labels is that they are safe and that any skin reaction is extremely rare. Regardless, we take our quality control very seriously and carefully review all consumer concerns. Prior to being used in our products, these labels passed third-party testing for all applicable safety standards.

Since this issue came to our attention, we have contacted the label manufacturer to further review the manufacturing process, and we are conducting further testing and have engaged experts to determine the source of the skin reactions, which we currently believe to be a rare allergic reaction. Because of design trends, the features and appearance of our labels change frequently. In fact, before receiving any of the recent complaints, these labels underwent further design and feature changes for our new product season.

Your feedback and comments are important to us. We encourage you to contact us at 1-888-782-9548 with any questions or concerns you may have with any Carter’s products.

What you should do

• If your child gets a rash or lesion, call Carter's at 888-782-9548. Then call the CPSC to report the problem at their hotline number: 800-638-2772. Then email us photos and some information so that we can reference it when dealing with Carter's and the CPSC and reporting accurately on this issue.


• If you're using Carter's tagless infant clothing, we recommend you stop using it if a reaction occurs or if you are using the Fall 2007 line, even if your child has not had a reaction. This is our personal opinion.

What we're still trying to learn

We are looking forward to receiving and sharing additional information from Carter's, particularly what is in their plastisol labels. We are investigating through additional channels as well. We're also trying to compile information on other brands that might be causing similar reactions, so would appreciate any reports and photographs - send them to editors (at) zrecs (dot) com.

Note: Now check out our more recent post for the latest information on this issue.