Nightline Interiew: Jessica Alba Leads Mommy War on Synthetic Chemicals

Jessica Alba, famous for her roles in “Dark Angel,” “Sin City” and the “Fantastic Four,” is taking on her most serious role yet warning mothers about what she said are the dangers of toxic chemicals in many everyday products.

The 32-year-old actress and mother of two became worried about this issue when she was pregnant with her first child and had an allergic reaction to a brand of baby laundry detergent.

I was like … I’m an adult, and if I’m having an allergic reaction, like who knows what’s going to happen with my baby,” Alba said. “So I did some research, and I found that there are a lot of toxic chemicals in everyday products, and I was more horrified to find that there are more toxic chemicals in baby products.

Alba’s concerns have propelled her to become the public face of a movement of people trying to avoid synthetic chemicals. It started for Alba when she met Christopher Gavigan, the author of “Healthy Child, Healthy World,” a guidebook on living a healthier lifestyle.

I asked … what products do I buy, and he was like, ‘Well, this company does that one thing and this company does that one thing,’ and I was like, ‘Gosh, why isn’t there a company that does everything. This is so stressful,'” Alba said.

The duo teamed up to help create the Honest Company, a mail-order business that started out by selling 17 products made of ingredients they claim are safe and tested, unlike conventional products.

“We don’t have a regulatory system in place here in the United States at least that allows for and or monitors and or requires reporting on what’s inside,” Gavigan said. “So the raw materials and the ingredients … they don’t have to report those. They don’t have to prove they are safe before they hit the marketplace.”