Consider the amount of products you use on your body each day. According to a report by the Environmental Working Group, the average adult uses 9 personal care products a day, containing a total of 126 chemical ingredients! Whew! And if that doesn’t seem mind boggling, consider this. According to the report, only 11% have been tested for safety!
So, let’s start with some of the worst offender.
Parabens: These are a group of low cost synthetically produced chemicals widely used as preservatives in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. They can typically be found in moisturisers, shampoos, conditioners, shaving gels, soaps, personal lubricants and toothpaste to name a few. They are also used as food additives. All types of parabens have been found to be estrogenic, meaning they mimic female hormones. They are becoming controversial, and some studies have linked them inconclusively to breast tumors.
Phthalates: Most phthalates are used to make vinyl flexible, which is in turn used in a variety of ways, including in hospitals and home products. However, despite being controversial, phthalates have also been used in the personal care department, especially in producing nail polish, and you will often find it tucked away under the ingredient, fragrance.
Petrolatum: Petrolatum is found in 1 out of every 14 products on the market, including in lipsticks and baby lotions and oils. FDA imposes certain percentage restrictions on the use of petrolatum in food, and requires that it meet impurity restrictions. You can often find petrolatum under ‘skin protection’ on labels, and this indicates that it has been refined and meets the FDA requirements. But in most cases, the consumer has no way of knowing this.
Petrolatum comes from non-renewable crude oil and is not breathable. You decide if you want something like that on your skin!
Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate (SLS): SLS is a proven skin irritant, and while laureth is less irritating that lauryl, it can still cause dryness. It’s been found not to cause cancer, but it still best avoided.
Talc: Talc is a powder found in everything, from eye shadow to baby powder. Any talc that’s contaminated with asbestos fibres is recognized as being carcinogenic.
Triclosan: Triclosan is an antibacterial chemical used in just about any personal and home care product. All antibacterial wipes and cleaners that kill 99.9% germs contain triclosan. But is that really necessary? Using the vast amount of antibacterial products that we do, does in fact lower our bodies’ resistance to germs, not to mention wrecking havoc on the environment. Triclosan can in fact turn into carcinogenic dioxins when exposed to sunlight in water, and the UK is one of the first to ban it being sold in local supermarkets.
Bottom line, read all labels before you purchase a product. Make sure that they are FDA approved. And mostly, use common sense. Do you really need special antibacterial soap, when regular soap and water works just as well?
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