Personal Care Toxins

The beauty industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that, until now, has had little other than ‘cruelty to animals’ to worry about as a minor obstacle to their marketing campaigns. The safety of beauty products has largely been taken for granted – who would wittingly poison their customers?  The Environmental Working Group notes that on average, adults apply 126 unique ingredients on their skin daily and nearly 90% of personal care product ingredients have not been evaluated for safety by any publicly accountable institution.

The low-down on what you put on your face and body:

• many beauty products are not well regulated • many use varying mixtures of synthetically produced chemicals • many of these synthetic chemicals have not been approved by regulation authorities, but find their way into products and onto shelves through loopholes in regulations • as much as a third of personal care products contain at least 1 chemical linked to cancer • mineral oil and petroleum are the basic ingredients in many cosmetic products – these have their origins in fossil fuels

Organic products should be certified, but if they are not, another good way to assess their validity is to look out for a list of natural ingredients. True organic personal care products do not contain preservatives – so there should be absolutely no sign of methyl or propylparabens.

Top 4 chemicals to avoid and why:
Sodium laureth sulphate - banned in Europe and Central America• It’s used because it makes things foam

• It’s found in toothpaste, shampoo, body and shower gels etc • It’s a suspected carcinogen linked to kidney and liver damage, nervous system disruption, eczema and dermatitis

Parabens (methyl, propyl, butyl & ethyl) – banned in Japan and Sweden and under review in the UK

• It’s used as a preservative or germicide • It’s found in conditioners, hair gels, nail creams, foundations, mascara, facial masks, skin creams, deodorants, sunscreen and hair colouring • It’s a hormone disrupter – mimics natural estrogens that lead to cancer; linked to breast cancer, skin rashes

Formaldehyde family Diazolidinyl urea, 3-diol Imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM Hydantoin, Quaternium-15, Nitorpropane-1, Formalin, Methanal, Methyl aldehyde, Methylene oxide etc. banned in Europe

• It’s used because it’s a disinfectant, fungicide, germicide, defoamer and preservative • It’s found in shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, liquid hand wash, skin lotions, bubble bath, hair care products, antiperspirants, nail polishes, talcs, mouthwash etc • It can cause allergic reactions, dermatitis, headaches; it irritates mucous membranes, is linked to joint and chest pain, fatigue, dizziness and immune dysfunction.

Mineral oil, Petroleum,Petrolatum

•Potentially contaminated with impurities linked to cancer or other significant health problems
•Potential breast cancer risks potential breast carcinogen
•This chemical is used in these types of products:
Lip Balm/Treatment, Moisturizer, Eye Drops/Artificial Tears, Pain/Wound Treatment, Diaper Cream, Anti-itch/rash Cream, Sunscreen/Tanning Oil (naturalskincareauthority.com)

 

More Cosmetic Toxins

1.	Mercury	Known human carcinogen.
2.	Lead Acetate	Known human carcinogen.
3.	Formaldehyde	Known human carcinogen
4.	Toluene	Reproductive/developmental toxin
5.	Petroleum Distillates	Possible human carcinogen
6.	Ethylacrylate	Possible human carcinogen
7.	Coal Tar	Known human carcinogen
8.	Dibutyl Phthalate	Reproductive/developmental toxin
9.	Potassium Dichromate	Possible human carcinogen
10.	2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol	Forms carcinogens if mixed with nitrosating agents