21 Sep Toxins in Cosmetics
Did you know that on average, American women uses 12 personal care products a day and men average 6 products daily? Overall, an adult is likely to be exposed to 126 unique chemical ingredients in personal care products alone every single day. That means that throughout a year (365 days) we are exposed to almost 46,000 unique chemical ingredients just from personal care!
That is outrages statistics, considering that we can add to it other chemicals from food, air, water and medications.
Skin is one of the most important organs and average adult carries 8 pounds of it or 22 sq.foot. Skin is our first line of defense against foreign invaders and environmental factors. It is also permits substances like water and oxygen to pass through. You don’t have to be a biology professor to understand, how important to avoid “toxins” from impure cosmetic products.
Here is a list of ‘topical junk food’ that you will find in the many of the products you may have at home.
Parabens are used as preservative in cosmetics. This can actually have hormone-disrupting effects.
Silicones are used to make lotions ‘silky smooth’. These can block the skin’s ability to absorb, excrete, regulate, and breath. A popular silicon Dimethicone acts like a saran wrap over your face and suffocates your skin. I actually found Dimethicone in 5 of my products at home.
Sulfates are what makes our skin care products and cleansers foam and bubble so we really feel like we are getting a good cleanse.Actually, sulfates are not necessary make your skin cleaner, but they are carcinogenic.
DEA (diethanolamine) and TEA (Triethanolamine ) are also foaming agents, but both are carcinogenic and hormone disruptors.
Fragrances which are usually synthetic and added to almost everything nowadays disrupt hormones as well, so say good buy to smelling like a tangerine heaven, I’ll take my health over PCOS, infertility or diabetes.
Artificial colors which are also added to almost everything is another carcinogenic.A re you aware that MANY times companies artificially bleach their products to get that off-white, cream color that we have come so accustomed to seeing? They believe that this is what consumers want, so they add carcinogens into our product to achieve it.
And lastly our products typically contain Diazolidinyl, a preservative that is closely related to formaldehyde (kind of creepy, huh?). Again, this is another carcinogen.
Triclosan – one of the phthalates – is present in many antibacterial soaps and gels is strongly linked to behavioral disorders in children and is also carcinogenic.
Cosmetics are the least regulated products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). So, it become your own responsibility to protect yourself, your families and children from toxic exposure through cosmetics and personal care products.
In June of 2010 the European Union bans more than 1,400 chemicals from personal care products while the US only banned only 10 ingredients. http://environmentaldefence.ca/reports/toxic-nation-guide-cosmetics-laws-canada-vs-european-union
What ingredients does Europe ban that the US allows? http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/sectors/cosmetics/files/pdf/banned_cmr_en.pdf
I challenge you to go home and look at your products and see how many you find that contain ingredients currently BANNED in Europe.
Stop by our office today and get a free wallet size card with a list of chemicals to avoid in your cosmetic products.
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