Do you read the ingredient list before selecting a cosmetic or personal care product or do you purchase by familiarity, price, smell, or the newest release?
How many of your personal care products are hazardous and you didn't realize it? Just because it is sold in the store doesn't make it safe.
Hormone Disruption: In fact personal care products, such as lotions, make-up, body wash, spray tans, hair removal creams, nail polish, and deodorants, to list a few, can negatively affect the hormone system, and have been linked to reproductive and developmental problems.
Check your products and do they include any of these harmful ingredients?
BHA and BHT
Coaltar dyes: p-phenylenediamine and colours listed as “CI” followed by a five-digit number
DEA-relatedvingredients
Dibutyl phthalate
Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives
Parabens
Parfum (a.k.a. fragrance)
PEG compounds
Petrolatum
Siloxanes
Sodium laureth sulfate
Triclosan
The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees cosmetics products in the United States, has banned about a dozen ingredients for safety reasons. Unfortunately these banned ingredients can still be found/tested in water, umbilical cords of babies, and products.
Japan follows the United States with the lowest number of banned ingredients in personal care. Canada, Japan and Europe have banned hundreds to thousands more ingredients do to their health concerns. Unfortunately, many times safety here in the United States is often reactive rather than proactive.
Cosmetic ingredients/material prohibited/restricted by FDA, and unfortunately, they do not include the ‘Dirty Dozen’: https://www.cir-safety.org/sites/default/files/prohibitedrestrictedbyFDA%2011-30-2011.pdf
Did you know that there are over 2,500 ingredients used in personal care and beauty products on the world market that cause cellular damage or can be harmful to the skin, health, and the environment.
'Over the last 70 years, more than 80,000 chemicals have been released into the environment through human activity. Because of inadequate health and safety laws, more than 85% of these chemicals have never been assessed for possible effects on human health.' https://prhe.ucsf.edu/sites/g/files/tkssra341/f/Hormone%20Disruptors.pdf
Since 2009, 595 cosmetics manufacturers have reported using 88 chemicals, in more than 73,000 products, that have been linked to cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.[1]
Many of these chemicals should be banned from cosmetics, as proposed in California Assembly Bill 2762, the Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act. Among the toxic chemicals[2] that should be banned are:
Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.
Paraformaldehyde, a type of formaldehyde.
Methylene glycol, a type of formaldehyde.
Quaternium 15, which releases formaldehyde.
Mercury, which can damage the kidneys and nervous system.
Dibutyl and diethylhexyl phthalates, which disrupt hormones and damage the reproductive system.
Isobutyl and isopropyl parabens, which disrupt hormones and harm the reproductive system.
The long-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS, which have been linked to cancer.
M- and o-phenylenediamine, used in hair dyes, which irritate and sensitize the skin, damage DNA and can cause cancer.
Environmental Working Group: Many of these chemicals are rarely used in personal care products and will be easy to replace. For example, in Skin Deep®, EWG’s database of cosmetics and other personal care products, EWG found isobutylparaben and isopropylparaben in just 96 and 12 products, respectively, offered for sale since January 2017. A 2018 analysis by EWG found fewer than 200 products contained one of 13 PFAS chemicals.[6]
Some chemicals used in personal care products pose risks at very low doses[22] and can interfere with the hormone system.[23] Research shows that “endocrine disrupting” chemicals such as parabens and phthalates may pose the greatest risk during prenatal and early postnatal development, when organ and neural systems form.[24] Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to endocrine diseases and some types of cancer.[25] For example, endocrine disruptors are known to affect how women’s bodies use estrogen and thus have been linked to breast cancer.[26] Research has also shown that endocrine disruptors can harm the immune system – an effect that makes us more susceptible to disease and viruses.
The FDA continues to find cosmetics contaminated with bacteria, including body wash, face powders, shadows and lotions, or containing banned colors chemicals, including shampoos, soaps, cleaners and temporary tattoos.[29]
Under the current law, the FDA has little authority to review chemicals in cosmetics and other personal care products. Personal care products companies do not have to register with the FDA, provide the FDA with ingredient statements, adopt Good Manufacturing Practices, or GMPs, report adverse events to the FDA, or provide the FDA with access to safety records.
Long-Term Impact: Harvard Medical School Associate Professor of Medicine Kathryn M. Rexrode states that cosmetics are “not tested for long term safety”. That means that in many cases with our cosmetics, we may not understand the risk we’re taking with our health.
As the FDA regulates ingredients and products in cosmetics, they’re often part of short-term studies more focused on observing an immediate result. Repeated exposure over a drawn-out period of time is hardly ever part of the study.
This means that regular use of products with inadequate regulation and cancer-causing ingredients can truly lead to lasting issues and severe diagnoses. Those can include: Cardiovascular challenges, Respiratory issues, Fertility problems, and most significantly Cancer.
Does a high price guarantee clean products that are clear from the ‘Dirty Dozen’, contaminants and pollutants? The answer is No.
You need to research the products you use. Check into the parent company or manufacture, what studies and testing do they do on their products. Are they truly Natural, Organic, and ban the Dirty Dozen?
Can you guarantee what you are putting on your skin will not cause cellular damage? Your health is the most important commodity you possess so don't lose it!
The personal care products I choose to use are beyond organic, ban over 2,500 ingredients, and EWG verified. Check them out at: Personal Care | Shaklee US site
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Sources:
Other websites to Reference:
Comments