HARMFUL INGREDIENTS and CHEMICALS IN USE EVERYDAY

We are always told to read the label. Ok, so you read the label. How far ahead are you? Most of us don't know what most of the ingredients are on a label. Take toothpaste for example. The disclaimer on the tubes that I have read say to call poison control if ingested. Now I imagine that is for children but why? I was shown you can use backing soda to brush your teeth and it works just as well and is natural although it does not have the sweet flavor of typical toothpaste, but what cost do we pay for flavor and a product that is dangerous to a certain degree? Do we have any idea of what is good or bad for us? What about your personal care products? Do you know what ingredients really work or what ingredients may or have shown to cause cancer? Probably not. In fact if you read enough labels you may see enough common ingredients that you might think they are ok because they are in so many products. This is usually not the case.

If you take the time to do a little research you will find that many common chemicals in the products you use every day are cancer causing. The truth is the home is a haven for cancer. According to Michael Dufresne, a leading reasercher in environmental cancers, "54% of women working in the home are at a higher risk of developing cancer than women working outside the home." The reason? Chemicals in every day products.

Dufresne, a researcher professor at the University of Windsor, who is also a research coordinator for Cancer Care Ontario and a member of the US Barbara Karmanos Cancer Institute, says that the presence of cancer-linked chemicals in cosmetic and hair products, toothpaste, shaving cream, furniture polish, dish washing liquids and other household products should raise major concerns.

Dufresne said his greatest worry is the lack of information given to the public about products they use every day, more so because they are being used in concert.

He said "people are blindly being led in the use of these products, they assume they are safe, and they are not." He added, "scientists are discovering that exposure to a variety of trace chemicals over the span of a lifetime is dangerous."

Did you know that the US Public Interest Group reports there are more that 100,000 synthetic chemicals in use? Scary yes, but even scarier according to Dufresne is that unlike cigarettes there are virtually no warning labels on cosmetics and virtually no FDA regulations policing them.

What about price. If the product is expensive it must be good for you right? Uh Uh. Dufresne's own study showed that "men and women think they are safer if they pay more, but there is absolutely no relationship between cost and safety."

One product that saved farmers millions of dollars was DDT. The U.S. government outlawed the use of the pesticide DDT because of the cancer causing dangers research has proven. Unfortunately most people are unaware that many countries from which we import out fruits and vegetables still use DDT because their respective governments aren't worried about the effects since the produce is exported to the US. Monsanto, one of the major chemical producers, manufactures DDT and sells it abroad. Why? Because it works so well, it is cheap to produce and of course it is good for the bottom line. Profit. Unless you grow your food yourself or buy organic produce, you may never really know what you are adding to your diet. The choice is yours! As the adage goes...buyer beware

So what can we do about it?

Buy organic!!... or we all become farmers, or we demand to know more about our products so that we can make the choice for ourselves!

The main reason most chemicals show up in so many products is because they are inexpensive, simple and effective—and the government allows them to continue to be used by virtually every cosmetics and personal care product manufacturer in the country. A lot of them were being used before the Food and Drug Administration began regulating the use of dangerous chemicals in such products and they were "grandfathered in," and, at the time, seemed ok.

Below is a listing of some of those chemicals, their properties, and their other uses. With this list in hand, the next time you go to the drug store or even the grocery store, or your own household cabinets you can examine the labels on every product you have to see if some of them appear in the ingredient list, and they usually do.

When you find these ingredients on the label the wisest course is to put it back on the shelf and look for something that does not contain these chemicals.

ALPHA HYDROXY ACIDS: This is one of the most touted chemicals there is in the cosmetic industry today. It is supposed to make your skin look younger and remove wrinkles. It does that, all right. But at the cost of prematurely exposing immature skin through the removal of the tough outer layer. It exposes young, not fully developed skin to the harsh aging and damaging environmental agents. The "smoothing" of the skin is temporary and regular use of AHAs could actually make your skin age much faster. Your outer layer of skin is your first, and most important layer of defense, and AHAs work to destroy it.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL: This is used as a humectant in cosmetics. It is also used as an industrial anti-freeze, and as the major ingredient in brake and hydraulic fluid. Laboratory tests show it to be a strong skin irritant.

Material Safety Data Sheets (required by the government) on this chemical warn to avoid skin contact as it is systemic (affects the entire system) and can cause liver abnormalities and kidney damage.

Amazingly, you will find this ingredient in hand and body lotions and facial moisturizers that you rub into your skin. It is also found in many other products. I am hard put to find any useful and effective personal care product at the drug store that does not have this poison among its ingredients.

MINERAL OIL: Do you use this product on your baby's skin? On yours? It's supposed to be "gentle" and good for you, isn't it? It comes from crude oil (petroleum) that is used in industry as metal cutting fluid. It may suffocate the skin by forming an oil film. Healthy skin needs oxygen, and it needs to release carbon dioxide. It should not be inhibited. If you hold large quantities of moisture in the skin, you can "flood" the biology. This may result in immature, unhealthy, sensitive skin that dries out easily.

PETROLEUM BASE PRODUCTS: This has the same properties as mineral oil. It is used in industry as a grease component and many other uses.

SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE (SLS) OR SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE (SLES):

Link to Data Sheet on SLS .....More Information... Of the two, SLS is potentially the most harmful ingredient to be used in personal care products. It is a standard ingredient used in labs to purposefully irritate the skin of test animals so that other, non-irritating ingredients can be tested. It can inhibit hair growth, contribute to hair loss, and could cause cataracts if it gets into the eyes. It's industrial uses include: garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers, car wash soap, among others. Dr. Keith Green, Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Georgia insists: "It may keep children's eyes from developing properly and cause adult cataracts." (Source: A summary of Dr. Green's report to "Prevent Blindness, Inc." Conference)

Both of these products (SLS and SLES) have been known to cause potentially carcinogenic nitrates to form in shampoos and cleaners by reacting with certain other commonly used ingredients found in most shampoos. Dr. Green states that very large amounts of nitrates may enter the blood system in just one use of the shampoo containing the chemicals where nitrates have formed. SLS and SLES are the only surfactants in shampoos and cleaners known to enter the blood system (SLES is the alcohol form of SLS. Sodium levels in the body may increase with its use. It's slightly less irritating, but may cause more drying out.).

And these are the ingredients you're expected to put in your mouth or rub onto and into your skin. Why are they used? Because they're cheap and a small amount generates lots of foam. When salt is added, it thickens and gives the illusion of being thick and concentrated (remember the television commercial showing a man with two different shampoos on his head, with the emphasis on the one that is "thick and concentrated?").

Sodium Laureth Sulfate has several names: Sodium Dodecyl Polyoxyethylene Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Ethoxysulfate and Sodium Polyoxyethylene Lauryl Sulfate. Ammonium Laureth Sulfate's alternative name is Ammonium Lauryl Ether Sulfate

BENTONITE-KAOLIN: These are clays used in foundations, and may clog the skin and keep oxygen out. These chemicals are used to fight fires. And the same thing that can suffocate a fire can suffocate your face.

GLYCERINE: It draws moisture from inside the skin and holds it on the surface for a better feel. But it dries the skin from the inside out.

COLLAGEN AND ELASTIN: This is derived from small animal skins and ground up chicken feet. Another film that may suffocate and over moisturize the skin. Cosmetic manufacturers have heralded it (collagen) as a new "wonder ingredient," but according to medical experts, it cannot affect the skin's own collagen when applied topically. Elastin is much like collagen in that it cannot be absorbed by the skin and merely provides a suffocating coating on the skin's surface.

BENTONITE: Used in facial masks. But it can have sharp edges that scratch the skin. It forms films that effectively trap toxins and carbon dioxide in the skin, suffocating it.

LANOLIN: Touted as being able to penetrate skin better than other oils, even though there is little scientific proof of this. It can cause allergic contact skin rashes and may contain pesticides used on sheep and wool.