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How toxic are your toiletries -
nature’s gift or chemicals from hell?
Find out how organic skin care can save you from
some of life’s little irritations!
Have you ever
looked at the ingredients list of your favourite hair and body products
and actually researched what those un-pronounceable names are? If
you are curious about the effects of what you are covering yourself in
day after day you may wish to read on. However, you could be in
for a shock....
Do you or your
family experience any of the following: dry skin, sensitive skin,
sensitive eyes, brittle hair, itchy scalp, hair loss, dry mouth,
receding or irritated gums, cracked or stressed skin, dermatitis,
recurring rashes or other irritations?
Do you think
there might be a possibility that your body is reacting to your hair and
skincare products?
If you are open
to this consideration then you may already be using organic skin care
and organic hair care products and have noticed the difference. If you
are unsure that there might be a link then read on.
Firstly a little bit of
information about the skin – we all have it and we all know its primary
function is to hold us together and keep the rain out!
The skin is the
largest organ in the body and forms a protective barrier to keep out
harmful pollutants. The skin needs to breathe and be nourished and
properly hydrated to be able to do its job properly. Using products
that continuously attack the integrity of the skin cells results in the
essential functions being compromised.
As the protective
layers are destroyed the structure starts to break down we start to
encounter dry, flaky and sensitive skin etc. The same is also
applicable to the hair – it needs to be nourished to stay strong and
healthy and if the protective membranes are absent we get hair breakage,
itchy scalp etc.
Below is a list
of ingredients commonly found in hair and body products – you know, the
ones that foam up nicely or smell heavenly. What you may want to bear
in mind as you review the list is whether the foam and smell are worth
the harm they might be doing to you:
Sodium Laureth/Laurel
Sulphate (SLS)
A strong
detergent which is found in 90% of shampoos, conditioners, body washes,
skin creams and toothpastes. SLS is also found in industrial cleaners.
When combined with other ingredients it can form nitrosamines which may
be carcinogenic.
SLS easily
penetrates the skin and can travel in the bloodstream to the heart,
lungs and liver, brain and eyes. It can be retained in tissues for a
long time and could cause the following: Cancer, endocrine (hormone)
disruption, hair loss, increased skin sensitivity, dry skin, mouth
ulceration and eye damage.
Alcohol, or
Isopropyl
A poisonous
solvent and denaturant (alters the structure of other chemicals) found
in hair colour rinses, body rubs, hand lotions, aftershave lotions and
fragrances.
Alcohol/isopropyl
can cause nausea, vomiting, headaches, flushing and depression. It
dries skin and hair and creates cracks and fissures in the skin which
encourage bacterial growth.
Cocamide Mea
This ingredient
is added to make shampoo lather to a level that would be otherwise be
impossible. Cocamide Mea has been shown to cause cancer in lab
animals.
It contains
momoethanolamine which, when mixed with SLS produces the carcinogen
nitrosamine.
Parfum,
fragrance
This is an
important part of creating the ‘natural’, ‘botanical’ or ‘fresh’ smell
in products but there is nothing natural, botanical or fresh about
them! 95% of the estimated 5,000 fragrance ingredients on the market
are laboratory created, many from petroleum products. They may also
contain artificial musks which can disrupt hormones and are toxic to the
liver.
Petroleum based
ingredients can cause cancer, birth defects, central nervous system
disorders and allergic reactions as well as headaches, dizziness,
rashes, skin irritation, respiratory problems, mood swings, depression
and vomiting.
Propylene
Glycol
Propylene Glycol
is a solvent used to hold moisture in shampoos and give products that
silky feel.
It is a
petrochemical which is also used as a major ingredient in brake fluid
and antifreeze. Worryingly it can also be found in products such as
baby lotion and mascara.
Propylene Glycol
has been acknowledged as a neurotoxin and shown to cause dermatitis,
liver abnormalities and kidney damage in animal studies. It may also be
a skin irritant.
Methyl, propyl,
butyl, and ethyl parabens
These are
preservatives used to extend the shelf life of products and inhibit
microbial growth. They are highly toxic and can cause dermatitis,
rashes and other allergic reactions.
So -
does that gorgeously fragranced, richly lathering bottle of your
favourite shampoo or body wash still seem so appealing???
Below is a
extract from an article which appears on the Daily Mail website:
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Is your bubble bath
safe?
Bath foam that
triggers headaches. Shampoo full of cancer-causing chemicals. And
shower gel that attacks your skin. As experts warn of the chemicals
in our toiletries, we reveal the health hazards in your bathroom
cabinet.
Pat Thomas makes
sense of the often impenetrable labels, and reveals the ingredients'
potentially devastating effects on our health.
Bath products use the same chemicals as household detergents
Bath products
These days,
most of us don't use soap in the shower or bath. Instead, we lather
up with bath foams, shower gels, facial washes and scrubs, all of
which rely on complex detergents — often the same ones used in heavy
industry — to wash away simple dirt.
The
difference between soap and detergent is like the difference between
cotton and nylon. Soap and cotton are produced from natural products
by relatively small modification.
Detergents
and nylon are produced entirely in a chemical factory. There is no
difference between the detergents in your household cleaning
products and those you use in your bath. It is simply a matter of
concentration.
Bubble baths,
which are highly fragranced, have the greatest potential to cause
skin irritation, allergic skin reactions and headaches. In the U.S.,
they carry a health warning alerting users to the possibility of
skin irritation and urinary tract infections.
Body washes
essentially contain the same basic ingredients as bubble bath.
Soaking in any bath product will prolong its contact with your skin,
increasing the risk that chemicals will be absorbed. Both bubble
baths and shower gels have the potential to penetrate the skin and
lungs.
Your bubble
bath is likely to contain potentially irritating detergents like
sodium laureth sulphate and cocami-dopropyl betaine (the latter is
also a penetration enhancer, allowing other chemicals to be more
easily absorbed); preservatives such as tetrasodium EDTA, a
potential irritant; and methylchloroisothiazolinone (both potential
mutagens — substances that speed up gene mutation).
If it
contains cocamide EDTA (or similar compounds ending with DEA, TEA or
MEA) along with formaldehyde-forming substances such as bronopol,
DMDM hydantoin, diazo-lidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea and
quaternium-15, it is likely to contain cancer-causing nitrosamines.
Studies show up to 93 per cent of toiletries and cosmetics contain
these compounds.
Shampoo
Cheap or
expensive, modern shampoos are usually a mixture of the same handful
of detergents. The choice of detergents used is usually as much to
do with the final look of the product as it is with its
effectiveness.
Unfortunately, rather like bubble bath, some of the common
ingredients in shampoos can break down into formaldehyde during
storage.
When
formaldehyde-forming agents mix with some of the other emulsifying
ingredients commonly found in shampoos, such as diethanolamine (DEA),
triethanolamine (TEA) and monoethanolamine (MEA), they can form
carcinogenic n-nitrosodi-ethanolamine, or NDELA.
This is
particularly problematic in shampoos because we use them so
frequently and in such great quantities.
Toothpaste
The problems of
dental decay and gum disease are very real and affect more than just
the mouth. Gum disease is strongly linked to other conditions such
as heart disease. Indeed, your risk of developing heart disease is
higher if you have poor oral health than if you smoke and have high
cholesterol.
Poor oral health
also raises your risk of stroke, osteoporosis, respiratory diseases
and diabetes. Several of the 'active' ingredients in toothpaste are
worrying. Widely used industrial-strength detergent sodium lauryl
sulphate (SLS) is a suspected gastrointestinal or liver poison.
There is also
concern that by stripping away the protective mucous membrane of the
mouth, SLS could increase the incidence of mouth ulcers, and may be
involved in an increased risk of oral cancer.
Deodorants
Antiperspirants and deodorants typically contain moisturisers,
solvents and preservatives (such as parabens, which can cause skin
irritation and can be a source of weak oestrogens, which may have a
detrimental effect in the long-term).
Researchers at the University of Reading recently found traces of
parabens in every single tumour sample taken from a small group of
women with breast cancer.
The aluminium
content of antiperspirants is also a major concern. No one knows
exactly how aluminium compounds work to reduce underarm wetness.
What is known, however, is that aluminium is absorbed through the
skin.
The recently
acknowledged link between Alzheimer's disease and aluminium has
raised a furious debate over the safety of putting aluminium
compounds into deodorants.
Another
concern is the potential link between aluminium and breast cancer. A
study looking at the incidence of breast cancer among 400 American
women suggests that a combination of underarm shaving and deodorant
use may allow chemicals to seep into breast tissue.
In the study,
women who shaved three times a week and applied deodorant at least
twice a week were almost 15 years younger when diagnosed with cancer
than women who did neither.
~ extract
from the Daily Mail, 5 Sept 2006
www.dailymail.co.uk |
Doesn’t make for
very pleasant reading does it? So how can you and your family protect
yourselves from these chemicals without sacrificing the enjoyment of
personal grooming?
1. This
will benefit the environment as well given the continuous water
shortages we keep having - avoid taking baths so that you are not
allowing the toxins to soak through your skin. Better still use soaps
that are vegetable oil and glycerine based instead of bubble bath.
2. If
you must use products containing these ingredients then use less. They
will still lather up even if you use half the amount with a little more
water. Look at the labels before you restock and try to choose the ones
with fewest chemically sounding ingredients. Avoid getting these
products into your eyes and keep them in contact with your body for the
shortest time possible. Rinse them off well. Better still (and
easier!) choose organic products with natural fragrances and no nasty
irritants and enjoy the bathing process in safety.
3. Avoid
aerosol antiperspirants which just surround you in a cloud of toxic
chemicals. If you must use an antiperspirant use a roll on version
instead and don’t apply to freshly shaved skin as this may increase the
rate of absorption into the body. Better still, bin the antiperspirant
altogether (after all there is a reason we perspire and that is to
eliminate toxins from the body – so why suppress these toxins we already
have and add even more?) and opt for natural crystal deodorants which
come in a roll on or spray variety. These work in harmony with your body
to neutralise the odour rather than blocking the body’s natural process.
Take the time to
seek out the alternatives that are available which have been created to
work in harmony with your body and not strip away the protective
barriers that are there for a reason. We only get one body in this life
so it makes sense to invest the time and effort into looking after it in
the best way possible.
By reducing our
exposure to these chemicals that we are willingly (and in most cases
unknowingly) covering ourselves in every single day, we can start to
give our bodies the chance to fight back and return to a less toxic way
of life.
Also be aware of
what you are putting into your body as it is too easy today to rely on
heavily processed foods which contain little or no nutritional value –
try and select fresh organic foods as much as possible, prepare meals
from fresh ingredients and take a good quality supplement to help keep
your friendly bacteria topped up.
And of course
drink water. We all know we should drink plenty of water every day but
many don’t appreciate why this is so important. Well, consider this….
Our bodies are
approximately 50-70% water (yes, incredible isn’t it?) but on a daily
basis we lose a percentage of that every day through perspiring,
urinating, being ill, etc. If that water isn’t replaced then we become
dehydrated. When you feel thirsty you may actually be in the early
stages of dehydration.
By topping up
those water levels continuously through the day you can take great steps
towards reducing and eliminating things such as headaches, muscle
cramps, fatigue, sluggish digestion, dry and flaky skin.
So, a few things
to think about. What it basically boils down to is this - how we treat
our bodies will directly influence how well our bodies treat us. Look
after your body and protect it from things you know to be harmful.
Organic Spa products are available to
purchase from this site, please visit
bmore organic. Natural crystal
deodorants and SLS free toothpaste are also available but not yet in our
online shop! Please
contact us for more information on
these.
Sources:
What doctors don’t tell you Vol.10
The Ecologist October 2003 & March 2005
The Daily Mail online September 2006
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