Beauty is Skin-Deep.. or is that the products?

I would consider the cosmetics industry the ninja of all chemical industries. Not only is the cosmetic industry not required to follow any kind of national or international chemical regulation, they actually profit by using more chemicals in their products.

How much profit are we talking here? In 2000, Wall Street Journal, Agriculture News recognized the Cosmetic Industry as the eighth largest industry of the “life science” industries generating $15 billion in revenue that year.

Toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, hair products, make-up, deodorant, are all chemical products that we ingest daily, and the ingredients that make up these products are very harmful to our health. Because it is not a conscious act (like eating) we often forget that our skin consists of millions of pores that are absorbing whatever we choose to apply to it daily.

Some ingredients to avoid (information retrieved from David Suzuki Foundation)

      1.)  Petrochemicals aka petrolatum, mineral oil, and paraffin. These chemicals can be found in some hair relaxers, shampoos, anti-aging creams, mascaras, perfumes, foundations, lipsticks and lip balms. Petrolatum can be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which have been associated to cancer when contact extends over long periods of time.

      2.)  Coal-tar colors which are listed in the ingredients as “FD&C” or “D&C” colors. These chemicals increase risk of cancer and may be contaminated with heavy metals toxic to the brain.

  

      3.)  Parfum aka fragrance. This ingredient is one of the many phthalates (soft un-bonded plastic) we find in our cosmetics. It is a known endocrine disrupter and has proven to cause feminization of males, insulin resistance, and asthma.

**Pthlataes are found in nearly all air fresheners, hair and beauty products, perfumes, and any scented products (even “unscented” is a scent)

      4.)  DEA (diethanolamine) are used to make cosmetics creamy or sudsy. There are various forms of DEA but they can be found in moisturizers, sunscreens, shampoos, cleansers and soaps. Long term exposure to these chemicals have been linked to liver cancer and precancerous changes in skin and thyroid. (DEA is recognized as a harmful toxin by the EU only)

The David Suzuki Foundation has done a significant amount of research into the chemicals found in our cosmetics and have come up with a list of the most common and threatening chemicals found in our cosmetics products. “The Dirty Dozen Pocket Guide” http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/downloads/2010/whats-inside-shoppers-guide.pdf

What to Do:

The first thing I would like everyone to think about it what he or she is using in and after their hot showers. Heat and moisture causes our pores to open and if we are using shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, and moisturizers that contain one or more of the chemicals in the “dirty dozen” then we are coating our skin with chemicals at the time when our skin is most absorptive.

Instead we could turn to more natural cleaners like tea tree oil or biodegradable soaps, then not only are we helping ourselves but also we are decreasing the chemical waste in the environment. And, if soft skin is important to you then consider opting out of using a daily moisturizer and instead doing a skin exfoliation. Exfoliation helps your skin remove toxins from the body rather then put them in.

The other major effort that we can do to help reduce the ecological impact of the cosmetics industry on the environment is opt out of using disposable razors. Two billion disposable razors are purchased annually; this is an easily divertible waste stream that we can all participate in with our consumerism. 

Don’t forget your daily toxins!

It is rather unnerving to think about the amount of pesticides we are unknowingly ingesting on a daily basis in our produce, however through buying more fruits with removable peels and selectively buying organic we can easily reduce our chemical intake.

There are three other areas of concern surrounding our daily chemical ingestion and that is plastic, cosmetics, and additives. I hope to spend the next couple posts addressing these topics more in-depth, so that we can all be chemically savvy shoppers and consumers in this modern world we live in.

The average American consumes 4 pounds of additives per year, they are found in most processed foods for the purposes of preservation and flavoring.


The Top Seven additives and preservatives are as follows:

Additive or Preservative	Purpose	Symptoms and health effects
Acacia gum (additive)	Thickening agent in gum, hard candies, ice cream, and salad dressings	Asthma or breathing problems, rashes or skin irritations, and abnormal embryo development
Alginic Acid (additive)	Used to maintain texture in packaged foods, commonly found in beverages, cheeses, ice creams, and salad dressings	Reproductive problems and birth defects; has caused maternal and fetal deaths in animals.
Benzoic Acid (preservative)	Found in baked goods, BBQ sauce, beer, candy, chewing gum, fruit juice, jams, jellies, margarine, pickles, and soft drinks	Gatrointestinal, liver, and kidney problems. Can also result in asthma, rashes, and itching and irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes (especially in people allergic to aspirin). May also cause neurological disorders and hyperactivity in children
BHA and BHT (preservative)	Found in baked goods, breakfast cereals, candy, chewing gum, enriched rice, freeze-dried eats, gelatin, ice cream, instant potatoes flakes, lard shortening, soup bases, salad dressings and unsmoked dry sausage.	Linked to liver problems, reproductive problems, breathing problems, high cholesterol, behavioral problems, vitamin d deficiency, weakened immune system, and increase susceptibility to cancer causing substances.
Iron Salts (additive)	Used to add iron to foods like bread, breakfast cereals, cornmeal, poultry stuffing, and self-rising flours.	Linked to gastrointestinal disturbances (like ulcers) and tumors
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) (additive)	Flavoring agents in baked goods, candy, condiments, Chinese food, pickles, pork sausages, seasoning salts, sodium-free substitutes, and soups.	Often results in a diverse range of allergic reactions like burning sensations, dizziness, fainting, itching and hives. May cause facial and chest pressure, headaches, eye inflammation, brain edemas, depression, irritability, mood swings; and central nervous and vascular problems like numbness and high blood pressure. The placenta concentrates MSG, doubling the amount to which a fetus is exposed, and young test animals given MSG have shown decreased brain function and learning abilities.
Propyl Gallate (preservative)	Found in baked goods, candy, chewing gum, breakfast cereals, flavored beverages, frozen custards, gelatin desserts, ice cream, ice milk, instant potato flakes, mayonnaise, and vegetable oils and shortenings.	Stomach irritation, skin irritation, and allergic reactions like asthma, especially in people sensitive to aspirin. Also causes liver and kidney damage. Since this preservative is frequently used in combination with BHA and BHT, it can intensify the problems caused by those additives, like elevated cholesterol, allergic reactions (like asthma), liver damage, kidney damage, infertility, behavioral problems, vitamin D deficiency, a weakened immune system, and increased susceptibility to cancer-causing substances.

What is beneficial about this information is that it provides incentive as to why it is important to know the food we eat.  The health effects of these substances can aid in explaining the growing number of chronic health disorders society is experiencing. Eating foods where we can fully comprehend the ingredients list is not only beneficial for our bodies but it is beneficial for the environment.

What you can do: Check the labels! My goal in this blog, if anything, is to assert the need for health and eco-conscious consumerism. We make thousands of decisions about the foods we buy and eat, understanding the health end environmental effects of these products is essential to changing the market economy.

What I will do: I checked the labels and it is defiantly a learning experience. Kellogs cereal with dehydrated strawberries? Surprise, they are not strawberries; they are actually apples with flavoring and preservatives. Now I try and make my own complex foods. Instead of buying something sweet it is much more rewarding to make it yourself, crumbles, pies, granola (bars) have all become something I love to make and love to enjoy!