Nowadays, it seems as if everyone is going green and striving to live and eat healthier. Large cities like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago have launched campaigns to inform its citizens on how to help dramatically shrink their carbon footprint. Individual consumers have started buying organic products; are eating healthier, exercising daily, are carpooling, utilizing mass transportation and recycling at record breaking numbers. However, one aspect of living a healthier life is being neglected in our new health conscious world. The forgotten aspect is what we put on our bodies on a daily basis.
The skin is the largest organ of the body. Our skin is busy every day cleaning and re-stocking moisture as we go through our daily routines. Skin absorbs the artificial ingredients in our laundry detergent, the chemicals in our perfumes, smoke and pollutants in the air, sunlight, and makeup. We buy and use beauty and bath care products sold in stores and salons with out questioning the products safety. The beauty industry is unregulated by the FDA or any other government agency. It is legal and extremely common for companies to use ingredients that are known or suspected to be carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxins in their products. Some man-made compounds used by the cosmetic industry have been linked to cancer and reproductive disorders, while others may irritate the skin or cause it to age prematurely.
In-Cosmetics magazine recently reported that the average woman absorbs five pounds of chemicals from body care products and make-up every year. Studies conducted in the UK and France have shown absorbing chemicals is more hazardous than swallowing them. British biochemist Richard Bence recently said, “If lipstick gets into your mouth, it is broken down by the enzymes in saliva and in the stomach. But if the chemicals get straight into your bloodstream, there is no protection.”
A few of the chemicals suspected to be dangerous include parabens, which are preservatives used in skin and hair products, including soap, shampoo, deodorant and baby lotion. Parabens stop bacterial growth and are suspected of mimicking the effects of the female sex hormone estrogen, which is known to facilitate tumor growth. Traces of the chemical have been found in breast tumor samples but the link to cancer is still controversial.
Another chemical suspect is sodium lauryl sulphate, which helps soap, shampoo, shaving foam, toothpaste and bubble bath, to lather, is a known irritant. Another potential irritant is benzyl alcohols, which are used to scent and preserve perfume, makeup and hair dyes. Cocamide MEA, which binds the ingredients of many high end moisturizers, is also a suspected irritant.
In our collective quest to live healthier lives and save our environment, we cannot afford to neglect one of the most important and critical ways to heal ourselves and environment. Consumers must stop supporting the beauty and body care companies that use known carcinogens and harmful irritants in their products and demand better for their health and environment.
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