 |
|
|
Natural Skin Care The Trouble with All-Day Exposure How can a spritz of deodorant or a dab of gloss possibly be of harm? “It’s not the occasional swipe of lipstick that makes you sick,” says Jeanne Rizzo, RN, executive director of the Breast Cancer Fund, which explores links between synthetic chemicals and breast cancer. Rather, the potential danger comes from multiple exposures on a daily basis. The average adult uses nine personal care products every day, typically containing more than 100 unique chemical ingredients. Ironically, advances in the cosmetics chemistry, such as “long-lasting” color, may be making the problem worse. Makeup that’s designed to last all day ups your exposure to chemicals. What’s more, about half of all personal care products contain “penetration enhancers,” chemicals commonly used to open the skin and allow ingredients to seep into the body, according to the EWG. Add to that the nonstop pressure to come up with new and improved products that feel fabulous, smell wonderful (or not at all), won’t spoil—and hey, maybe make wrinkles less visible—and you end up with a chemical-filled product. The EWG’s Skin Deep survey found that dozens of products—including hair dyes, tanning lotions, nail polish, the works—contain chemicals that are known or suspected to cause cancer or birth defects, or affect hormone function. It isn’t only activist organizations that are raising the alarm. Scientific groups such as the National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have identified products that contain known or probable carcinogens. And everyone’s at risk: Men, babies, children and pregnant women use soap, shampoos, creams and lotions on a daily basis and often in the most intimate places—the mouth, eyes, genitalia. Substances made to grease gears, clean industrial equipment, stabilize pesticides and soften plastics have found their way into everything from lipsticks to shampoos, reports the Breast Cancer Fund. What’s a consumer to do? Ingredient labels, however well intentioned, just give most people a headache. That long list of chemical names is meaningless. Article by Carol Kahn from Vegetarian Times, July/August 2005. Copyright© Vegetarian Times. Reprinted with permission. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||