Nine Poisons Found In Beauty Products

What? There's poison in beauty products? Which ones?  In products I use?

The answers are easy to find in this poster from Green America. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and Green America are inviting everyone to download their own version of the poster here.

 

Thanks to Green America for this easy to use poster*.

See Enviromommy's post on toxic chemicals here

Get your own poster and Green America's article here.

Visit the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics here.

Look up your own beauty products on Skin Deep database here.
 
* Changes made to the design of this poster for use on blog. Content unchanged

Did Everyday Chemicals Cause My Tumor?

I should be out pulling weeds in the garden, but instead I'm reading Salon. What a great site. Wonderful stories, talented writers and style a-plenty! I bumped into this informative article and thought I'd share it. The author requests no reproductions so here's the link... 

Did everyday chemicals cause my tumor?  


What do you think?

Shimmy Shimmy Cocamide... DEA

Cocamide Diethanolamine (DEA)...

Technically coconut is involved. But don't be deceived, this is not a natural product. The DEA portion comes from some kind of chemical voodoo involving ammonia and ethylene oxide.

The finished product, Cocamide DEA is the result of more voodoo with the DEA and unspecified fatty acids from coconut oil. That's exactly where the coconut comes in and the extent of it's contribution.

DEA is included in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory. Its a neurotoxin, a skin and organ system toxin and a suspected liver, blood and kidney toxin. Three federal regulatory programs list it as an indoor household air pollutant. Because of its chemical similarities, cocamide DEA has the same risks as DEA. As if that wasn't enough, cocamide DEA can break down and create carcinogenic nitrosamines in the presence of other chemicals.

To quote the scientifically based, wonderfully informed and incredibly generous with her knowledge, Stephanie Greenwood of "Bubble and Bee", a USDA Certified Organic Body Product company, "...many "natural" brands use this ingredient, stating that it's made from coconuts.  Well, yes, part of it was once a coconut, but when you combine coconut with a possible carcinogen and toxic chemical, it kind of loses its natural appeal."

Skin Deep  gives the chemical a risk score of 6 to 8 depending on the concentration and how its used. That puts it at the high end of a moderate risk and the low end of a high risk whenever and wherever its found.


Created to fill the need for foam boosters, thickeners, or emulsifiers in personal care products, it does makes pretty bubbles and lavish suds. But pretty is as pretty does. And this pretty is just the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. I shudder. Being a bubble booster, cocamide DEA is found in liquid soap, shampoo, body wash, and bubble bath. A potential carcinogen just sudsing away in the tub and sink.

I checked Skin Deep and found cocamide DEA as an ingredient in products offered in a disappointing number of brands I thought were "natural" - or at least good for me and the environment. Here are just a few... AVAHA, Beauty Without Cruelty, Desert Essence, Earth Therapeutics, Nature's Gate, Neutrogena, ShiKai, and The Body Shop. 

Moral of the story?  I'm reading every label even if it means bringing magnifying glasses to the store. Oh yeah...and maybe its time to check out Bubble and Bee.

Sensodyne Iso-Active Toothpaste ... Ouch!

I NEVER thought I'd actually be writing about toothpaste. Is nothing sacred?! But recent discoveries have forced my hand ... Obviously I'll try and get to the point as quickly as possible...

When I was six kindly Dr. Burt told me to brush my teeth at least twice a day if I wanted to keep them. I have and it's paid off.  My original teeth have stuck around with only a few minor skirmishes in the dentist's chair.

For the last ten years I've used formulations for sensitive teeth and have gotten the best results if I switched back and forth between different brands.  So when Sensodyne came out with their newest product, "Iso- Active Foaming Gel", I couldn't wait to add a new formulation to the rotation. The press on this one, that it's formulated to "penetrate hard to reach places" sounded especially good.

It's not cheap... At 4.3 ounces its the same price as tubes almost twice the size. But I bought it, used it, and liked it. It performed as promised. My teeth looked good, felt smooth and clean...and maybe even looked a little whiter. I liked  this product so much I never thought of putting "Iso- Active Foaming Gel" to the Skin Deep test. Maybe it was just my toothpaste prejudice. How could something as uninteresting and mundane as toothpaste be worth the time and effort?

This morning I acknowledged I should at least look at the label... had to squint really hard even with my glasses on. The first ingredient I could focus on made my blood run cold. It was the cocamidopropyl betaine I've recently learned is a precusor to nitrosamine! It's research time people...

Because I already knew nitrosamine is banned in cosmetics and body care products in Europe (European Commission on Human Affairs) and is a known carcinogen (Science Direct) the next logical stop was Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database.

Thank goodness someone else beat me to it and I didn't have to enter all those ingredients myself.  Yep- Sensodyne Iso-Active Toothpaste review from Skin Deep  results were right in front of me and the news was all bad. Sensodyne's newest product scored a 5 - that's at the high end of a moderate hazard. Worse, when I looked at the hazard breakdown list I saw something I'd never seen before on Skin Deep. Every hazard area was checked!  And I'd actually had all that foaming in my mouth.

Suddenly the toothpaste issue was red hot. What had I been so diligently brushing with ALL these years? And to what had I subjected my family? It's too horrible to think about...

So...  I've provided the first section of the Skin Deep review below. And if you'd like to do your own research- always recommended- the links are in the text above. If you need the Skin Deep link its here.

As for me, I'm combing the web for alternatives. If you've got any suggestions I would really love love to hear them. Until I have up a better solution I'm brushing with baking soda. Really.

SENSODYNE ISO-ACTIVE TOOTHPASTE, MULTI-ACTION 
last updated: 10/01/09 brand: Sensodyne by GlaxoSmithKline

SCORE

5

moderate hazard (out of 10)

76%

data gap

92% of toothpastes have lower concerns

Given the incomplete information made available by companies and the government, EWG provides additional information on personal care product ingredients from the published scientific literature. The chart below indicates that research studies have found that exposure to one or more ingredients in this product -- not the product itself -- caused the indicated health effect(s) in the studies reviewed by Skin Deep researchers. Actual health risks, if any, will vary based on the level of exposure to the ingredient and individual susceptibility -- information not available in Skin Deep. Legal Disclaimer

Ingredients in this product are linked to:
	Cancer
	Developmental/reproductive toxicity
	Allergies/immunotoxicity
	Use restrictions
	Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes

M Moroccanoil- Original

Moroccan Oil photo

About a year ago I visited a stylist who I was told used only non toxic, "healthy" products.

After wrestling with all my frizzy salt and pepper hair for a few minutes she brought out a product in a beautiful amber colored glass bottle with a bright teal label marked, M "Moroccanoil". It smelled divine and when she worked it through my hair it tamed the wild and smoothed the frizz beautifully. A magic elixir! So naturally I bought the big bottle. Mmmmmm....good and good for me...

I've been using this product sporadically ever since. A little goes a long way- even with all my frizzy hair, so I'm still on the same bottle I bought a year ago. It still works great, but I've noticed that when I apply it I can't get it too near my scalp or my hair will lay flat against my scalp- not a good look for me.

So- the reason I'm talking about it now... I've noticed I experience allergy-like symptoms: pounding head, pressure behind my eyes and tearing up a lot. My ears feel full, and they "pop" occasionally. Then there's the sinus headache, I feel a bit woozy and have trouble concentrating. Please understand- I'm NOT saying the product is causing these symptoms- only that when I use it, I also notice these symptoms. They could have nothing to do with this product, be a combination of this product and other irritants or be none of the above...

Skin Deep photo

I went to my most favorite source: Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep website: Skin Deep , but the product wasn't in their database. I checked the bottle's label for the ingredients so I could plug them into the Skin Deep database, but the only thing I could find was the "argan oil" from Morocco. The ingredients must have been on the box which I had pitched long ago.

So a few weeks ago I stumbled onto Essential Day Spa's Forums (EDS) : http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/ and found a resourceful reader had the same questions as me and had found the ingredients. You can follow the above link for yourself, or just read on.  Here's what s/he typed in as the ingredients:

...read more after the jump...