Got toxic chemicals in the bathroom? We’re not talking about cleaning supplies. It’s time to take a closer look at your personal care products.
Consider this fact. Women in the United States use an average of 12 personal care products every day, while men use between six and seven, according to a study conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Teens, however, top the list, using a total of 17 personal care products a day, on average.
Now, take a look at the back of your shampoo bottle, for example, and count the number of ingredients you actually recognize or understand. Maybe “fragrance” is one of those ingredients. But that innocent-looking word is actually extremely loaded. “Fragrance can be any combination of more than 3,000 different chemicals, so when ‘fragrance’ shows up on a bottle, we don’t know all the chemicals that make up that particular item,” says Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, Executive Director of local non-profit organization, Women for a Healthy Environment (WHE).
This item — which can be found in everything from shampoo and conditioner, to deodorant, soap, perfume, lotion, and even laundry detergent and air freshener — is something that people with respiratory illness should take special care to avoid as it is associated with increased risk of allergic reactions and asthma.
Fragrance is just one of the toxic ingredients found in a plethora of personal care products distributed in the United States. There are many others that we should be certain to eschew — including a Top 12 Toxins list, developed by WHE. (It’s a handy reference guide, and we’ve reprinted it here!)
Another common ingredient found in personal care products — and is a known endocrine disrupter — is paraben. “Essentially, what that means is parabins can impact our hormone functioning, including such things as metabolism, and they could be toxic to our immune and reproductive systems, as well as our neuro-developmental systems” says Naccarati-Chapkis.
Parabens, which have been banned in other countries, including Japan and Sweden, are used to help extend the shelf life of the product. Naccarati-Chapkis explains that for the consumer, a longer shelf life isn’t totally necessary, as we go through products fairly quickly. Instead, longer shelf life is a plus for manufacturers, wanting to keep products in stores longer.
According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, “Major loopholes in U.S. federal law allow the $50 billion cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no required testing, no monitoring of health effects, and inadequate labeling requirements. In fact, cosmetics are among the least-regulated products on the market.”
It seems like a dichotomy, doesn’t it? The fact that the very products we use to make ourselves feel more beautiful, put-together, and confident, very well may be detrimental to our health.
Naccarati-Chapkis, notes just how detrimental using such a high number of personal care products laden with toxic ingredients can be, especially when it comes to teenagers. “When we think about them being in their developmental stages, we know that the dose and the timing of exposure are very important.”
Another study by EWG focused on the cord blood of infants, in which an average of 287 chemicals was detected. In other words, the products the mother is using on her skin are being passed directly from her to the developing child.
“After serving on the Children’s Institute board for 21 years, I just felt this was the next step, in terms of, how do we try to keep our families healthy?” says WHE board member Ann McGuinn, of joining the women across Western Pennsylvania who are involved in promoting the organization’s education and advocacy work and have the common goal of presenting the environmental issues that impact our health. “We’re looking at big issues,” she says. “Our biggest organ on our body is our skin, and we’re absorbing all of these chemicals into our bodies, and traces of them stay there.”
As part of their efforts to campaign against these practices and raise awareness of the Safe Chemicals Act, which has not yet been passed by Congress, WHE hosted Face It: Healthy Beauty from the Inside Out this past summer at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The consortium served as a way of highlighting local vendors that offer natural and organic personal are products, including Cherry Valley Organics, As I Am Naturals, Third Day Luxury Soaps, Una Biologicals, and Simple Sugars. The evening also included a panel discussion featuring experts on the topic of safe personal care products, as well as makeup demonstrations by natural beauty expert Jessa Blades.
WHE has collaborated with two national campaigns, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, to get the message out, not only to women, but to men, teens, and children, all of whom are affected by the toxic ingredients found in so many personal care products.
If overhauling your entire makeup and shower collection seems overwhelming, go slowly, and “take it on as a fun challenge,” suggests Naccarati-Chapkis. When you run out of shampoo, take that as an opportunity to find a safer alternative. “My husband hates when I go to the store, because it’s an event. I love looking for new products. It will take longer because I’m picking up a product, looking at the ingredients. It’s certainly some trial and error, and it does take a little bit of time, but I have found products that are very effective, work quite nicely, and have long staying power.”
Women for a Healthy Environment, 412.420.2290. womenforahealthyenviroment.org. Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, safecosmetics.org. Environmental Working Group, ewg.org.
