12.14.2008

quick reference...

here's half of the "dirty dozen" of additives in body products--chemicals best to avoid at all costs according to the environmental working group (ewg). i'll post the second half of the list (along with a few thoughts) tomorrow!

(list taken from the green guide, the complete reference for consuming wisely)

the culprit: antibacterials.
crime: wiping out good bacteria along with the bad. commonly used triclosan produces dioxins when exposed to sunlight. is found in breastmilk. yuk.

the culprit: coal tar. often found in dandruff shampoos. shows up as fd&c blue 1 in toothpaste and fd&c green 3 in mouthwash.
crime: widely recognized as a carcinogen.

the culprit: diethanolamine. also known as dea, with compounds and derivatives tea and mea. boosts lathering effect of shampoos.
the crime: reacts with other ingredients to create carcinogenic compounds. listed as a possible hormone disruptor.

the culprit: 1,4 dioxane. hangs out with sodium laureth sulfate and other "eth" ingredients. lives in shampoos & bodywashes.
the crime: proven carcinogenic in animals. 15 percent of shampoos have levels higher than recommended by the fda.

the culprit: formeldehyde. can also occur as a breakdown product of diazolidinyl urea, bronopol, and quaternium compounds.
the crime: a proven carcinogen.

the culprit: fragrance. appears in nearly everything, from personal products to candles to laundry soap.
the crime: synthetic fragrances may contain phthalates, which act as endocrine disrupters. effects of endocrine disruption include reproductive issues.
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1 comment:

HiJeremy said...

Good on you for being on top of all the crap put in food, soaps, etc.
Antibacterials are particularly bad not only for the damage they do as they flow downstream to plant, sea, and animal life but also because bad bacteria is actually good because when we are exposed to it as children it helps us develop the ability to fight stuff later on when we get older. Often times the sickest child is the healthiest adult because he/she has the ability to fight off various ailments because of early exposure to some bacterias. Not saying you should make your baby sick but that antibacterial crap is not good. Same with the total over prescribing of antibiotics which has almost reduced them to being ineffective because the crazy strains that have mutated because of this mess.

Almost every shampoo/body wash has sodium laureth sulfate as the main ingrediant along with the dea and fragrances...so if you are going to put that crap on your skin then why pay big bucks for these expensive brands which have the almost exact same thing as the cheapo brands. I like Booths and Burt Bees which I recently started using...
Formeldehyde is totally dangerous and in the building industry they are starting to not use it because most new buildings are going green and there is no LEED certification when you have formeldehyde gassing off and making people sick.

December 28, 2008 at 12:32 PM

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