Written by Angela Goldthwaite at Golden Well Oasis
Did you know that to some degree, your body absorbs everything you slather on it?
Have you considered that your skin is essentially “eating” the personal care products that you use each and every day?
Are those ingredients regulated to ensure that they are safe for your body to consume?
How do those chemicals affect your health, your weight, your mood, and your reproduction?
Let’s briefly explore a widely overlooked assumption that your personal care products are safe.
Think about it…
Dozens of personal care products drench people’s skin internally and externally every single day. Let’s name just a few that you may (hopefully ) use on a daily basis:
– Shampoo, conditioner & hair products
– Soap – hand, body, dish & laundry
– Moisturizers – face & body
– Toothpaste & mouthwash
– Make-up & facial cleansers
– Perfume & cologne
– Deodorant & antiperspirants
– Nail care products
– Insect repellants & sunscreen
– Feminine hygiene products
– Baby care products – lotions, oils, powders, wipes
– And although not a personal care product, also consider your home cleaning solutions that your hands get saturated with
Unless you intentionally choose non-toxic personal care brands, unfortunately, every single one of these items likely hides dozens, if not thousands, of potentially toxic chemicals that your body is likely absorbing. The amount it absorbs depends on the amount of time it contacts your skin, as well as the type of chemical.
Guess how many chemicals the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) has officially banned from being used in personal care products? 10! Shockingly, only 10!
That is in stark contrast to over 1,700 chemicals banned in European personal care products. Additionally, the European Union’s banned ingredient list is continuously expanding every year to include ingredients deemed carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction (CMR). In fact, 23 CMR new ingredients were added to the list in 2023 alone!
Take a look at the ingredients label of your favorite lotion. Did you know that when it lists “Fragrance”, that one single word – fragrance – is a generic umbrella term that can include thousands of chemicals in it?
Now if you take into consideration that the average woman uses over 10 personal care products each day plus exposure to the chemicals in cleaning and laundry products, the accumulation of exposure to toxic chemicals adds up over time and studies have shown that they can lead to allergies, reproductive issues, infertility, hormonal imbalances, cancer, obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease and many more health concerns.
Aren’t these chemical ingredients regulated?
The answer is yes and no.
As I have already pointed out, in many countries there is a list of banned ingredients, but the USA only lists fewer than a dozen on its list, whereas the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK), and Australia list hundreds more.
6 common toxic ingredients
Other countries have black-listed but you can find them in American products:
• Triclosan – an antimicrobial added to toothpaste (strangely, it was restricted only from hand soaps and sanitizers in the USA)
• Formaldehyde – found in shampoos, hair-smoothing treatments, nail hardeners, lotions, body soaps, and eyelash glue
• Phthalates – commonly in anything that smells “good”, this hormone disrupter is listed generically as “fragrance”. It lengthens the time your products smell good, such as perfumes, lotions, antiperspirants, laundry products, air fresheners, etc.
• Lilial – a synthetic fragrance used in perfumes and lotions
• Zinc pyrithione (ZPT) – the neurotoxic active ingredient in dandruff shampoos
• Selenium sulfide – used in medicinal shampoos and anti-fungal treatments
The list above is just a sample of ingredients found toxic to humans and restricted in other countries. So, have you grabbed your products and started reading the labels yet?
What are my choices?
No one wants to give up smelling good, feeling clean, and looking great – and guess what – you don’t have to! Thankfully, there are many safer products available these days. You can choose anything from all-natural, non-toxic products found locally to the least toxic options found at your local big-box store. Get help at your local health and wellness stores. Look at the labels. Download apps like Think Dirty, EWG, and Yuka. Make a switch to cleaner (non-toxic) products each time you are about to resupply your next personal care or home cleaning product.
May you be blessed with abundant health, live long, and thrive!
[1] https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations/prohibited-restricted-ingredients-cosmetics