Meaningless claims do more than just clutter up your shampoo
bottle. They could be masking harmful chemicals.
By Emily Main
"Natural"
is a meaningless term on food product labels, and it's even more meaningless on
personal care products, which are subject to lax regulations as it is. A recent
study from the nonprofit Silent Spring Institute shows just how little you
really can trust that seemingly reassuring term on shampoos, soaps, sunscreens,
and other body products.
Part
of a larger study on chemicals in
brand-name consumer products, researchers at Silent Spring bought and tested 43 products
that marketed themselves as natural or less-toxic alternatives to standard
cleaners, personal care products, and household items. Each one was analyzed
for 66 chemicals linked to asthma and hormone disruption (chemicals that
interfere with estrogen, testosterone, and thyroid chemicals, which leads to a
variety of health problems including obesity and infertility).
Of
the 43 products the group tested, 32 contained "chemicals of
concern"—things like hormone-disrupting phthalates, synthetic fragrance
chemicals linked to asthma, and parabens, preservatives linked to breast cancer.
"If
a person were to use one of our alternative cleaners, the laundry detergent,
bar soap, shampoo and conditioner, facial cleanser and lotion, and toothpaste,
they would be exposed to 19 harmful chemicals," says Robin Dodson, ScD, a
researcher at Silent Spring and lead author of the study.
Can
You Avoid These Chemicals?
It's hard to avoid toxic chemicals that aren't listed on labels, and Dodson added that the companies that sell these products may not even know they're there. Some chemicals, such as nonylphenols and phthalates, can be introduced when the product is put in packaging or at some other part of the production process. Most of the companies whose products were tested are looking into the source of the contamination.
It's hard to avoid toxic chemicals that aren't listed on labels, and Dodson added that the companies that sell these products may not even know they're there. Some chemicals, such as nonylphenols and phthalates, can be introduced when the product is put in packaging or at some other part of the production process. Most of the companies whose products were tested are looking into the source of the contamination.
And
to be fair to these companies, the levels of chemicals found in
non-"green" products were even more alarming. The four conventional
sunscreens tested contained
an average of 22 chemicals each, and the shampoos averaged 11 asthma triggers and hormone-disruptors.
"We
wanted to provide a clearer snapshot of what people might be exposed to,"
she says, adding that the Silent Spring group tested just a sampling of what's
out there. "People are exposed to a wide range of chemicals in everyday
products, but when products aren't fully labeled, we can't make informed
decisions."
Popular
online rating systems like the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep
database, which gives out product safety scores based on the ingredients listed
on the label, aren't much help without adequate label disclosure, either.
So
what can you do? Dodson suggests a few things:
•
Just use less. The
fewer cleaners and personal care products you use, the fewer chemicals you'll
be exposed to, particularly the ones that don't appear on labels.
•
Use sunscreens as a last resort. Rather than panic about all the unknowns in regular or
natural sunscreens, opt for long sleeves and hats and hang out in the shade.
Source:
http://www.rodale.com/natural-and-organic-products?cm_mmc=ABCNews-_-Top%204%20Moisturizers%20For%20Dry%20Skin-_-Article-_-Why%20You%20Cant%20Trust%20The%20Natural%20Labels%20RL
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