Sorry if I’m sounding like a broken record on this issue of toxins in our environment, but here’s a great article on the subject that appeared in today’s newspaper. I wrote an article two years ago for the paper on the same subject. Researching it was truly an eye-opener. I found there is very little regulation of the chemicals that go into personal care products. You can’t assume that just because it’s on the shelves or marketed as natural or formulated for babies that it’s safe. Lotions were the most consternating to me. Almost all of them have chemicals. But a blurb I read from a Spanish fashion model in a magazine gave me the perfect solution: olive oil. Now it’s my moisturizer of choice for myself and my children. It absorbs quite quickly, is inexpensive and is so pure you can eat it!

The cost of beauty: Most personal-care products are toxic

by Nancy Utter

Is beauty only skin deep? Maybe, but the creams, lotions and shampoos we put on our skin daily go deeper than the skin and into our bloodstream and organs.

The toxicity of body-care products is an important health issue. There is a cumulative, toxic effect from products most of us use every day.

The toxicity of body-care products is an important health issue. There is a cumulative, toxic effect from products most of us use every day.

Your skin is like a sponge and will absorb what you put on it. Substances absorbed from the skin go into the bloodstream, which carries them throughout the body. Most toothpaste, skin lotions, sunscreens, shampoos, conditioners, soaps and cosmetics contain toxic substances you do not want in your body. All of these products also end up in our waterways to affect us a second time when we use the water. Any plants or animals that come into contact with the water also are affected.

The following three chemicals are so common in body-care products that you will have to work hard to find products without them. This list is a small sample, and there are many more. Resources that can help you find safe personal-care products are listed at the end of this column.

Oxbenzone – This chemical is found in sunscreens, lip balms, lipstick, facial moisturizers, conditioners, anti-aging creams and fragrances. It is called a “penetration enhancer” because it helps other chemicals enter into the skin. It has been linked to allergies, hormone disruption, cell damage and low birth weights in babies exposed in utero.

Parabens – They’re found in shampoo, moisturizers, shaving gels, toothpaste, personal lubricants, topical pharmaceuticals and tanning sprays. Parabens are preservatives that have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Parabens have been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as having estrogenic activity in the human body. They belong to a dangerous class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors. Parabens have hormone-like effects in body tissues.

Most of the products that contain parabens end up going down the drain and into our rivers and oceans where they affect the reproductive systems of every being they come into contact with. The EPA has stated that “continual introduction of parabens into sewage-treatment systems and directly into recreational waters from the skin is a serious risk to aquatic organisms.”

Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) – This detergent is found in almost all beauty-care products, including shampoo, soap, toothpaste, hair coloring, tooth-whitening products, foundation, body washes and most cleansers. SLS has been proven to cause canker sores and dry mouth. It is an irritant and drying agent that builds up in heart, liver, lung and brain tissue from skin exposure.

There are some great resources you can use to assess the toxicity of products you are using and to find products that are safe. The Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) has a site called Skin Deep (www.cosmetics database.com) that rates many body-care products according to their toxicity levels. It is information you can use to choose safe body-care products. Using safe products will protect your health and nourish your body and the environment.

drnancy@durangonaturalmedicine.comNancy Utter is a naturopathic doctor who completed a five-year training program at Bastyr University in Seattle. She works in Durango with people of all ages and varying illnesses. Green Medicine appears the second Monday of each month.

I am so thrilled that Nicholas Kristof is using his bully pulpit at The New York Times to sound the alarm on toxins in our environment. Everyday the evidence mounts that many common household products contain toxins that could be damaging to our children’s development. Kristof’s column today discusses evidence of a possible link between toxins and autism, the rising prevalence of which has alarmed and vexed researchers. Kristof notes that Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey is leading an effort to draft legislation that would strengthen the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Senator Lautenberg says that under existing law, of 80,000 chemicals registered in the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency has required safety testing of only 200. “Our children have become test subjects,” he noted.

While the legislation would definitely be a step in the right direction, parents should take steps now to try and reduce their children’s exposure to harmful chemicals. This includes not microwaving food in plastic containers, using personal care products that are phthalate-free and avoiding most plastics marked at the bottom as 3, 6 and 7. Non-stick pans, especially at high temperatures, also have been found to release toxins.

A great source for more information on this subject is the Environmental Working Group.