Cleanliness is Next to Deathliness

I recently read the young readers version of “Fast Food Nation” entitled, “Chew On This,” by Eric Schlosser. In it he talks about how bad fast food is for you and why its preparation is so much different than the meal you might get from mamma’s kitchen. When you read a book like “Chew On This,” more often than not you might have the same reaction President Theodore Roosevelt did after reading Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle,” which is he threw up. Certainly after I read that book and having seen the documentary “Super Size Me,” I’ve taken to staying away from fast food, even going so far as to shout “Evil!” a la Abe “Grandpa” Simpson whenever I see those oh so familiar golden arches beckoning me to taste a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. (I’ve also adopted a wheat free diet but that’s a whole other story)

One can find all kinds of material spelling out the devilry of fast food and how it is causing a plague of obesity around the world. There’s at least dozens of books on shelves in every chain bookstore at this very moment covering food topics ranging from hidden hazards to every variation of diet imaginable. Now if you are into putting some years back on your life, you might very well read any one of those books, follow it religiously, hit the gym 4 – 5 times a week and go to sleep thinking that today you lived a very healthy day.

But here’s a question for you: Did you brush your teeth today? Men, did you shave your face? Ladies, did you put on makeup? Did you use styling gels, deodorants, hairsprays, or colognes? Did you bother to take a shower and use soap? If you did any of the above then you may have exposed yourself to a toxic, cancer causing substance. Yes it’s true; beauty products from makeup to dental care have ingredients that can cause cancer, autoimmune disorders, reproductive failures and even respiratory problems such as asthma.

Makeup is the most common culprit, as a new study out of the UK tells us:

The study discovered that every day the average woman applies 175 different chemicals to her body in the form of cosmetics and toiletries.

And out of those 175 cosmetic products, most of them contain a cocktail of different chemicals - many of which have been linked to various health problems.

The list of potentially harmful ingredients in everyday cosmetics includes chemicals linked to cancers, hormone problems and skin-irritations.

"Some of the chemicals in everyday toiletries may trigger irritant reactions or allergy. Reactions are particularly seen in patients with atopic eczema and those with sensitive skin,” the Daily Mail quoted Professor David Gawkrodger, a consultant dermatologist and spokesman for the British Skin Foundation charity, as saying.

"Most reactions will be to the face or hands, and sometimes on the arms and legs," he added.

The article goes on to list three particular ingredients that are damaging to consumers:

Preserving agents called parabens often used in moisturisers and body creams have been linked to breast cancer and also to skin inflammations.

Foaming agents such as sodium lauryl sulphate and sodium laureth sulphate used in shampoos are said to be skin irritants.

And lastly the disinfectant formaldehyde in shampoos and hand wash can make skin flare up and is linked to asthma and headaches.

Now my wife loves to put on makeup and use all kinds of other products to assist in maximizing her image. She was actually the one who forwarded me this article, which in turn got me thinking about what other dangers might be lurking in our bathroom.

According to the Environmental Working Group, there are a ton of products on the market with sundry toxic elements that are dangerous to human health. These are not strange and hard to find products either. For example, the EWG cites Gillette shaving cream as one of the most toxic on the market.

Gillette contains BUTANE, QUATERNIUM-15, CARRAGEENAN, ISOBUTANE (ingredients potentially contaminated with impurities linked to cancer or other significant health problems), TRIETHANOLAMINE (ingredient in chemical group called amines, that can form carcinogenic nitrosamine compounds, on the skin or in the body after absorption, if mixed with nitrosating agents - ingredient thought to possibly cause cancer in humans), FRAGRANCE (1 ingredient listed as "fragrance" - unspecified mixture of chemicals that have been linked to potential for immune and nervous system toxicity), BHT, BUTANE, QUATERNIUM-15, PROPANE, ISOBUTANE, TRIETHANOLAMINE (ingredients with potential to instigate immune system response that can include itching, burning, scaling, hives, and blistering of skin (sensitization)), TRIETHANOLAMINE (ingredient with potential to cause immune system response resulting in asthma attacks or other problems with the lungs and airways (lung sensitization)), BHT, QUATERNIUM-15, TRIETHANOLAMINE(ingredients potentially harmful to the immune system), BHT, SODIUM BENZOATE (ingredients posing potential gastrointestinal or liver toxicity hazards), BHT, SODIUM BENZOATE (ingredients posing potential kidney toxicity hazards), BHT, BUTANE, PROPANE, ISOBUTANE, SODIUM BENZOATE (ingredients posing neurotoxicity hazards), QUATERNIUM-15, SODIUM BENZOATE (ingredients posing cardiovascular or blood toxicity hazards), BHT, PROPANE, TRIETHANOLAMINE (ingredients posing respiratory toxicity hazards), BHT, QUATERNIUM-15, TRIETHANOLAMINE, SODIUM BENZOATE (ingredients posing skin or sense organ toxicity hazards) and propane which is not only considered toxic in one or more government assessments but is also a potential hazards for occupational exposures.

I get up in the morning and shave my face so that I can look professional on the job and kiss my wife without scarring her face with my five o’clock shadow and now I’m going to get cancer for my troubles. But that is nothing compared to my wife’s dilemma as she is a hair stylists daughter, one that has been exposed to all kinds of deadly products, namely OPI Top Coat. I realize this may mainly be read by men so let me explain what top coat is. Top Coat is a nail polish sealant. It gives a woman’s nails a nice glossy shine. Trust me fellas, it is important stuff to the ladies.

OPI Top Coat contains Butyl Acetate, Toluene, Acrylates Copolymer, Ethyl Acetate, Dibutyl Phthalate, Primary Amyl Acetate, Tosylamide, Formaldehyde Resin, Nitrocellulose, Cellulose Acetate, Butyrate, Isopropyl, Isopropyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Benzophenone-1, CI 60725. Some or all of these ingredients can cause Gastrointestinal or liver toxicity hazards, Neurotoxicity hazards, Respiratory toxicity hazards, Skin or sense organ toxicity hazards, risks to human reproduction and development, linked to potential for reduced fertility or reduced chance for a healthy, full-term pregnancy, immune disorders and of course cancer.

You might be asking yourself, but what about the FDA? Surely the Food and Drug Administration tests for this sort of thing and wouldn’t allow grooming and beauty products to contain hazardous material. Much like other elements of big business, truth is stranger than fiction.

EWG reports that, ”Grossly underfunded and encumbered by a cosmetic safety law that renders the Agency nearly impotent, FDA's cosmetic office has no standing cosmetic review safety committee, cannot require testing of products or ingredients, cannot require companies to report injuries or even deaths from the use of their products, and cannot force companies to recall harmful products (FDA 1995). Instead, the Agency sends a liaison to the industry's safety panel meetings to observe and comment… According to the agency that regulates cosmetics, the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, "...a cosmetic manufacturer may use almost any raw material as a cosmetic ingredient and market the product without an approval from FDA" (FDA 1995). The industry's self-policing safety panel falls far short of compensating for the lack of government oversight. An EWG analysis found that in its 30-year history, the industry's self-policing safety panel has reviewed the safety of just 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products. FDA does no systematic reviews of safety. And collectively, the ingredients in personal care products account for one of every seven of the 75,000 chemicals industries have registered for commercial use with the Environmental Protection Agency.”

So there you have it folks. The cosmetic industry polices itself and of course manufactures cheaper products by using ingredients harmful to its customers. The bigger issue here is that people such as my wife, with a life history of all kinds of unexplained disorders, to myself with no history, everyday put themselves at risk buying products that we assume are safe to consume. I certainly don’t go to the nearest supermarket looking for shaving cream that’s going to give me cancer or toothpaste that will cause me to have a low sperm count. My wife doesn’t put on makeup so she can contract an autoimmune disorder and slowly fall apart. Because we as Americans typically don’t take the time to use the internet as I have today, to research the products I consume for the purposes of trying to eliminate health hazards from my life, we have invited corporate interests to slowly mug and murder us. In short, rather than playing around on MySpace.com, take the 10 minutes of time it took me to find this article and the back up information and make sure you are buying products that will cause you the least amount of harm. Like my pappy used to say, fight back with your pocketbook.

For more information on how you can get involved in fighting against carcinogenic personal care items contact Safecosmetics.org or you can write your nearest congressman on this important issue.