In popular consumer culture, we spend a lot of time discussing what to eat and put into our bodies, but often pay less attention to the products we put onto our bodies. This is a huge oversight when it comes to our personal well-being.
Considering that skin is the largest organ we possess and also one of the most porous, the products and chemicals we expose it to can have massive repercussions on our health over time. Everyday common body products are often the biggest culprits when it comes to exposure to chemicals and preservatives that are proven or suspected to cause harm to human health. These can include skin irritants, carcinogens, and hormonal or endocrine disrupters.
To choose better body products, the best thing we can do is educate ourselves.
First, look beyond the labels. Don’t be fooled by bold marketing and branding terms such as natural, organic, herbal or healthy unless they are backed up. The regulations for naming body products vary and it’s important to bypass taglines and scour a product’s list of ingredients to then avoid the nastiest ones.
Overwhelmed? Start with primary body products such as shampoo and conditioners, soap, moisturizers, toothpaste and deodorant. Then move on to additional beauty products such as cosmetics, colognes, nail and hair styling goods.
Next, know what to look for. Fragrances, foaming agents, colours, preservatives and petroleum derivatives are commonly the nastiest ingredients in body care products.
The David Suzuki Foundation has compiled a The Dirty Dozen list of toxic ingredients in everyday body-beauty products linked to threatening our health and/or the environment. These include: BHA and BHT (preservatives); P-phenylenediamine (coal tar dyes); DEA-related ingredients (foaming agents); Dibutyl phthalate (a plasticizer); Formaldehyde-releasing agents (preservatives); Paraben, methylparaben, butylparaben and propylparaben (preservatives); Parfum (synthetic fragrance); PEGs (cream base); Petrolatum (moisture barrier); Siloxanes (moisturizer); Sodium laureth sulfate (foaming agent); and Triclosan (antibacterial). For more detailed information (and a handy pocket guide to take shopping) search “dirty dozen” at davidsuzuki.org.
The U.S.-based Environ-mental Working Group also has a vast cosmetic database for making smarter choices in body products. See ewg.org/skindeep.
Want to take your toxicity sleuthing to the next level? There is a popular Canadian app called Think Dirty that you can load onto your phone or mobile device to scan the product code of everyday body-beauty products to hunt for dangerous ingredients. Developed by Lily Tse, the free app will rate your product on a “dirty meter” and also list any potentially dangerous ingredients so you can make more informed choices about what to buy. Download it for free on iTunes.
