Happy New Year's eve! As so many around the world will reach for special products and makeup and lotions to get ready to party tonight... so many of these products will be full of toxic ingredients.
(photo, above, via Flickr here)
A recent survey by the David Suzuki Foundation invited Canadians to "pull back the shower curtain and report...about potentially harmful ingredients that may be lurking in their soaps, shampoos, and lotions." Participants were asked to check their personal care products for the "Dirty Dozen" list of ingredients linked to both environmental + health concerns, including allergies (even severe ones), asthma, and even cancer.
Of the 6,000+ people who participated, they found about 80% of the 12,500 products reportedly contained at least one of the Dirty Dozen ingredients. More than 1,0000 products had no ingredient list. No way to check if there was "fragrance" (often synthetic and toxic) included!
Not such pretty findings at all. And not surprising - the overwhelming presence of toxins in personal care products precipitated the creation of my one of my favorite go-to places, the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database, where products can be searched for potential problems, and even entire categories can be searched if you don't know what product to choose. Something I have to check out again soon as I search for a least-toxic diaper cream for the new baby.
If you're a Canadian like me, the Suzuki study points to the need for our own cosmetics laws to be strengthened to protect our health and environment. Transparency is a vital first step - complete lists of ingredients on the outside of each personal care product are, it seems, a basic minimum.
I'm with you on this. We've just made the switch. I was waiting after xmas because I had asked my mother-in-law "safe, fragrance free, organic bath product" for my kiddies, and apparently she couldn't find it in her regular shopping place, so I went to our local co-op place and bought shampoo for both little ones and grown ups in our family. Cost a little more, but feels so much safer!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I have to add: Johnson's now have a "natural" line of product... Really, they just changed the with or lavender bottle for a green one. Thanks market for greenwashing....