I am so sick of trying to buy products that I think are healthy and throwing my hands up when I look at the ingredient list. We are essentially blind when we go to the store and reach for something that we think will enhance our beauty or make us smell better. We have no idea what these products contain and the effect they have on our bodies over time or in conjunction with one another. I added a link at the end of this post with some of the more common chemicals found in our personal and household care products and the list is pretty extensive. It does a good job of defining these chemicals and explaining how they affect the human body. We go shopping and buy personal and household care products everyday but do we ever take a look at the ingredients? I bet you have and then looked away because you couldn't even read what was written. What is the point of reading the ingredients on the bottle if none of it makes sense? Maybe if we knew what to look for then we could have an easier time navigating our way around the countless numbers of products containing harmful synthetic chemicals.
Synthetic chemicals number on the hundred of thousands at this point and they are in so many products its dizzying. They are made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource whose extraction, refining and transportation can cause major environmental degradation. Manufacture of synthetics is also often an energy intensive process that may introduce a variety of toxic chemicals into air and water. Many do not readily biodegrade and thus bioaccumulate in the environment. But that is just the environmental impact. What about the human impact?
I first learned about Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) or Sodium Laureth Sulfate back when I worked for a CPG company that makes personal care products. The chemical is found in toothpaste, bodywash, shampoos and soaps. In the cleaning industry SLS is used in garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers, car-wash soaps, etc. It is very corrosive and readily attacks greasy surfaces. It affects the body the same way by "degreasing" and stripping the skin of any natural oils that may be present. The chemical is also absorbed into the skin and liver and can react with ingredients in other skin care products forming nitrates which are potential cancer-causing carcinogens. Scary enough for you? Now check all your shampoos, soaps and toothpastes and look for SLS. It won't take you long to find it.
There are alternative products that do not contain this chemical but it may take you some time to get used to them. Once hooked on Pantene, one can never really appreciate a chemical free shampoo. You may feel like its not "lathering up" as much or its not getting your hair "squeaky clean". We are so programmed to equate these "cleansing cues" to health and cleanliness but in actuality we are contaminating ourselves. I have mentioned before that I use Shi Kai products. They have a line of soaps, shampoos, conditioners and creams without this harmful chemical and they WORK. We need to re-train ourselves to feel clean without absorbing SLS.
I won't go into detail about the plethora of other chemicals found in everyday products but here is a list of the more common ones. Print it out and find them in your products today. Get comfortable with what they do and how they can be harmful. Try to buy products not containing them at all. In fact, try to buy products with the least amount of ingredients as possible. I know this may be hard and even expensive, but if we weren't so obsessed with beauty in the first place, there wouldn't be a market for these kind of products. No one is monitoring how these chemicals interact with each other and that is the scariest reason of all not to use any product containing synthetic chemicals. I realize that its truly impossible to rid yourself completely of them, but by taking steps you can definitely reduce your intake. Baby steps.....
Here is a link to the LIST:
http://www.healthy-communications.com/ingredientstoavoid.html
Synthetic chemicals number on the hundred of thousands at this point and they are in so many products its dizzying. They are made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource whose extraction, refining and transportation can cause major environmental degradation. Manufacture of synthetics is also often an energy intensive process that may introduce a variety of toxic chemicals into air and water. Many do not readily biodegrade and thus bioaccumulate in the environment. But that is just the environmental impact. What about the human impact?
I first learned about Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) or Sodium Laureth Sulfate back when I worked for a CPG company that makes personal care products. The chemical is found in toothpaste, bodywash, shampoos and soaps. In the cleaning industry SLS is used in garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers, car-wash soaps, etc. It is very corrosive and readily attacks greasy surfaces. It affects the body the same way by "degreasing" and stripping the skin of any natural oils that may be present. The chemical is also absorbed into the skin and liver and can react with ingredients in other skin care products forming nitrates which are potential cancer-causing carcinogens. Scary enough for you? Now check all your shampoos, soaps and toothpastes and look for SLS. It won't take you long to find it.
There are alternative products that do not contain this chemical but it may take you some time to get used to them. Once hooked on Pantene, one can never really appreciate a chemical free shampoo. You may feel like its not "lathering up" as much or its not getting your hair "squeaky clean". We are so programmed to equate these "cleansing cues" to health and cleanliness but in actuality we are contaminating ourselves. I have mentioned before that I use Shi Kai products. They have a line of soaps, shampoos, conditioners and creams without this harmful chemical and they WORK. We need to re-train ourselves to feel clean without absorbing SLS.
I won't go into detail about the plethora of other chemicals found in everyday products but here is a list of the more common ones. Print it out and find them in your products today. Get comfortable with what they do and how they can be harmful. Try to buy products not containing them at all. In fact, try to buy products with the least amount of ingredients as possible. I know this may be hard and even expensive, but if we weren't so obsessed with beauty in the first place, there wouldn't be a market for these kind of products. No one is monitoring how these chemicals interact with each other and that is the scariest reason of all not to use any product containing synthetic chemicals. I realize that its truly impossible to rid yourself completely of them, but by taking steps you can definitely reduce your intake. Baby steps.....
Here is a link to the LIST:
http://www.healthy-communications.com/ingredientstoavoid.html
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