Pretty toxic

After reading Sandy Long’s informative articles in the April 3 and 10 issues of this newspaper exposing how pharmaceuticals enter our drinking water, I began to think about the health and beauty aids in my medicine cabinet. Whatever concoctions I slather on my body, daub on my face or lather in my hair in the name of beauty end up in the water we all drink. I wondered as well about their effect on my body.

By way of a non-scientific inquiry, I grabbed the bottle of innocently named green tea and alfalfa shampoo and read the label. The first item on the list of ingredients was water. No problem there. But then came “ammonium lauryl sulfate, lauramide DEA, ammonium lauryl sulfosuccinate” followed by a long list of unpronounceable words which ended with “methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, D&C Yellow No. 10, D&C Green No. 5, D&C Orange No. 4.”

Methyl-chloro-what?! This stuff can’t be good for me or for the environment.

My computer research revealed that some of the most common substances in health and beauty products are definitively harmful, while the dangers of others are more controversial, depending on the web site you read.

For example, parabens are synthetic preservatives found in shampoos, make-up foundations, moisturizers, shaving gels, toothpaste and even food. They have a chemical structure similar to estrogen that may interfere with production of the body’s natural hormones and have potential links to cancer.

Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is a detergent used in most shampoos, bath and shower gels. It’s what makes the suds. It is also used in garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers. It cleans by corrosion, meaning that it eats away at whatever is on the surface. (My skin doesn’t have much in common with a cement garage floor. Not yet, anyway.) Regulated as a pesticide, SLS is a skin and eye irritant and a suspected gastrointestinal or liver toxicant. While not a recognized carcinogen, SLS is frequently combined with TEA (triethanolamine), DEA (diethanolamine), or MEA (monnoethanolamine), which can cause the formation of carcinogenic nitrosames.

According to the Organic Consumers Association ( oca.org ), ethoxylation provides mildness to harsh ingredients. If a product contains ethoxylation it also contains a cancer-causing petrochemical called ethylene oxide, which generates 1,4-Dioxane as a by-product. California considers 1,4-Dioxane a cancer-causing agent, and the California EPA names it a kidney toxicant, neurotoxicant and respiratory toxicant and a leading groundwater contaminant. OCA recently reported that even some products labeled “organic” contain 1,4-Dioxane. Visit their web site for more information.

Before long I was bleary-eyed, aware of the monumental task I would face if I decided to check every chemical name on every product label in my bathroom.

The Cancer Prevention Coalition states that the cosmetics industry is the least regulated industry under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Cosmetic Ingredient Review, an agency established and funded by the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association, is responsible for studying the potential effects of the ingredients in our personal care products. How unbiased are their studies? The Environmental Working Group ( ewg.org ) states: “In its near 30-year history, the industry’s panel has reviewed just 11 percent of the 10,500 cosmetic ingredients cataloged by FDA. The 89 percent of ingredients that remain unassessed are used in more than 99 percent of all products on the market.”

The FDA has banned or restricted only nine personal care product ingredients. The European Union has banned 450.

Groundwater.org suggests using products with ingredients that will biodegrade in the environment, like lemon juice or baking soda. I use Dr. Bronner’s castile soap for my face and hair, and olive oil or sesame oil on my skin.

In next month’s column I will explore more alternatives for chemically laden products that pollute the environment.