Guest guest Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 How Many Chemicals are You Wearing? by Janelle Sorensen A recent study in the UK found that the average woman wears over 500 chemicals on her body every day. Similar to the US, women douse themselves daily with perfume, moisturizer, lotion, and a wide variety of cosmetics that altogether contain hundreds of chemicals. Most of the women were completely oblivious to the number of chemicals they were putting on. Do you know how many you wear? Take a moment to figure it out. Look at the labels of all of the products you use and count how many ingredients are listed. Then, add them all together. Shampoo and conditioner = _______ Lotions and moisturizers = _______ Perfume or cologne = _______ Cosmetics = _______ Hair styling products = _______ Deodorant = _________ Other = ________ TOTAL = _______ Surprised? Most people are. But, don't take this number at face value. Here are some important points to consider: Some of the ingredients may be present in several of your products, so your total number may not reflect the actual number of different chemicals you're exposed to. " Fragrance " is considered a trade secret. So, manufacturers can use a wide variety of chemicals (sometimes over one hundred) to make up their signature scent, but they don't have to list them in the ingredients. Given this fact, the total number of chemicals you're wearing may be much larger than what you think it is. All of the chemicals in personal care products are not bad, but there are a significant amount of commonly used ingredients that are especially risky to your health. Avoid products that contain: " parabens " (Methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and butyl-parabens), coal tar colors (FD & C Blue 1, Green 3, Yellow 5 & 6; D & C Red 33), Diethanolamine (cocamide DEA, TEA and MEA are related ingredients that can be contaminated with DEA), Nonoxynol or nonylphenol ethoxylate, phthalates (can be listed as DEHP, DHP, or DBP5 or hidden in " fragrance " ), DMDM hydantoin, triclosan, sodum lauryl and laureth sulfates, toluene, formaldehyde, PEGs, and anything with " glycol " or " methyl. " Learn more about these chemicals and find safer products in the Environmental Working Group's Buying Guide and print a Healthy Shopping Pocket Guide, so you always have the information on hand. Link To Original Article: http://tinyurl.com/yahndkh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.