Everyday personal care products such as soap, shampoo, deodorant and make-up contain chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other serious health consequences. Likewise most candles contain a highly toxic cocktail of petrochemicals and synthetic chemiclas. National, EU and international legislation of chemicals is incredibly lax, allowing extensive amounts of dangerous chemicals to be used in body and household products.

There is a system in place for evaluating new chemicals but there are already on the market over 100 000 chemicals and very little is known about the impact they may have on our health and the environment. To try to assess at least some of these chemicals the European Commission will implement the REACH legislation in mid-2007 – the Regulation, Evaluation & Authorisation of Chemicals. Although this is a welcomed step it fails to adequately address consumer exposure to these chemicals and the need to phase them out.

Not only is testing limited and subjective, there is little published monitoring of health and environmental effects of the potent combining of chemicals which can produce disproportionately dangerous levels of toxicity, and labelling requirements are inadequate.

Our skin and hair soaks up over 60% of a body product used, which then enters into our blood stream. The remainder is washed off, which then proceeds to pollute our waterways and land. When choosing what to use, a safer approach is to buy what you would eat – after all, that is exactly what your skin is doing.

Chemicals of concern fall into one or more of the following categories:

  1. Bioaccumulative – these chemicals are not easily eliminated by the body but tend to build up and can be passed on along the food chain. Human body fat is often at the top of that food chain – and their final resting place.
  2. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) – they can be mistaken by the body for its natural hormones and can therefore interfere with the bodies’ natural functions.
  3. Persistent – they are not easily destroyed in the environment so they can stay around for a long time.
  4. Toxic – chemicals known to be harmful, poisonous or deadly.

Beware of terms such as “natural” when used on body-care packaging; lax marketing legislation stiplulates only 1% of a product has to be naturally derived for that term to be used.

Greenpeace has a useful site that you can search for particular products or chemical ingredients. Go to greenpeace.org.uk/Products, use the search box to enter the brand name or chemical you want to know about.

See also:
chemical-cocktail.org
WaterSense
Skindeep

Alkyloamides

Identified on skin-care product labels as:
Diethanolamine (DEA)
Monoethanolamine (MEA)
Triethanolamine (TEA)
and sometimes preceded by ‘co-camide’.

Primarily used as a foam-booster in shampoos, but can also be used as thickening or binding agents, triethanolamine is used as a pH balancer. Some evidence suggests that they can be skin irritants. In addition, alkyloamides contain a free amine that can combine with formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in cosmetics, and there is concern that they may form nitrosamines which are carcinogenic.

Essential Oils

Up to 95% of an artificial fragrance is derived from petrochemicals, most of which can contain up to 600 separate chemicals which have been proven to be toxic (see Parfum below). Essential oils are a precious commodity obtained through highly labour-intensive processes. It takes over 225lbs of rose petals to produce only 4 tablespoons of oil.

Essential oils are the vital essence of aromatic plants. They contain the therapeutic properties of the plant in concentrated form, and each essential oil has its own individual characteristics and benefits that can affect our sense of well-being and state of mind.

Soy Wax

Soy wax, used as an environmentally friendly alternative to paraffin in the making of candles, is non-toxic – unlike paraffin which has been proven by the US Environmental Protection Agency to emit carcinogens. Soy wax emits significantly less smoke than paraffin candles and does not contain Black Soot Deposit (BSD), typical of paraffin-based candles. Research has shown that BSD is harmful to your health, as well as to your home and furnishings. Not only does soy wax burn cleaner, it also burns longer than paraffin wax candles.

Parabens (butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben)

Parabens are used as preservatives. Parabens are endocrine disrupting chemicals and are bioaccumulative. They interfere with the endocrine system of gland-secreted hormones which orchestrate much of the body’s functions and growth, placing children and babies at particular risk. Use of underarm cosmetics that include parabens as part of the ingredient makeup have recently been linked to breast cancer after appearing in tumour samples.

Parfum

There is no legislation in place to ensure that the ingredients used to create ‘parfum’ are listed. Thus, the ‘parfum’ (also just referred to as ‘perfume’) can be a toxic mix of undesirable chemicals, artificial musks and synthetic preservatives, including phthalates. See below for more on Phthalates.

Artificial (or synthetic) fragrances are now added to a variety of products, including soaps, perfumes, body lotions, laundry detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners and air fresheners.

There are three main groups of musks that are commonly used as perfume enhancers: nitro musks, polycyclic musks and macrocyclic musks. Musk xylene (a nitro musk) is a particular problem as a widespread contaminant of the environment. Polycyclic musks are thought to less environmentally damaging than nitro musks but they are also persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic.

The best way of avoiding parfum is to buy unfragranced products, or those that are scented with essential oils or natural plant ingredients.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

POPs are chemical substances that persist in the environment, are bioaccumulative, are persistent, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. With the evidence of long-range transport of these substances to regions where they have never been used or produced and the consequent threats they pose to the environment of the whole globe, the international community has now, at several occasions called for urgent global actions to reduce and eliminate releases of these chemicals. Traces of POPs have been found as far afield in polar bears in the Arctic and in the breast milk of Inuit women.

There are over 140 POP chemicals of ‘high concern’ which the EU has identified. Various non-governmental organisations including Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund, are calling for tighter restrictions and bans on certain synthetic chemicals.

Phthalates

A family of approx 120 industrial chemicals that are used as plastic softeners or solvents in many different consumer products such as toys and vinyl flooring, and also used in perfumes, hairsprays and wood finishes.

Phthalates are bioaccumulative, persistent and endocrine disrupting chemicals. They interfere with the endocrine system of gland-secreted hormones that orchestrate much of the body’s functions and growth.

In the EU, two of the common phthalates were banned in 2004. A temporary ban on six phthalates, in toys that could be placed in the mouth by babies, was made permanent in July 2005 due to concern over exposure to their toxicity during child development. However, adult sex toys and many other products escape legislation and remain largely unregulated despite widespread concern. They are suspected endocrine disruptors and have been implicated in feminisation and other reproductive problems in wildlife.

The most dangerous are:
butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP)
di(n-butyl) phthalate (DBP)
di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)
di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP)
di-isononyl phthalate (DINP)
di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP)

Sodium Lauryl(eth) Sulphate (SLS)

Sodium Lauryl (or Laureth) Sulphate (SLS) is a detergent which is included as a foaming agent to clean and make bubbles in a huge variety of commonly used products. These include shampoos, soaps, face and body washes, toothpaste, washing up & laundry detergents and also industrial cleansing chemicals such as engine degreasers. There are many derivatives of SLS that can be found in commercial preparations, including sodium laureth sulphate, sodium laureth-3 sulphate, and DEA or TEA sodium lauryl sulphate. Although these derivatives may vary slightly, the general action and effects are essentially similar.

A solution of just 2% SLS can increase skin thickness, cause irritation, inflammation and increase other forms of immune activity in the skin. Some shampoos can contain more than 50% SLS.

A major concern about SLS is the effect that it has when used in combination with other ingredients commonly found in personal care products. SLS has the potential to react with other ingredients to form nitrosamines, which are known to be carcinogenic.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Found in most homes in plastics, paint and varnishes, which can give off vapour after application. VOCs are endocrine disrupting chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system of gland-secreted hormones that orchestrate much of the body’s functions and growth, placing children and babies at particular risk.