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Loading...Beauty Products May Be Slowly Killing You
Scientists from four institutions (Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and University of Michigan School of Public Health) have come to the same conclusion as the Swedish researchers I reported on in Lipstick or Diabetes? The personal care products sold to us as body- and beauty-enhancing aids are contributing to the sharp increase in diabetes.
The new study analyzed urine samples from 2,350 women, aged 20 to 80. Participants were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2001 and 2008. Even after controlling for sociodemographic, behavioral and dietary factors, the researchers found that women with more phthalates in their urine were more likely to have reported diabetes.
Those with the highest level of two phthalates (mono-benzyl and mono-isobutyl) in their urine had twice the risk of diabetes of those with the lowest levels. Two others (di-2-ethylhexyl and mono-n-butyl) were associated with a 70 percent increased risk, and mono-(3-carboxypropyl) phthalate with a 60 percent increased risk.
These are not the first two studies to link phthalates with health consequences. Care2 Causes bloggers have reported on a number of them:
- Annie Urban wrote about University of Missouri study that showed BPA exposure is greater than previously understood.
- Joel Boyce posted the results of a Harvard School of Public Health study that found, “If you regularly eat from containers made of the hard, polycarbonate plastic, you will get BPA into your body.”
- Kristina Chew reported on a University of California at San Francisco study that found phthalates and other chemicals, some of them banned, in 99 percent of pregnant women.
- I reported on a Swedish study that linked phthalates in personal care products with a doubling of the risk of developing diabetes.
Phthalates are so widespread that anyone who uses cosmetics, fragrances, moisturizers, soaps, nail polishes, hair spray or other personal care products may be playing with loaded dice. And the dice are loaded with diabetes.
Avoiding phthalates entirely is nearly impossible. If you want to lessen your exposure, shop in stores that carry safer products and inform yourself through some of the many online guides such as those published by the Environmental Working Group. Consumers can wield power in the marketplace when they demand change.
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Read more: ban bpa, BPA, diabetes, health, phthalates, plastic, plastic pollution
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It's just skin deep
Enuff said:
http://www.natural-health-restored.com/food-additives.html
great article, thanks!
This is one of the reasons why I am such an avid fan of the company LUSH... they've just started making beauty products, (such as lipsticks, mascara, eye liners, blushers, etc.,) and have been making naturally based, sustainable, mostly organic, non-animal tested bath and body products since the late nineties. They don't have a lot of stores out, (there's a few here, okay, more than a few, in Chicago where I live,) but you can order online from them at www.lush.com ... Here's the kicker, though, the prices are insane crazy. I don't know, to me, they are, or at least competitive with the high end market stuff, (department store brands,) maybe not quite that high in price, but you get what you pay for. Just for the simple idea that they use sustainable methods, don't test their products on animals and have a conscience as a corporation has made me a lifelong fan.
I guess my comment was cut off and due to the extreme latency of appearance of comments, I didn't realize it was cut off until days later....trying to remember what I said.....
As for food additives...they don't belong in our food and we have to fight against their use. We don't need colored food or preservatives that give it a 5 yr shelf life! We should be eating organic whole foods and not food that has the nutrients processed out and toxins added to make it palatable.
My immune system was permanently damaged from infancy because my mother had her beauty salon in our home...so I know first hand how dangerous toxic chemicals in beauty products are. I'm in my 60s now and have lived with the damage all of my life. They just didn't know better in the 50s...but we DO know better now and should believe it when we see warnings.
The FDA is a joke and they get paid off to approve things that shouldn't be added to our food or used on our skin....so don't trust a product just because the FDA approved it. They also approved the use of thalidomide to prevent nausea in pregnant women in the early 60s...until babies were born without limbs because of it. I don't trust the FDA at all!
Linda, with all due respect, there are over 600 known carcinogens in perfumes. There are books published about the dangers of chemicals in beauty products.
If someone has chemical sensitivities there CAN be deaths from the use of cosmetics....just because you haven't heard of them, does not mean they don't exist.
I was almost hospitalized for anaphylaxis when a co-worker came to the office wearing Giorgio perfume...and had severe asthma attacks from moisturizers before I figured out what caused them. I also get dermatitis from beauty products and don't use them. I make my own.
If someone has an allergy to colophony, they can have severe allergic reactions to almost every beauty product made...and colophony goes by about 70 different names, but it's derived from pine resin and used by almost every beauty product manufacturer as a thickener, plasticizer and it's what makes lipstick stick to your lips.
Saying that chemicals are not dangerous is a very irresponsible thing to do. If you've been using them for long, your health should be monitored carefully because you're on the fast track to cancer.
The skin is like a sponge and it absorbs everything put on it and it is carried into the bloodstream and taken to the organs....where it can do its damage over a number of years. Just ask a real dermatologist.
As for microwaves....the changes to the composition of the molecules occurs at 8 minutes, so don't cook anything for 8 minutes or more.
As for food additives...
To Amber B and Michelle S
....everything is a chemical except for electricity and light. People need to learn about chemistry before blaming everything on their personal care products. Yes, I am going to go on a rant here but I am someone who cares about others and I have worked in the "professional" beauty industry for over 25 years. Meaning I have taken advanced training to get my license as an esthetician. I learned about the physiology of the skin and how skin care ingredients affect the health of your skin. Skin care has been a must for me since I was 12. My skin got irritated with soap and all the other things we were told to use on the skin. It wasn't until I discovered skin care that my face felt and looked healthy.
You should be more concerned about things you ingest...such as food cooked in a microwave. There is a much higher risk of getting cancer from eating food that has been turned into free radicals. Even over cooking your food is not as harmful as the chemical changes that happen in your microwave. Smoking and drinking alcohol is also much more detrimental to your health. Tanning booths...Processed foods...I can go on and on.
I have listened to these witch hunts on ingredients for so many years. There have not been any deaths due to cosmetics in my lifetime and I am 55. And yes, the FDA can intercede if there is a health threat to the public. Because of deaths due to cosmetics in the early part of the 1900's, cosmetics are under the jurisdiction of th
What a shame on the cosmetics Industry.
Wchi w....I also make my own products from clean pure ingredients due to chemical sensitivities, and according to my dermatologist (I see her annually for my body check) my skin is in great shape for my age...and I can assure you it isn't genetic!
It's challenging, as you say, but it's also fun!
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