http://www.care2.com/greenliving/green-girl-disposes-of-endocrine-disruptors.html
Green Girl Disposes of Endocrine Disrupters
I know how it goes, ladies. You wake up for your 10:30 class (so early!), roll out of bed, throw on some clothes, brush your teeth, and glance in the mirror–only to be horrified. You think, “I’ll just put on a little makeup so that I look at least presentable.” You brush on some powder or rub on some tinted moisturizer, throw on a bit of blush, and quickly brush mascara through your eyelashes. Quick and easy, gets the job done, right? Perfect for those early a.m. classes. Later you might shower, put on some clothes that do not consist of only sweat material, and redo your makeup.
I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound at all out of the ordinary for me, or for my roommate. Nor, apparently, is it out of the ordinary for a large number of teen girls. A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently found that teen girls use on average 17 personal care products per day. This takes into account moisturizers, shampoos, conditioners, makeup, perfume, and face wash. This made me wonder, how many products do I use? Well, some days I really only use six, more often, nine, and if I’m feeling ambitious, 13 or 14. Ah! I’m kind of freaking out right now, because I had no idea how much I relied on beauty care products. Oh, my.
The EWG was not simply curious about the number of products teen girls use today, they were more interested in the effects of these products. First of all, they found that the average teen girl uses nearly 50 percent more products daily than the average adult woman (17 vs. 12). Second of all, they found that, because of this enhanced product usage, the average teen girl has approximately 13 endocrine disrupters in her body. And what’s the big deal about endocrine disrupters, anyway? Well, they happen to be synthetic chemicals that mimic hormones (in girls, estrogen), disrupting natural bodily functions. Uh-oh!
There’s more. Because the teen years are when a girl’s body is maturing and hormones are all a fluster, there is no worse time for her to be plaguing her body with endocrine disrupters. So not only are teens exposing themselves to huge numbers of disrupters, they are also more susceptible to the effects.
The four most common endocrine disrupters found in teenage girls are phthalates, triclosan, parabens and musks. Of these, phthalates are commonly found in nail polish, hair spray, and shampoo and, in addition to being endocrine disruptors, have been linked to liver cancer. Triclosan is in most hand sanitizers and hand soaps. Musks are chemicals in many synthetic fragrances. The most shocking discovery in EWG’s research is that literally every girl tested had both methylparabens and propylparabens present in their bodies. Parabens are a kind of chemical preservative, and so are found in nearly every beauty product imaginable: Shampoo, deodorant, conditioner, facial cleanser, sunscreen, and most make-up.
Well, that makes me scared. And it should make you scared, too! Both my mother and I have personally scoured over the aisles in the health food store to find the personal care products most devoid of these endocrine disrupters, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still have a few products that contain these disruptors! Just because your shampoo comes from the health food store doesn’t mean it is paraben-free. My best advice to you is to write down the names of the four chemicals mentioned in this article and CHECK THE INGREDIENTS LABELS on all of your products, then replace the ones that contain them. I’m replacing my very, very guilty pleasures (Revlon powder blush and Almay touch pad liquid makeup). I know, I know! I bet you’re horrified right now. But those are my only two chemical-full products, I swear!
Note to self: Replace endocrine disrupters, ASAP.
Lily Berthold-Bond grew up in a chemical-free zone and has struggled her whole life to understand and accept this non-commercial lifestyle. Now a sophomore at Tufts University, she has embraced her green life and hopes to share its possibilities with the rest of her generation.
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15 comments
add your comment »Shaklee has actually reformulated all their personal care products (Enfuselle) to remove the parabens from their products. Below is a link to their reformulated sun screen as an example:
http://www.shaklee.net/shannon/product/32556
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Shaklee still uses parabens in their personal care products. :(
I love their supplements but don't use their cosmetics.
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safecosmetics.org is a good one. I needed a nail strengthener while pregnant and found one from Nail Aid without phthalates, formaldehyde, or toluene in it (actually they don't use any of those in any of their products). www.nailaidworks.com
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Green Girl - take a look at natural products that are hand made, Personal Care items from toothpaste to shampoo, soaps that are purifing and refreshing clean, deodorant. Products for home and pet. I love them! www.naturalsaltessentials.com
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Glo Mineral Makeup has no parabens, has vitamins in it to combat free radical and UV damage, has physical mineral sunblocks, and doesn't clog pores...and has both liquid and powder makeup. Actually anti-inflammatory for your skin without causing endocrine disruption.
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Shaklee is another great option for quality, heathy, non-toxic beauty products. Check them out at the following URL:
http://www.shaklee.net/shannon/prodHB_Home
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I love using 100% pure stuff. All of their bath stuff smells really good and is edible. They have a lot of makeup that is only at QVC now and the coloring is from fruit and vegetables - the only company that I know of that uses that solely. The only thing is they are a bit on the expensive side and there liquid face wash uses phenonip as a preservative which has parabens. Everything else is perfect though.
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You go Green Girl. I'm happy to say that our company has been producing human and environment safe products for over 17 years. I never buy that toxic stuff you find in department stores. I won't even walk through the smelly perfume aisles.
http://www.ineways.com/kurtngail
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I just took the Body Burden test at Sloan Barnett's site. It was cute and entertaining, but also made me realize just how many toxins I am still inviting into my life. My make-up, shampoo, face cleaner! I would like to make more changes but need alternatives. I know her book "Green Goes With Everything" is supposed to be really good so I think I'll start there. You all should take the test as well, it is quick and fun!
www.greengoeswitheverything.com
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Another big culprit is deodorant/antiperspirant. The Aluminum Choloride contained in most of them is also an endocrine disrupter. I suffer from the metabolic syndrome and I am currently purging a lot of my "products" that I used to use on a daily basis and either replacing them with natural ones or not using them at all. You actually would be surprised that simply washing your underarms a few times per day works just as well as slathering on a mixture of chemicals to make them smell pretty. If that isn't convenient, there are products that are made from mineral salts that are effective for odor. As far as the anti-perspirant side of it, I have found that by removing a large portion of processed foods and drinking plenty of water, I don't weat as much as I used to! Thanks for your articles, it is great that young people are trying to spread the word about living a little more "green"!
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