Cosmetics and Personal Care Items Containing Toxic Ingredients

Cosmetics and personal care items are such a huge necessity no one seems to look or think twice about what may be in them. Since they are products that we depend on and virtually everyone buys them on a regular basis we would like to think that companies that are putting them on the shelves and our government has our best interest at heart. Sadly to say, it is not. Most mainstream cosmetic and personal car products including lotions contain at least one hazardous chemical compound and some have many more than that.

 

Some estimates that there are somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 hazardous ingredients being used in everyday products that you have in your bathroom. The National Institute of Occupational Safety has identified almost 900 toxic chemicals that can be found in your daily personal care routine. Products include but are not limited to eyeliner, mascara, foundation, shampoo and even your deodorant. Some can cause things as serious as cancer and organ damage. Others can cause hormone disruptions that can result in mood swings for no reason. Europe has already taken a stand and has banned 400 of these ingredients from being used in consumer products. 

 

Responsible for our safety here in the United States is the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Under current law the raw ingredients used in personal care products do not have to go through any type of safety review to be approved for use. The manufacturers also do not have to release any safety data on any of the personal care products unless a documented injury or illness occurs and prompts an investigation. Even though there are a lot of chemical compounds being used in these products that could be very hazardous to your health don't expect them to be removed from the list of ingredients any time in the near future.

 

Due to symptoms taking a very long time to develop it's hard to prove the connection when it comes right down to it. Cancer, organ damage and hormone disturbance are all diagnoses that happen over a long period of time of many years. Because of the stretch of time it takes for the toxins used in personal care products to have an effect on any single person the link is hard to prove as people could be consuming or exposing themselves to any number of things that contain the same toxins ending in the same results. Having that much time pass between the exposure to the specific product and the end result to get conclusive results. A controlled study is difficult as well for the same reasons since it is a low dose of these chemicals being applied to oneself over a several year period of time. 

 

What it comes down to for your protection is to be educated. It is up to you if you want to continue to use personal care products that are potentially toxic for you and your family. Obviously people are not dropping dead like flies from putting on their makeup and washing their hair. But for those of you that are interested in what to look for in the products that you already have to see if you can find an alternative to use with out the toxic and potentially hazardous long term effects NewDreams has a complete A to Z listing as well as descriptions of each ingredient and what its possible harmful effects are.