Chemical Free Living

When we start off our journey as parents one of the first things we do is lock up all the poisons and chemicals under the sink. But have you ever stopped to consider the chemicals that are in those products we use everyday? In our soaps, creams and lotions, toothpaste? What about the residue left behind on our benches, high chairs, floors and clothes from those poisons we lock up under our cupboards?


Unfortunately we live in a society where we have been blissfully unaware of the chemical creep in our home products. We rely on the authorities to thoroughly investigate and enforce the safety requirements in our products, however on this front the authorities are sadly lagging behind as science flies ahead discovering the dangerous relationship between chemicals in our home and the increase in cancer, respitory illness, allergies, ezcema and other skin problems. With new chemicals constantly flooding the market our watchdogs are letting us down.1.



A frightening discovery has been made recently about the chemical compounds found in breastmilk, Mariann, Lloyd-Smith and Jo Immig discuss the "sobering thought that breast milk, the most precious source of nutrition and protection for the next generation, couldn't be sold if it were a product because of contamination with banned bio-accumulative chemicals." 1 , 2



Compounding the problem is the relentless assault upon our bodies by a multitude of different chemicals. We are literally exisiting in a "primordial soup we now spring from is contaminated with a multitude of manufactured chemicals that are foreign to our genes and evolutionary detoxification mechanisms." 1 Think about how many times a day you wash your hands with an anti-bacterial hand soap, wash the dishes, clean benches and carpets with various stain removers and degreasers. Catherine Zandonella from The Green Guide writes that the average person uses nine personal care items a day with up to 120 chemicals in them each day. 2 Chemicals have become so much a part of our everyday life that we barely blink an eye at the stunnning list of ingredients in the products we pick up everyday.

Sodium lauryl sulphate or laureth sulfate also known as SLS is one of the most commonly used chemicals in personal care products and cleaning products that we interact everyday such as soap, shampoo, washing up liquid and baby products. However it has a darker side that is only now coming out into the open. SLS is a surfactant, designed to break down lipids and fats, soap up and make suds. However it is these very properties that interfer with out body; which is afterall made up of lipids and fats. SLS is a known skin irritant and can cause eye damage, skin irriation and assists other chemicals in crossing the skin barrier which is designed to keep the nasties out. In addition to SLS The Green Guide have compiled a list of other chemical found in daily products


The following has been referenced from The Green Guide www.thegreenguide.com





Antibacterials - Overusing antibacterials actually decreases your ability to fight common illness. Triclosan, widely used in soaps, toothpastes and deodorants, has been detected in breast milk, and one recent study found that it interferes with testosterone activity in cells.

FD&C Blue 1, used in toothpastes, and FD&C Green 3, used in mouthwash, have been found to be carcinogenic in animal studies when injected under skin.

1,4-Dioxane is a known animal carcinogen and a possible human carcinogen that can appear as a contaminant in products containing sodium laureth sulfate and ingredients that include the terms "PEG," "-xynol," "ceteareth," "oleth" and most other ethoxylated "eth" ingredients.

DEA is a possible hormone disruptor, has shown limited evidence of carcinogenicity and depletes the body of choline needed for fetal brain development. DEA can also show up as a contaminant in products containing related chemicals, such as cocamide DEA.

Formaldehyde has a long list of adverse health effects, including immune-system toxicity, respiratory irritation and cancer in humans. Yet it still turns up in baby bath soap, nail polish, eyelash adhesive and hair dyes as a contaminant or break-down product of diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea and quaternium compounds.

"fragrance" may mask phthalates, which act as endocrine disruptors and may cause obesity and reproductive and developmental harm

lead may appear in products as a naturally occurring contaminant of hydrated silica, one of the ingredients in toothpaste, and lead acetate is found in some brands of men's hair dye. Brain-damaging mercury, found in the preservative thimerosol, is used in some mascaras.

nanoparticles, which may penetrate the skin and damage brain cells, are appearing in an increasing number of cosmetics and sunscreens. Most problematic are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, used in sunscreens to make them transparent

Parabens,(methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, isobutyl-) which have weak estrogenic effects, are common preservatives that appear in a wide array of toiletries. A study found that butyl paraben damaged sperm formation in the testes of mice, and a relative, sodium methylparaben, is banned in cosmetics by the E.U. Parabens break down in the body into p-hydroxybenzoic acid, which has estrogenic activity in human breast-cancer cell cultures.

Petroleum distillates - possible human carcinogen, are prohibited or restricted for use in cosmetics in the E.U. but are found in several U.S. brands of mascara, foot-odor powder and other products. Look out for the terms "petroleum" or "liquid paraffin."

P-Phenylenediamine - Commonly found in hair dyes, this chemical can damage the nervous system, cause lung irritation and cause severe allergic reactions. It's also listed as 1,4-Benzenediamine; p-Phenyldiamine and 4-Phenylenediamine.

Hydroquinone - Found in skin lighteners and facial moisturizers, hydroquinone is neurotoxic and allergenic, and there's limited evidence that it may cause cancer in lab animals. It may also appear as an impurity not listed on ingredients labels.

So what can we do? We want to compile a list of products and businesses that have chemical free or low chemical items. Can you help? Follow our blog and comment below with

Name of product/store:
Chemical free or low chemical:
Use:

For your chance to win a baby and kids organic cookbook! (AUSTRALIAN RESIDENTS ONLY - unless you live overseas and want to pay the postage ~sorry)

All comments which contain the above will entered into the competition and a winner randomly selected on Friday the 6th January

references

Lloyd-Smith, M. & Immig, J. 2007. 'Homes turned into toxic zones' Sydney Morning Herald. 23 October
2. Zandonella, C. 2007. 'The dirty dozen chemicals in cosmetics' The Green Guide, 18 September
http://www.thegreenguide.com/personal-care/dirty-dozen