Almost all modern diseases can list toxins as a cause, but often which toxins are left unnamed. Most people would be shocked to know it often can be chemicals found in daily used products: soaps, shampoos, even toothpastes. Shoppers who choose organic products are usually those who know this, and have chosen to improve their health.
So, you made the switch to natural or organic personal
care products in an effort to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals. You
recognize that the words “natural” and “organic” don’t necessarily mean all
that much when it comes to personal care products but you’ve read the labels
and are confident in what you bought. Then, just when you were confident
you had done a good thing, you find out that many so-called natural or organic
personal care products contain 1,4-dioxane. What? The label doesn't
disclose it. Why the heck would there be 1,4-dioxane in my organic
shampoo?
A recent study by
the Organic Consumer’s Association revealed the presence of
the carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane in widely
available shampoos, body washes, lotions and other personal care and
household cleaning products using the word “organic” or “natural” on the
product label or ingredient list.
Recently, the European Union pulled in the reins, banning the usage of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, or other sicknesses. Yet, these same chemicals can often be found in the United States, and even in products we would easily think were safe. When seventy percent of what you slather onto your skin is absorbed into your body, do you want to risk it?
One reason the word "organic" on a label does not guarantee the absence of harmful contaminants like 1,4 dioxane, is the creation of a new organic standard called OASIS. This standard allows companies to label a personal care product "organic" if it contains 85% organic ingredients.
These types of products previously would have been labeled only as "made with organic ingredients." The real problem with this kind of standard for personal care products is that products like shampoo or body wash can contain large amounts of water. So the use of the word "organic" using the OASIS standard could simply mean the product contains organic water with mostly non-organic ingredients.
Adding water make a product organic? This just proves how inept our government is at considering our health and safety.
Because it is a contaminant produced during manufacturing, the FDA doesn't require 1,4 dioxane to be listed as an ingredient on product labels. Without labeling, there is no way to know for certain how many products contain 1,4 dioxane, and no guaranteed way to avoid it.
Again, our government at its finest. If it's dangerous, if it's toxic, if it can cause cancer, why does the FDA not require it to be listed, no matter how it gets in the product? It shouldn't be there at all.
1,4 dioxane is generated through a process called ethoxylation, in which ethylene oxide, a known breast carcinogen, is added to other chemicals to make them less harsh. This process creates 1,4 dioxide. For example, sodium laurel sulfate, a chemical that is harsh on the skin, is often converted to a less-harsh chemical sodium laureth sulfate (the "eth" denotes ethoxylation), which can contaminate this ingredient with 1,4 dioxane.
When 1,4 dioxane is used as a solvent stablizer, the solvent itself is regulated as hazardous waste. When applied as an additive and not used for its solvent properties, 1,4 dioxane doesn't meet the regulatory definition of solvent.
So, 1,4 dioxane is hazardous waste, yet it's in personal care products. And the government has decided that if it's just added to the product and is not being used as a solvent that makes it okay. It's still the same chemical!
Check this out; 1,4-dioxane is used in many products,
including paint strippers, dyes, greases, varnishes, and waxes. Residues may
also be present in manufactured food additives or on food crops treated with pesticides
that contain 1,4-dioxane (such as, vine-ripened tomatoes). But, a family’s and
a kid’s main source of exposure to 1,4-dioxane is likely from personal care products like baby bath,
deodorants, shampoos, and cosmetics where it’s found as an impurity.
While the U.S. FDA deems levels in personal care products
low enough to be considered safe, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, even trace amounts of 1,4-dioxane contamination are cause for
concern. One product is unlikely to cause harm, but risk increases from
multiple exposures from multiple products over time.
1,4 dioxane is classified as an ether and is a known eye and respiratory tract irritant that readily penetrates the skin. it often appears as a chemical contaminant in cosmetics as well as personal care products such as deodorants, shampoos, toothpaste and mouthwashes.
The National Toxicology Program considers dioxane to be a known animal carcinogen. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies this cancer-causing petrochemical as a probable human carcinogen especially damaging the liver and gall bladder according to an 2003 EPA report.
Organic Consumers Association OCA has urged consumers to read the ingredient labels and avoid consumer care products made with or including just the word in the ingredient:
Myreth
Oleth
Laureth
Cateareth (or other "eth")
PEG
Polyethylene
polyethylene Glycol
Polyoxyethylene
Oxynol
The
FDA currently does not require safety testing of cosmetic products or their
ingredients. The cosmetic industry polices the safety of its own products, and
this safety panel is run and funded by the industry's trade association. In
other words, very little testing actually occurs because the government does
not mandate this testing, and potentially hazardous ingredients can slip
through the cracks. There is also no financial incentive for the cosmetic
industry to raise questions about the safety of its own products.
Contamination
with 1,4 dioxane is shockingly widespread. It is found in:
*
97% of hair relaxers
* 82% of hair dyes and bleaching
*
66% of hair removers
*
57% of baby soap
*
45% of sunless tanning products
*
43% of body firming lotion
*
36% of hormonal creams
*
36% of facial moisturizers
*
35% of anti-aging products
*
34% of body lotion
*
33% of around-eye creams
Recent
laboratory tests "revealed the presence of 1,4-Dioxane in products such as
Hello Kitty Bubble Bath, Huggies Baby Wash, Johnson's Baby Wash, Scooby-Doo
Bubble Bath and Sesame Street Bubble Bath. The tests also found the carcinogen
in Clairol Herbal Essences Shampoo, Olay Complete Body Wash and many other
personal care products," according to a Feb. 2007 EWG press release.
The Organic Consumers Association released a study that found 1,4 dioxane in about 50% of the products they tested. Nor is 1,4 dioxane readily biodegradable, there is the problem of groundwater contamination as many of these products are washed down the drain after use. To remove 1,4 dioxane from water requires advanced technology such as oxidation with ultraviolet lights, technology not normally employed in community water treatment plants.
For our family, we buy all of our personal care products from a company that does extensive testing to bring together the best of science and nature. Testing far above what is required by law, because the consumers safety is considered above all else, including profit. For more info go to http://www.evsaferhomes.com/concept
Somehow, we need to educate enough people so that WE THE PEOPLE can hold these companies and our government accountable for our health, safety and our very lives.
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment