KNOW HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS IN PERSONAL CARE AND SKIN CARE PRODUCTS

Have you ever wondered what “NATURAL” actually meant when you read it on the bottle of “natural” or “organic” shampoo or skin care product you just bought? Or did you assume because the words “natural” and/or “organic” were used that it must be good for you and safe? You get the product home and then you find you can’t even read the long chemical names on the label let alone pronounce them! Why on earth do they say it is “NATURAL”? How can this be if the chemical names are so long I can’t even begin to pronounce them?

Would you be shocked to find what manufacturers can claim is “natural and organic” is actually so far removed from natural it isn’t funny.

Would you like to know more about these “natural” SYNTHETIC chemicals you are putting on your skin rather than the hype and lies that most products are described with. Well – you will have to do a little undercover work.

This is relatively easy to do now we have the Internet and the worlds best search engine Google. Virtually every synthetic chemical produced has a MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet published with the facts about the chemical and the potential dangers to human health. So if you think you are using safe, non-toxic approved safe chemicals in your skin care products, then perhaps you should think again.

The MSDS will not only list a summary of the chemical facts but will also summarize the little known things like hazard identification, first aid measures, chronic toxicity, precautions when handling the raw material and exposure limits and what medical action should be taken if the chemical is accidentally spilt on the skin. You will be surprised to learn many of these co-called safe non-toxic “natural” chemicals have skull and crossbones warning signs on the bulk drums of chemical to warn the handlers of the dangers and what emergency actions to take if spilt on the skin.

Animal Testing

You may also be even more surprised to learn that EVERY synthetic chemical has been tested on animals until 50% of them have been deliberately killed with agonized suffering. This is so the scientists can determine the LD50 rating! Yet I bet you have heard so-called animal friendly companies claiming THEY DON’T test their products on animals. What a gratuitous use of the English language this is! Well no, of course THEY haven’t carried out the testing procedures themselves using their own products, because someone else has already done it for them, using all the individual synthetic chemicals contained within their products. You can rest assured every single synthetic chemical in your so-called safe and natural non-animal tested products has actually been tested extensively on hapless animals to determine how toxic the chemicals are for human use!

Do you still feel good about using products that claim not to be tested on animals, knowing now that every single synthetic chemical contained in them has been applied to the eyes, the skin, injected into the muscle tissue, and fed to rabbits, rats, mice, and often monkeys, cats and dogs until 50% of them have died?

Why is this if the “natural” products really are safe and natural?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requires an MSDS be prepared for chemicals that are hazardous according to the criteria described in the HCS. In fact hazardous chemicals all have to be indexed and a safety data sheet published for them. Now if you think that that the cream you just smoothed onto your face is safe and “natural” then start by keying some of the chemical names into the Google search engine and see what safety data sheets come up. You just may be shocked at what you read.

Here is something for you to look at – try keying in “paraben” or “methyl paraben” followed by “breast cancer” into the Google search engine and see what you think about using this highly suspect chemical! Now check your own products for these ubiquitous synthetic preservatives!  Did you find them in your so-called safe deodorant or skin care cream?

An excellent website to do research on some of these ingredients is: www.hazard.com/msds Why don’t you take a note of this website and do some research on the cosmetics and skin care products you use to see how “safe” and “natural” they are?

You are given three search options when you get onto the site

1. Search by the manufacturer, which you may not know
2. Search the website database by keying in the chemical ingredient
3. There is another database for chemical toxicity data not found in the MSDS section which you can search through too.

For example, if we use the database search (2nd option) to look for information on phenoxyethanol, which is used as a preservative in many so-called “natural” skin care products we see five different MSDSs on file. A sample of information found on this ingredient included:

Hazards Identification

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW WARNING!

• Harmful if swallowed.
• Causes skin irritation.
• May cause central nervous system depression.
• May cause kidney damage.
• May cause respiratory and digestive tract irritation.
• Target Organs: Kidneys, central nervous system.

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

Skin Contact:

• Severe irritation or burns.

Eye Contact:

• Severe irritation or burns.

Ingestion:

• May cause gastrointestinal irritation with nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
• May cause central nervous system depression,
• May cause headache, dizziness, drowsiness, and nausea.
• Advanced stages may cause collapse, unconsciousness
• May cause coma and possible death due to respiratory failure.
• May cause kidney failure.
• May be harmful if swallowed.
• Lesions may appear in the brain, lungs, liver, meninges and heart.

What do think about putting the above chemical on YOUR skin?

ANIMAL TESTING DATA

Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) indicates the quantity of the chemical necessary to kill 50% of the animal test subjects and is measured in units per kilogram or PPM (Parts Per Million) of the animal’s body weight.

• Oral, mouse: LD50 = 933 mg/kg;
• Oral, rat: LD50 = 1260 mg/kg;
• Skin, rabbit: LD50 = 5 mL/kg;
• Skin, rat: LD50 = 14422 mg/kg.

By arming yourself with independent information about the many toxic chemical ingredients found in today’s skin and personal care products, you can make an informed decision to protect the health of you and your family.