Women’s Health Week Wednesday: Beauty Products with B4BC
What do you know about the products you’re using?
Consider your morning routine: a warm shower with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Some of us may use a shaving cream to shave. Then we brush our teeth with some whitening toothpaste, perhaps apply a moisturizer, and then some deodorant. Before we even tackle our makeup, that’s at least seven products at minimum we’ve come in contact with. It’s believed that on a daily average, we apply 126 different ingredients on our skin.
But over 80 percent of the 12,500 ingredients in our personal care products have not been evaluated for safety by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) panel, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG). So even though we think we are taking care of our health through good hygiene and confidence-boosting cosmetics, we are actually repeatedly exposing our skin and bodies to ingredients that pose serious health risks. Seeking out safe cosmetics should be part of taking care of our health this Women’s Health Week!
Where to start?
When reading labels, we don’t always know what to look for. Many cosmetics contain chemicals that are linked to cancer development, so we’ve put together the top three common chemicals you should make sure aren’t in your products:
1. Parabens
Parabens are preservatives that are widely found not only in cosmetic products but also in pharmaceuticals and even food. Certain parabens are estrogenic, meaning they mimic the natural hormone estrogen. Several studies link increased estrogen levels to breast cancer risk. However, 75 to 90 percent of skincare products contain parabens, like moisturizers, anti-aging creams, and foundations.
2. Phthalates
Phthalates are another potential cancer-causing ingredient found in beauty products and even in the chemical composition of their plastic containers. These synthetic chemicals are known to disrupt normal hormone processes, which ties them to reproductives issues in addition to increased breast cancer risk. Unfortunately, many of us are exposed to phthalates beginning at a young age as they are notably found in nail polishes and in hair sprays.
3. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) / Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
Ingredient labels list many of the chemicals discussed above. However, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners warns us to look deeper. Some of these harmful chemicals aren’t easily recognizable on an ingredient list because they are contaminants in personal care products or they are disguised behind the term fragrance.
For instance, also found in anti-aging products is Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). “PTFE may be contaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a possible carcinogen. Exposure to these compounds is associated with delayed menstruation, later breast development and increased incidence of breast cancer.”
How to avoid these chemicals in beauty or personal care products?
1. Know what to look for when reading the ingredient labels on products. When reading the ingredient label on a product in the store, cosmetic parabens in moisturizers and creams, for example, can go by the following names: methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and ethylparaben – just to name a few.
To find paraben-free products online, like anti-aging treatments, first see if the ingredient list is available on the product’s website. If not, you can call or email the company to ask for the ingredient list.
2. Search for local hair or nail salons that use safer, or nontoxic products. If you can’t find one in your community, or truly cannot break up with your nail technician, bring your own less-toxic or nontoxic nail polish instead.
3. Incorporate natural alternatives, such as CBD, into your personal care products. CBD is one of the most common cannabinoids derived from the cannabis plant and offers a broad array of health benefits, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
