How appropriate that we are bearing down on Halloween and this article is about toxic sludge slowly poisoning our bodies, twisting our minds, causing blindness and disease...
Sounds like science fiction right? Or at least one of those B-movies where the lead is given to some chick purely for how loudly she can scream and bonus for a modicum of sex appeal. However, let me introduce you to an alternate reality, that will probably make you angry and shocked, or leave you completely agog...
Like thrusting your hand into a dark box... no telling what you will pull out - maggots? (white rice), worms? (cooked spaghetti), how about eyeballs? (peeled grapes) - because many cosmetic companies don't
include these compounds on the label for two reasons. One, some of these chemical inclusions
are a mistake, meaning they are 'accidentally' added as contaminates,
and companies don't label what is unintentionally added. Kinda like
meningitis being 'accidentally included as a contaminate' with
anesthetics? Second, because make-up is not intended to be
ingested, there is no legislating body that specifically
requires cosmetic labeling. Also companies claim that it is proprietary
information (there is now a move for more kiss-and-tell labeling but... we shall see when that transpires).
Ok... so who thought that loophole was a good idea? Because any woman knows that you end up eating your lipstick, your mascara and eye liner run into your eyes, and thanks to the amount of times you exfoliate your face so that the foundation will lay right, those chemicals have an easy way in too.
Foundation cream or powder is meant to smoothe the complexion, cover imperfections in the skin, and set a neutral color across your face for the other colors to be applied atop of. It usually includes; arsenic, cadmium, BHA/BHT, coal tar dyes (p-phenylenediamine and other colors listed as 'CI' and followed by 5 numbers), DEA/TEA/MEA, any pthlalate, formaldehyde (which comes in an incredible range of compounds), all parabens, PEG compounds, petroleum, fragrance/parfum/perfume (many of these are distilled using hexane), antibacterial compounds, SLS, and more!
The cadmium is what really astounded me, I used cadmium for several research projects in grad school to illustrate it's effect on reproduction and general health. I almost find this laughable, I specifically chose this toxin because of it's wide ranging effects, the incredibly low effect-dosage, and it's benign reputation... most will think, 'Hey that cadmium is in my daily vitamin, it's gotta be fine, right?' For crying out loud, OSHA recognizes it as a toxin and possible carcinogen, says route to exposure is absorption through the skin or respirable, and that the dosage necessary to observe an effect is low.
Unfortunately in this case it's not as simple as buying high-end cosmetics and assuming you will be fine, as Clinique and L'Oreal are some of the top offenders. You also have to watch out for 'green washing,' a term describing how advertisers use words like 'natural,' 'eco-,' 'bare,' 'free'... to give a false sense of safety. (I.E. L'Oreal's mascara, Bare Naturale, has arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, and a host of supporting actors.)
On the positive side? There are good brands out there, you just have to shovel through some... information. I love my 100%Pure that we carry in the shop and, in my humble opinion, it is easier to control for contaminates in fruit than minerals (think you are safe with a mineral make-up? Just a quick google please...) Miessence is a good line as well. Just one last cliffhanger to leave you with: why do more women then men go blind? Why do more women suffer from senility than men?
*That's it for now folks, and I apologize for the abrupt end... had
fully intended to cover most of the cosmetics in this blog, however
there is so much information to share I feel several shorter articles
are the way to go.
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2104453/Cadmium-mascara-lead-lipstick-arsenic-eyeliner-The-ugly-secrets-beauty-industry-isn-t-telling-you.html
- http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/dirty-dozen-cosmetic-chemicals/
- http://www.national-toxic-encephalopathy-foundation.org
- http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ipcsneng/neng0020.html
No comments:
Post a Comment