"Natural," "Nontoxic" or even "Eco-Safe" on the label of your shampoo, deodorant or makeup, makes you think it'd be made with healthy, safety-tested ingredients, right? Well, not always. Unlike drugs, The FDA doesn't review cosmetic or personal care ingredients for safety before they hit the market. Also, manufacturers routinely do something known as greenwashing: using misleading, vague or even false claims about the eco/health benefits of their products. That leaves us wondering whether our lipstick, skin cream or wrinkle serum is safe. Reports say that many contain chemicals linked to cancer, infertility, hormone imbalances, birth defects, neurological issues and other health problems.
What we put on our skin matters. Our skin is not a barrier... it allows microscopic chemicals to enter our bloodstream which can impact our physiology. What happens inside our bodies when we are exposed to minute amounts of synthetic chemicals every day, for years? No one really knows. So it's best to play it safe and choose natural, nontoxic products. But, there's a lot of confusion when it comes to knowing exactly what to look for on the label. To help you out, I've created my "Top 10 Greenwashing Watchwords." These are words and phrases that will help raise your awareness about the subtle distinctions and nuances being used on ingredient labels on your makeup and personal care products.
Top 10 Greenwashing Watchwords:
#10. "Environmentally Friendly" and "Eco-Safe:" There are currently no specific government or official standards for these terms. Plus, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) considers these phrases to be too vague to be meaningful.
#9. "Dermatologist Tested," "Sensitivity Tested" and "Hypoallergenic:" According to FDA, manufacturers are not required to perform any tests or provide evidence that products were actually tested by a doctor. Look for the organization behind these claims other than the company making the product.
#8. "Allergy-Friendly Fragrance" and "Fragrance-Free:" A product might be made with essential oils instead of synthetically made fragrance oils (which can be allergy triggers), but also contain questionable chemicals like DEA, SLS and artificial coloring. "Fragrance-Free" does not necessarily mean no fragrance. It might contain synthetic fragrances that are used to cover up the chemical smell of other ingredients.
#7. "Nontoxic:" Nontoxic does not mean Not Toxic or Not Harmless. It indicates it's a safer alternative than some other hazardous ingredients, and implies it will not cause adverse health effects. But, there are no specific government or official standards for this term.
#6. "Derived From... :" "Derived from coconut oil," for example, is deceptive, because to create cocamide DEA from coconut oil requires the use of diethanolamine -- DEA -- a carcinogenic synthetic chemical. Therefore, it is no longer natural... or safe.
#5. "Free of... :" Watch for hyping what's NOT in the product. For example, a deodorant claiming "No CFCs." Chloro-fluorocarbons were banned in 1978, so if the product contained CFCs it would be illegal. Or a cream claiming "No Parabens" but substituting Phenoxethanol, which, according the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), if absorbed through the skin (at 100 percent concentration) can cause reproductive damage. Skin creams and baby lotions generally use 1 percent. Does that make it safe?
#4. "Certified Green:" The term "green" implies a product has some environmental benefit or causes no harm to the environment, but the FTC and the International Standards Organization (ISO) consider it to be too vague a word to be meaningful. Also, watch out for self-made seals. Certified by whom? Choose neutral third party seals.
#3. "Natural:" This word can give the illusion that the product is "of nature," when it's not. One large, brand name company claims "100% NATURAL" on the label of its moisturizers but uses synthetic surfactants, preservatives and fragrance. That's not very natural! However, not all "natural" products are bad! Check the NPA (Natural Products Association) Natural Standard for Personal Care Products guidelines.
#2. "Organic:" Some major brands say "organic" but contain few or no organic ingredients. One shampoo company claims their product creates a "truly organic experience" yet it contains sodium lauryl sulfate, propylene glycol and D&C color, which are synthetic chemicals that pose health risks. A study from the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) found several mislabeled "organic" personal care products
#1. "Made with... :" The phrases "Made with lavender" or "Made with real lemon" for example, might be only contain 1 percent of those ingredients, with the rest being synthetic. Or "Made with essential oils" might be only 1or 2 drops of the good stuff. Look for a percentage on the label to be sure. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) found several mislabeled "organic" personal care products.
My advice? Read makeup and personal care ingredient labels like you would food labels. Learn which chemicals to avoid. Here's a list from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
For more practical, simple solutions on how to have a super healthy home or work environment, visit www.BethGreer.com.
Beth Greer, Super Natural Mom®, is a syndicated radio talk show host, former president and co-owner of The Learning Annex, Certified Build It Green® healthy home makeover specialist, and holistic health educator, who eliminated a sizable tumor in her chest without drugs or surgery. She's author of the bestseller, "Super Natural Home", endorsed by Deepak Chopra, Ralph Nader, Peter Coyote and Dr. Joe Mercola. Beth is leading a movement of awareness and responsibility about healthy home, work and school environments. Visit her at www.supernaturalmom.com and read her blog on Red Room.
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recently i discovered an english company that has shops in the states and online order. they have this marvelous invention of shampoo bars and lotion bars. no plastc bottles, no soapy or oily water carted around and what is in containers is very concentrated. excellent quallity, almost no synthetic perfumes, though there is this one soap, the godmother , that does and makes me sick. i can't mention their name, hupo don't like it but if you google that soap or '' honey i washed the kids'' you should find them. as i said, very concentrated and i for one would never use a whole bubble bar for a bath, or even half.
the prices could seem steep but it takes me month to get through my skeeky green shampoo bar.
i shudder when i see ads for those air fresheners that release little puffs, especially with children. those and aerosol deodorants ought to be banned. i'd rather be breathing second hand smoke.
add to that the fumes coming out of carpets, furniture, mattresses ectr.
People would tell me (when I worked) to just cover my nose or mouth and I would tell them that it still is absorbed by my skin and hair and affects me just the same. THat's why I don't quite understand others with mcs that use the masks.......they are still being affected by what is absorbed by their skin. I guess it helps in dire situations in the public, but overall, the air around us is still toxic with fragrances.
Oh and sabelmouse, I too "shudder" when I see those commercials!
The shredded coconut is coated with Propylene Glycol! Could not believe my eyes and am going to call the bakery and report it to the grocery store.
Please do not be confused with "chemical sounding names". Just because something has a "chemical sounding name" does not make it dangerous!
carbonated water
carmel color
aspartame
phosphoric acid
potassium Benoate
natural flavors (there is something natural in there after all - maybe)
citiric acid
caffeine
Phenylketonurics:
containes phenylalanine
caffeine content 31 mg/ 8 fl oz.
there is no little triangle with a number in it either so I am assuming that the plastic is bad news, too.
aha! there it is: VERY LOW SODIUM!!
I knew there was something healthy about diet coke!
Opening up some more windows just in case.
Better reach for those anti-heartburn meds!
' "Made with essential oils" might be only 1or 2 drops of the good stuff. Look for a percentage on the label to be sure.'
One thing about essential oils is that they are generally blended with other carrier ingredients (hopefully natural ones) to a maximum of 5% (it really depends on the end user) as they are potent.
Just looking at the numbers may indicate that it isn't enough, and that there should be more essential oils to make this product 'natural'. When in fact, that amount is more than enough, as essential oils on their own are quite concentrated and could otherwise be harmful.
It would be incorrect to see "98% distilled water, 2% lavender essential oil" and think that this is not a Lavender spray, for example.
Under 2% of human illnesses (1.16%) are found in animals. Over 98% never affect animals. The former scientific executive of Huntingdon Life Sciences says animal tests and human results agree "5%-25% of the time."
Among the hundreds of techniques available instead of animal experiments, the cell culture toxicology methods are 80-85% accurate.
Rats are 37% effective in identifying the cause of cancer in humans – guessing is more accurate. The experimenters said: “we would have been better off to have tossed a coin."
In the UK over 69,000 people are killed or severely disabled every year by unexpected reactions to drugs. All these drugs passed animal tests.
In the UK's House Of Lords questions were raised, asking why unexpected reactions to drugs (which passed animal tests) kill more humans than cancer.
88% of stillbirths are caused by drugs which passed animal tests.
Nearly 75% of drugs which cause human birth defects are safe in pregnant monkeys.
78% of fetus-damaging chemicals can be detected by one non-animal test.
Blood transfusions were delayed two centuries by animal studies.
Thirty HIV vaccines, 33 spinal cord damage drugs, and over 690 treatments for stroke have been developed in animals. None of them help humans.
Only 45% of animal researchers believe animal experiments are necessary.
The Director of the UK Research Defence Society, (pro-vivisection) was asked if medical progress could be made without animals. His written admission: "I am sure it could be."
tomteboda, however, seems more concerned with putting people down than with enlightening us. People's illnesses aren't there for your entertainment or ego. It sounds like you have solid facts. You can share information without smacking sick or less-informed people upside the head with it.
I don't need a chemistry degree to understand that I get a headache around most perfumes.
Only one of the ten had anything to do with natural! Glad you addressed these other marketing terms however, and one really bears repeating "Nontoxic does not mean Not Toxic or Not Harmless. ...implies it will not cause adverse health effects. But, there are no specific government or official standards for this term."
And it would have been nice to mention how you can be positive your product is organic, look for the USDA Certified Organic seal! That is a guarantee the product really is organic.
Still, the standard is there. Manufacturers labeling their products "non-toxic, conforms to ASTM D4336" are making a specific claim, that they FDA (or a lawyer in a class action) could hypothetically go after them for making falsely.
If an organization says "there is no government standard involved, end of story", that organization has not done its homework.