As natural mamas, we take so much care with the food we choose for our kids and the cleaning products we use in our house; but, oftentimes, our personal care comes last in our laundry list of natural to-dos. But new research sheds more light on the chemicals in cosmetics, suggesting just how important it is to take a hard look at our beauty products.
Taking Shower Meme โ Hormones in Cosmetics Are Your Toiletries Harming Your HealthWhy Care About Chemicals in Cosmetics?
Weโre exposed to so many chemicals every. single. day. According to one study, the average woman puts 515 synthetic chemicals on her skin every day without even knowing it. The problem? Up to 60 percent of these chemicals are absorbed by the body. (source) And research shows that the chemicals in cosmetics can cause a host of negative health effects, ranging from the more benignโallergic reactionsโto the more severe and chronicโbreast cancer and even adverse pregnancy outcomes.
In 2013, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) wrote:
There is โrobustโ evidence linking โtoxic environmental agentsโ to โadverse reproductive and developmental health outcomes.โ (source)
The Study
So researchers from George Mason University set out to understand exactly how chemicals in cosmetics can affect a womanโs hormones, and subsequently, her reproductive system.
The method was straightforward: Researchers collected 509 urine samples from from 143 women aged 18 to 44 years, free of known chronic health conditions and birth control, at various stages throughout their menstrual cycle. They then tested the urine for the common environmental chemicals in cosmetics, such as:
- Parabens: Synthetic compounds used as preservatives.
- Benzophenones: Compounds that stop UV light from changing the composition of personal care products.
โThis study is the first to examine mixtures of chemicals that are widely used in personal care products in relation to hormones in healthy, reproductive-age women, using multiple measures of exposure across the menstrual cycleโ โ Dr. Anna Pollack, study author and Assistant Professor of Global and Community Health
The Results
Researchers discovered that even low-level exposure to chemicals in cosmetics may negatively affect reproductive hormone levels.
โWe have early indicators that chemicals such as parabens may increase estrogen levels. If this finding is confirmed by additional research, it could have implications for estrogen dependent diseases such as breast cancer.โ
And study authors say their findings indicate that chemicals in cosmetics are even more complex than initially thought. In the study, some mixtures of chemicals in cosmetics decreased reproductive hormones. Other mixtures actually increased reproductive hormone levels.
The Takeaway
If the results of this study prove anything, itโs that we must take care with the cosmetics and toiletries we use. There are so many chemicals in cosmetics, and there is still so much research to be done about how what we put onโand inโour bodies affects us.
Our endocrine systems are so delicate and are responsible for so much of our healthโour fertility, our moods, our sleep patterns, and more. This is a situation where itโs just better to be safe than sorry.
How to Limit Your Exposure to Chemicals in Cosmetics
If you havenโt already marched to your bathroom to inspect your toiletries, donโt worryโฆ weโll waitโฆ
All joking aside, there are some really easy things you can do right now to limit any potential exposure to the chemicals in cosmetics. Here are some ideas:
1. Inform yourself
You know the phrase: The best defense is a good offense. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to make smart choices about the products youโre using.
Read this post to learn more about natural beauty products and how to lower your risk of exposure to the chemicals in cosmetics.
2. Read the ingredients
Never trust the front of the package. Many brands and products may look green, eco-friendly, and natural by using buzzwords and packaging designed to fool the consumer. A closer look at the ingredient list on some of these products can reveal nasty chemicals.
Look for the pseudonyms for parabens and benzophenones listed below on the ingredient list of any product in question:
- Paraben
- methylparaben
- ethylparaben
- propylparaben
- butylparaben
- isobutylparaben
- Benzopheone
- benzophenone
- benzophenone-#
- BP#
- oxybenzone
- sulisobenzone
- sulisobenzone sodium
3. Do your due diligence
Check out websites like EWG Skin Deepโthey have compiled hundreds of studies on thousands of products. Itโs a great one-stop resource.
4. Ease up on soap
Many soaps have some nasty ingredients in themโplus, theyโre bad for the environment and can even mess with a healthy microbiome and interfere with vitamin D absorption! Use a little bit of natural soap on your pits and bits, then put it back on the shelf.
Read more about why I donโt use (much) soap here.
5. Make your own beauty products
The surest way to know youโre not being exposed to chemicals in cosmetics? Make use of some great natural alternatives. Try: coconut oil as moisturizer, activated charcoal as toothpaste, and sugar as an exfoliant.
Check out some of my favorite DIY beauty products below:
How About You?
Do you routinely check labels on personal care products? Share your experiences below!
7 Comments
Botanic Affair
Thanks for this valuable information. I have come up with very informative article on natural skincare ingredients that needs to be in your skincare routine. You can go through the article on the following link:
https://botanicaffair.com/blogs/botanic-blog/7-natural-skincare-ingredients-that-need-to-be-in-your-natural-skincare-products
Ivon
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CEO Intimates
My sister passed away from breast cancer in 2015 at the age of 31. After that tragedy, I started doing a lot of research on food & pollutants that contribute to cancer, and was alerted to a documentary called โStinkโ. Stink was a terrifying eye opener to โfragranceโ, which is just another word for โchemicalsโ. I highly recommend this documentary โ it did result in me throwing out about 80% of all my products, but I sleep better now. Switching to all natural cleaning products (I love Branch Basics) and even after all this time, am still on the hunt for good clean skincare and hair care. Makeup has been easier for me than hair: I love Thrive Causemetics for mascara (itโs incredible), and 100% pure for face makeup. For hair care, I currently use Reverie for shampoo / conditioner / after shower hair products (like it but donโt love), Cult + King for hairspray (soooo good) and Primally Pure for dry shampoo (the BEST). I have gone through just about every brand of natural deodorant, including Primally Pure, Each & Every, and now on The Clean Deo by Beauty Counter (in the rose scent), but I have to be careful about not sleeping in it because all natural deodorants seem to make my armpits itch
The biggest concern I recently was alerted to was the recall of many Neutrogena, Banana Boat, & Elta MD sunscreens because they contained too high a level of Benzone, which can cause blood cancer, etc. The only way to know if your screen has been contanimated is if you send into a lab, but check CNN to see full list and a list of sunscreens that did get a thumbs up.
Nikki N
I have researched for a long time about cosmetics and cleaning products when I became pregnant. If I do buy anything I use the Thinkdirty app to help find synthetic-fragrance free products.
Diane Taub
Unfortunately, Thinkdirty isnโt always accurate with their info. Unless a company pays them, they will not provide the most up to date accurate info for that company. Sad to say
Would love to share Arbonne with you. Over 2000 ingredients on our NOT ALLOWED list. More than the EU! And the US has ONLY 11!! There are NO regulations! Feel free to contact me! Thanks!
NoniB
I might add that my approach has now become: If I can eat it without problems, I can use it on my skin and hair. Therefore, I use food items often for cosmetic applications.
NoniB
One of the most horrible ingredients in the long list of โto-avoidโ IMHO is Quaternium 15. It is in many if not most personal care and cosmetic productsโfor humans and for pets. It can be listed so many ways, too, that itโs worth scanning the list: Quaternium-15 below. My son works in surgery, so as you can imagine, his hands get a lot of washing. The product the hospital stocked irritated them so much that they ordered another type of disinfecting solution and hand creme for him. His hands continued to get only worse, to the point that he had to be off work for two weeks to allow them to heal. He saw two dermatologists and an allergist but it was his own at-home testing and research that found the culprit. So far, there is only one commercially available โsoapโ that either of us can use without severe skin reactions. Iโve personally had better results with homemade soap than commercial. LIST OF ALTERNATE NAMES for Quaternium-15:
โข chloroallyl methenamine chloride
โข hexamethylenetetramine chloroallyl chloride
โข 3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniaadamantane,1-(3-chloroallyl)-,chloride
โข N-(3-chloroallyl)hexaminium chloride
โข 1-(3-Chloroallyl)-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniaadamantane chloride, cis form
โข 3,5,7-Triaza-1-azoniatricyclo(3.3.1.13,7)decane, 1-(3-chloro-2-propenyl)-, chloride, (Z)-
โข Hexamethylenetetramine chloroallyl chloride, cis isomer
โข chloroallyl methenamine chloride
โข hexamethylenetetramine chloroallyl chloride
โข 3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniaadamantane,1-(3-chloroallyl)-,chloride
โข N-(3-chloroallyl)hexaminium chloride
โข 1-(3-Chloroallyl)-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniaadamantane chloride, cis form
โข 3,5,7-Triaza-1-azoniatricyclo(3.3.1.13,7)decane, 1-(3-chloro-2-propenyl)-, chloride, (Z)-
โข Hexamethylenetetramine chloroallyl chloride, cis isomer
(list courtesy of Contact Dermatitis Instituteโs site)