Personal care products can pose a danger to your health
Different personal care products image Bruno/Germany
Be careful with toothpaste, bubble baths, shampoos, and similar products
The facts are in and we destroy the environment in which we live. One would think it is bad enough that we are polluting our habitat, but the more I read, the more bad news I find. Now I have found information on the dangers in our everyday life. Why do we let this happen? If we continue like this, we will pollute the whole earth, our water will be undrinkable, and the air too toxic to breathe.
No, we can do better, as we are spraying our GMO food with additional chemicals, bringing forth unknown illnesses. We also insist on eating man-made foods instead of enjoying food created in nature. One would consider all this would be well passing the limit, but no, we can still do more damage.
Chemicals in personal care products
Being well informed means you can decide what you let into your life. The choice is yours. We are surrounded by harmful things, and you have to know what they are so you can act accordingly.
Have you ever thought about the risks that normal personal care products present to you and your family? If you have not, just keep on reading. It will be an eye-opening read, and I hope you will take steps to minimize the negative effects these products might have on your health.
They have documented that your personal care products may contain known cancer-causing chemicals. These are personal care products you use on a daily or at least weekly basis, year after year. You should know some of these toxins are bio-accumulative and tend to build up in your body.
It would be a good idea to put all the products you use often in a row in your bathroom and understand what is in them. Take your glasses and maybe a magnifying glass as the ingredients on the label are often in such a small print.
Is that done on purpose? Perhaps it is. The fact that the words are often unpronounceable and few people actually know what they mean, stops many people from checking what they buy and use.
Here comes a list of the most common toxic chemicals added to your bathroom. If I know a suitable alternative, I will tell you, OK?
Let’s have a look.
Double-sink image Ted Sardena
1. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)
These chemicals are closely related and you will find them, literally, in about everything. From hair products like shampoo that foam to toothpaste, and probably in most of the soaps you buy.
The problem with these products is that the chemicals react and produce toxic residues that can be left behind in your body, in your heart, brain, and liver. Children are especially vulnerable to this and can suffer from malformation in their eyes as well.
Luckily there are “green” substitutes for harmful soap, toothpaste, and shampoo.
2. F, D and C color pigments
These colorants are terrible for you, and they rob your body of oxygen. We need all the oxygen we can get. Each and every cell we have requires oxygen, so it is not a clever idea to use an oxygen-consuming product.
Do you know that they mostly make these colorants from coal tar and that this substance can cause cancer in laboratory animals? It makes you wonder why coal tar has to be in personal care products. The name says care products, right?
3. Isopropyl alcohol
This is a substance that is distilled from petroleum and it is the same chemical used in antifreeze and as a solvent in shellac. You will find it in lotions, perfumes, and cosmetics. My tip here is to make your own lotion. I buy 1 liter of rose water in the pharmacy and it will clean your skin ever so nice.
4.Polyethylene glycol (PEG)
How about using some oven cleaning spray on your body? It dissolves oil and grease, is a harsh chemical, and is known to harm your immune system. By the way, it can help trigger cancer cell growth. Why is it in personal care products?
5. Chlorine
It normally is not stated on labels, but that doesn’t mean it is harmless. Chlorine can cause increased risks in children of developing allergies or asthma. Among adults exposure to chlorine in swimming pools has been linked with other health problems including bladder and rectal cancer and, possibly, an increased risk for coronary heart disease. You will find it in swimming pools, laundry products, sewage systems, and tap water.
It is used to kill bacteria, but too much can affect your own health. You can see it is a good idea to have your water checked with a lab test and if needed get a good filter for your home.
6. DEA (diethanolamine), MEA (monoethanolamine), and TEA (triethanolamine)
I bet you love to take a bubble bath now and then, right? Well, who doesn’t? The problem is that most products that produce foam, like bubble baths, body washes, and of course shampoos, contain these chemicals. Kidney and liver cancer are on the rise, and it seems that repeated exposure to these chemicals increases the risk of getting these cancers.
These were the findings of Professor Dr. Samuel Epstein of Environmental Health at the University of Illinois. One wonders why those types of harmful products are on the market.
Why are petroleum-based oils on the market for babies? They use these ingredients for plastic wrapping, so why do babies get it smeared on their skin? Advertisements make us believe it is good for your baby when actually it isn’t.
Can you imagine what plastic wrap will do to your skin? It will prevent your skin from breathing and it will also restrict your body from releasing excess heat. It will also slow down cell development. We should not use this oil for babies.
Your baby’s skin would be much better off with natural oils like coconut oil, sweet almond oil, and argan oil. By the way, these oils are good for grownups too. Years ago I got half a liter of Argan oil from Morocco. Sometimes, on the weekend, I treat myself to this oil. I put it on my face and neck and there it stays for hours. By that time, the skin will have completely absorbed it.
8. Fragrance
Most products you buy nowadays tend to smell good. What smells good must be good, right? Often the fragrances used are carcinogenic or toxic. Most of these fragrances are not natural (taken from nature.)
They are a poor imitation and are synthetic chemicals. The same applies to your house. When you want to get rid of nasty smells we often spray with some product but we do not know what is inside this spray. Here is a nice website that shows you some good-smelling natural alternatives.
Perfume bottle image Lolame
In studies, they found that some of these fragrances can affect the central nervous system. You might experience depression or suffer from behavioral problems. Some undesirable side effects of smelling nice.
9.Propylene glycol (PG)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires workers to wear protective gear when handling or working close to this chemical. They want to protect people against brain, liver, and kidney damage. This chemical is the active component in antifreeze. Actually, industrial PG is the same as the one used in personal care products. How come there is no warning on your deodorant stick?
10. Imidazolidinyl urea and DMDM hydantoin
These are just a few of the many preservatives found in your personal care products. The Mayo Clinic has warned that these chemicals release formaldehyde, which is dangerous for your respiratory system. It can cause heart palpitations. In addition, it can also cause loss of sleep and it is bad for your immune system. The list goes on. You will find these preservatives in many brands of skin and hair products.
Toothpaste and toothbrush image Steve Buissinne
Conclusion
What are we doing to ourselves? First of all, do not believe that the authorities will warn you. It needs a high death rate for a product to be taken off the market. When you look at this list, you can understand that all these chemicals in your care products will have a combined accumulative effect.
One day you might get cancer as your immune system has given up. Or you might suffer depression and headaches but do not know why. Perhaps you get diabetes or high blood pressure. Just consider the problems that you may expose yourself to using these kinds of products.
We always talk about lifestyle. People do not eat natural foods anymore. Our foods are sprayed with pesticides and grow in poor soil. We do not exercise enough and miss out on the fresh air and sunshine. Especially after 2 years of Covid-19, the overall health of the population is in decline.
Do we really need to add all these chemicals to our personal care products? Especially the ones we use daily, which are dangerous to our health? Try to see the total picture. Humanity needs a thorough cleanup so our body can again function like it was meant to.
Before you leave, take a look at Recommendations. It is a special page I made for you with a collection of things you might find interesting.
Source: Natural Health 365. Article by Lori Alton, staff writer on June 15, 2019
Photo Source: Pixabay
It is always good to do a detox now and then. Have a look at the following post.
Comments
Stuart
What an amazing article, which is so very frightening when analysed as you have done, we always say that nothing we eat, drink, spray on our bodies, the air that we breath is safe and unfortunately that is exactly what you are saying.
Articles like this should be more exposed to the public view, so that we can then make a decision on what we do or do not use.
Again many thanks,
Stuart
Taetske
Good Morning Stuart,
Thank you for your comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
Having 2 websites and investigating more than I would do otherwise I come across disturbing things. I really think these modern times are difficult. It is difficult to remain healthy as the dangers are lurking everywhere.
One has to be informed about what is happening to our food, air, and water. Even care products are not what one thinks. To be informed is of utmost importance.
Regards, Taetske
Nate MC
There is so much stuff that people can’t even pronounce that is in personal care products. The same goes for food. I think a lot of people figure that there’s only a small amount of chemicals in products, but all of those chemicals (in all products people use regularly) add up in the long run.
Taetske
Good Morning Nate,
We live in a crazy, man-made world. The more I investigate the more I wonder why do we let this happen? Just because the industry wants to earn money at the cost of our health? Luckily there are natural alternatives be it for man-made foods or care products full of chemicals. I always say, back to nature, well, as much as possible.
Thank you for your visit and comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
Regards, Taetske
Alan
Hi Taetske,
I am so happy I across your site as I had no idea that chemicals in skin care products could be so harmful.
I think it is so important to know what we are buying, and what the product contains so we can protect ourselves and loved ones and the environment.
Thank you so much for your very informative article.
Taetske
Good Morning Alan,
Thank you for visiting my website and leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
On everything and anything which affects our health, we should be informed. Companies do not inform their buyers about the dangers in their products, instead, they make you believe you will look and feel fantastic when using these products. There are glossy advertisements everywhere which do a good job of brainwashing us.
Regards, Taetske
Adyns68
I know that some harmful chemicals are present in our personal care products but because of the small quantity they are not judged bad for our health.
But, I didn’t imagine that chlorine was one of them. This is a very harmful chemical, even if the quantity is very small in one container. People will use a lot of them, one can use one bottle per month, how much is that per year?
I think we need to be more careful. This post is really helpful.
Thanks
Taetske
Good afternoon Adyns,
That is the problem. We think that a small quantity is not harmful but what about every day for many years? Then one should not forget that small quantities of different chemicals together make a bad cocktail.
It is not so easy to stay healthy as there are so many things we have to take in consideration.
Thank you for visiting my website and leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
Regards, Taetske
Snigdha Alam
Without any confusion, I found your post so important and helpful. We all always using different types of products. But we don’t know that it will harm us or is it good for us! Even also have no idea about this. But by reading your post I realized that I made a big mistake. I have to be careful before using those products which you included in your post. But I have a question that if we throw these products from our life, then what products can we use?
Anyway thanks a lot for your informative post. I think I have to share your post to others for making people care.
Taetske
Good afternoon Singdha,
I think it is getting more difficult every day to avoid harmful chemicals. You will find them in food, in the air and water, and also in personal care products. Really not easy to know about all the details. Luckily there are companies on the market which have understood that people start to find out about these dangers. These companies make natural products but you will have to search for them.
Amazon is doing good in having 100% natural products on their list. You could also ask your local health shop, I am sure they will be able to help you.
Thank you for your comment. I hope you have downloaded your free PDF?
Regards, Taetske
NSOH ALIEH LAURINE
You don’t know how excited I am to finally come across a website that tells the truth about all these fancy products we are using.
Even more, you hit hard on how poor our feeding habits have become. I’m really excited to have come across someone who also shares the same worries as me when it comes to eating healthy.
Even the fragrance we use tends to be dangerous as well. Ha. What natural alternatives are available to improve the freshness of the air when needed? You didn’t mention any alternatives to fragrance.
When it comes to the others like toothpaste, I’ve actually found a healthy and free alternative I’ve been using for a couple of months now, and it’s not only healthy but absolutely free of charge. Nature has given us everything we need for free, I tell you.
I found great insights from reading your post. I’m so happy to learn that many people are getting to learn and understand the dangers of the products surrounding us. Great job on this article, and I really wish it gets to as many people out there as possible.
Taetske
Good afternoon Nsoh Alieh Laurine,
Thank you for your visit and leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
You are right. I did not have alternatives for perfumes and fragrances. So, I went back to my post and added some nice perfumes 100% natural which I found on Amazon and a link to a good website. There you will find tips on how to make your own 100 % natural fragrances for your home. I hope this will help you.
I think we live in a crazy world where instead of staying in harmony with nature we create lots of harmful things. Not a good idea for sure.
Regards, Taetske
Paula
Eye opening information. I feel like rethinking all the products I use. I do like you propose alternatives to the normal products we tend to buy at our local grocery store. I’m especially interested in Argan Oil.
My sister is extremely sensitive to man made or chemical ingredients, even in foods. She uses only natural products and can eat very limited foods, mostly because of allergies. I’ll be visiting my own bathroom counter and review the products I’m using. Thank you for this informative article.
Do you have information on how Propylene Glycol is bad for us?
Taetske
Good afternoon Paula,
It depends where you look as sometimes information might seem contradictory. Generally, it is said that Propylene Glycol is not too bad. How about the effects of all these chemicals being mixed. As far as I know, there have been no studies on that yet. What one does know is that these chemicals tend to accumulate over the years which definitely is not a good idea.
I am sending a link and there you can read some more about Propylene Glycol.
https://draxe.com/propylene-glycol/
Personally, I am getting weary of authorities telling me something is not too bad. Then, years later they will come and say sorry, we were wrong. In the meantime, the damage was done.
Thank you for your comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
Regards, Taetske
nasrin19
I appreciate your writing again on this topic. “I deserve this!” Sometimes I would justify my “Personal Care Products” shopping from our psychological belief that people who have “Personal Care Products” quality is generally natural in nature. I really enjoyed reading it and I could not be silent about your post so I decided to leave my comment here and say Thank you! For sharing this quality Chemical Alarming post with others.
Thanks for your practical suggestions. It’s actually doable and not complicated at all.
Taetske
Good afternoon Nasrin,
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
To switch over from chemical products to natural ones is not difficult, one just has to do it.
Personally, I am good with food but can improve on my personal care products as I still use some normal store bought ones. You said you deserve this? well, there is always a time where one can change for the better.
Regards, Taetske
Linda Frankson
Hi, Taetske another great article, I know that most store-bought creams .shampoos, tooth past and many others are bad for you and there are a lot of people that are getting into making all-natural products.
We have a local provider close to home, has great products and a very large selection. But there again you have to pay much higher prices also.
It is a shame that most everyday people get pulled in by advertising. Just on TV alone. out of ten commercials, there is maybe just one that are advertizing natural products.
Kids that watch TV are brainwashed from these advertizing and most people think we are the kukalukes for trying to turn people around. (Not sure if that word is Spanish or English (O:)
There are a few that are listening but still not enough. You can tell by the reactions you get from those that comment. The ripple will start to get bigger just keep doing what you are doing. We need people in this world to give us a nudge if not a shove. In the right direction.
always a better way Linda
Taetske
Good Morning Linda,
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. Nice to see you again.
You made me laugh as when I asked Google what does kukalukes mean Google had no clue and Grammarly said it is an unknown word. But I know exactly what you mean. Language is an evolving thing and if we decide to invent a new word I agree as I also do it.
People are being brainwashed in buying the wrong things which even may harm their health.
Do not worry, I will keep writing about this and similar things.
I suppose you saw the green widget under my photo in the sidebar? You and I, we have joined bUnited. When this group grows worldwide and really big it will make a difference and till that happens I will keep on writing.
Regards, Taetske
Linda Frankson
yes, I have seen the widget. and I think so also. very nice indeed.
a very nice way to help to save the planet by paying you to spread the word and it seems you have taken off on this.
I think the word comes from Costa Rica It just popped into my head and then I was going to delete it then I thought no I think she will understand. I guess I was right(O: have a good night Linda
Taetske
Let’s face it, Linda, we are language artistas.
As I so often come across negative things it is good to have found this positive bUnited, thanks to you.
All the best, Taetske
Aly
It is so important for people to understand that the things they put on their skin will be absorbed by the body. For this reason, it is very important to pay attention to the ingredients used in our skincare and body care items.
I have found that another important rule to follow is to make sure to purchase from trusted sellers. This is important to help avoid buying counterfeit products that are loaded with unknown dangerous chemicals.
Taetske
Good afternoon Aly,
Thank you for stopping by and for your comment. You can download a free PDF at the Tulip Widget.
I can agree with you that it is better to stay with trusted brands, but sadly there are quite a few exceptions. Take, as an example, Johnson and Johnson and the billions they might have to pay because of baby powder. They jolly well knew their talcum powder was dangerous but continued making it until people complained and took legal actions.
We have to look at the labels and demand that all ingredients are put there. Like that we decide to buy it or not.
Regards, Taetske