How toxic are the kids??

Well I watched the channel 4 installment of toxic kids and am happy to see that my kids aren't that toxic.. yet. I will have to worry a bit as they get to be teenagers but hopefully they will take my lead with natural products. It was pretty shocking to see how many cosmetic products one of the girls on the show used. And she did look better when she wore less makeup, and she reached that same conclusion at the end of the experiment, so kudos to her.

I also couldn't believe that some people have a plug-in or some other sort of artificial air freshener in every room of their house. I've never liked the overly perfumey smell of these so I'm glad I missed out on that toxic concoction. I was surprised to learn though that the ingredient *parfum* isn't one thing as in perfume, it can be up to 200 different unidentified chemicals! The main things to watch out for are the same as in any product and one has to seek out more natural alternatives.

Toothpaste without flouride for kids is a necessity. Its not true that you need flouride, and with many water supplies already flouridated it is not necessary. Not every region of Britain is flouridated and there is a lot of controversy about it anyway. But if you simply must have flouride then wait until your kids adult teeth come in. At least by that point they will understand not to eat it and to use as small a portion as possible. We don't use it and my son who is now seven has no problems whatsoever with his teeth. I suppose watching a programme like this one reignited my interest in reviewing everything we use from washing powder to toothpaste. I'm looking into purchasing ecoballs for the washing, and can't wait to little daughter is out of nappies, which will cut our washing in half!!

Buying organic and natural can cost more certainly, but there are ways of stretching it and I've just found Akamuti's Black African soap which can be used for hand washing, hair washing (including baby), bath soap, so it goes a long way, and its pure and natural. Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap is another jack-of-all trades and one we used frequently in America. They can be found in some health stores here in Britain, or online even from Amazon.co.uk!

I have however, discovered another new online shop for everything alternative and natural in the skin/body/home care dept. LoveLula.com, the organic apothecary has a fabulous selection of brands, including Dr. Bronner's plus they offer reward points everytime you shop, adding up to free items, delivery is free over £40 and 3 free samples can be had with each order. Now I am a loyal sort, so I will still be using Olive Organic, but for those other brands, Love Lula is awesome also!!

Limonene & Linalool, What the 'L' is it??

Ahead of this weeks installment of How Toxic Are You? I looked into a couple of ingredients mentioned last week, which I was surprised to find in just about every cosmetic I own.

Limonene. It is a naturally derived product from the Rutaceae family of citrus plants, but according to Wikipedia, Limonene works as paint stripper when applied to painted wood!! It provides a lemony smell in cosmetics, in my particular brands it is listed as 'from essential oils'.

When I found info about Limonene on Osha(us dept. of labour) it said: Potential symptoms: Irritation of eyes, nose, throat, skin; allergic contact dermatitis. Health Effects: Irritation-Eyes, Nose, Throat, Skin---Mild (HE16); Skin sensitization--- Dermatitis (HE3).

And also: 3) Although chronic oral administration of d-limonene to rats caused kidney damage and kidney tumors in the males, this effect is thought to have no human relevance (IARC Group 3)... so what was the point of the animal testing?? Now I'm having to assume that Limonene as used in my products, which are against animal testing, and claim to be earth friendly and baby friendly, must be using some form of this which is truly harmless and natural??

The second one is Linalool. From wikipedia: Linalool is a naturally-occurring terpene alcohol chemical found in many flowers and spice plants with many commercial applications, the majority of which are based on its pleasant scent. That makes some sense to me as I noted that Limonene is also a terpene. I suppose this is where some good knowledge of chemistry would be useful. My educated guess would be that there are many ways of combining these natural substances to create different effects. I think the toxicity comes from synthetic versions. So perhaps these two have passed the test. I still would have to say that less is more, and I love the products (again, like Pure Nuff Stuff or Neals Yard) which sometimes have only five easily understood natural ingredients! And perform well.

How toxic are you??

Having been a dedicated user of natural products for years, the Channel 4 special How Toxic Are You, didn't really surprise me all that much. It didn't surprise me that most of the claims made by powerful cosmetic companies are pretty much empty promises, or that most of the high street products, including so called 'natural' ones are pretty toxic. It did bring up some important thoughts and points though, and if you didn't see the show, I'll highlight a few here. For me it always pays to read the labels.

Generally I don't tend to buy a skin care product if it has too many ingredients, especially ones that I can't readily identify. I haven't been quite as diligent though when it comes to shampoos and hand creams. I have used Aveda products for 20 years and was still surprised when they featured their Rosemary shampoo on the show, and that it had many man-made chemicals in it. I have also been guilty of assuming that if a product has alot of natural ingredients at the beginning of the list, then its ok. NOT entirely true.. those parabens sneak in at the end. I am dismayed to know that I have a bottle of Original Source Almond & Coconut bath foam, which I know is not an organic product, but does list many essential oils etc. But then, at the end there are the parabens. And this one: Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer. What?? is that like polystyrene? I couldn't find a suitable definition for this in cosmetics, but acrylate copolymer is listed on a hazardous materials database. Well, it doesn't sound good does it??

I have researched ingredients in the past and A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients by Ruth Winter is one book I have used. Another book worth seeking out is Milady's Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary by Natalie Michalun which gives a basic education about the skin as well as getting into the ingredients in cosmetics.

Having promoted my fav products on here before, some of which featured on the show (Pure Nuff Stuff!!), I can recommend Olive Organic, run by Pauline Savory as a good online place to pick up many different, highly original brands, including lots of small regional ones. I like the fact that she always offers free samples which allow you to try out different things.

The channel 4 show continues next week with a focus on children's products.

Three major nasties came up in the show this week, which are used in a variety of products from food to cleaners. The first being Parabens, which are preservatives. Ethyl, Methyl, Butyl, Propyl have been linked to breast cancer, as traces of these chemicals were found in breast cancer tissue in a recent British study. The interesting thing for me about the channel 4 show was the blood testing they did on the two women volunteers, before and after changing their products. They had considerably more chemicals in their blood before switching to natural and organic products. Now not all products are created equal, and I have to say I have been disappointed to find out that some 'natural' products that I have purchased recently still have some nasties in them.

The second nasty ingredient to try and avoid is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) which is what makes our shampoo and cleansers foam. It is used in industrial applications as a degreaser. It has many dangerous effects on health which you can read more about by clicking the link. The third nasty to avoid would be Diethanolamine (DEA), Triethanolamine (TEA) used in cosmetics as emulsifiers and foaming agents. This is by no means exhaustive and I found that Aubrey Organics offers a top ten list of the worst offenders to avoid on their website.

The idea is that most of these nasty ingredients are used in small, relatively harmless proportions, which is why they are allowed to be used at all. What we aren't told is that they build up, are cumulatively toxic and should especially be avoided for young children. We wonder where our cancers come from, and I think we are starting to realise the impact our chemical world is having on us..at least I hope we are. More next week..