Harmful Chemicals in Cosmetics
and Personal Care Products
You may be aware by now that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is basically powerless in regulating and controlling the manufacture of cosmetics and various personal care products. We have all been confident that by using popular brands for our grooming needs, we are protected and safe from all the frightening rumors about carcinogenic chemicals or substances being used as ingredients. Well it appears that we have been misled by the formidable presence of the FDA or of the highly dependable name of top brand products. In a recently published article entitled "Carcinogens in Cosmetics can Cause Cancer- The Top 5 Harmful Chemicals in Cosmetics", we have been provided with information that FDA does not pre-test cosmetics and personal care products before they are released in the market. The only way that the buying public came to know about this was due to the relentless efforts of concerned civic organizations. They banded together and formed an alliance called Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to hasten the dissemination of such information as well as bring forth the issue of unsafe ingredients to the government legislators. They are likewise supported by another group called Environmental Working Group (EWG) who provides the legwork in testing out the products since their members include scientists, engineers, policy experts and computer programmers.
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Found Toxic Chemicals in Baby Products
The greater impact of these harmful chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products will be felt by most of our children. We took care to use only the baby products for our children, in order to keep their young skin safe from the harshness of ingredients used in most adult products. However, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and EWG found out in their tests that baby products were not spared either. Johnson's Baby Shampoo, Sesame Street Bubble Bath, Grins & Giggles Milk & Honey Baby Wash and Huggies Naturally Refreshing Cucumber & Green Tea Baby Wash are some of 17 baby products that contain formaldehyde and 1,4 diocane
Baby Magic Baby Lotion manufactured by Ascendia Brands, Inc. contain formaldehyde in levels of above 500 ppm (parts per million) despite FDA regulations of only 250 ppm as allowable low level. According to another article, Chemical Carcinogens in Industries: Is it a Plague or a Growing Nuisance? A lot of chemicals have been banned during the past 15 years, but manufacturing industries merely come up with new ones and only became broader in scope for a wider range of products. The sad part is, it has been established that these harmful chemicals in cosmetics and personal are products will have its full effect within 30 to 50 years. This means that the children we took pains to keep away from harm are likely to become cancer patients during their adult years because of the baby products used during their babyhood.
How to Check if your Cosmetic, Personal Care and Baby Products are Safe
The Campaign for Safety in Cosmetics and EWG have an online database which consumers can freely use to check if the product they are using is safe or contains toxic chemicals and other harmful ingredients. It's called Skin Deep where you can even check in advance the products you intend to buy as alternative. Even if your product is not included in their database , the site will give you a provisional report to serve as your preliminary guide.
Consider Making your Own Organic Cosmetics and Personal Care Product
Another good alternative to these commercially manufactured products is to make your own. There are several how to books and materials you can find in the Internet that provides instructions on how you can formulate your own. One good example is a paperback by Author Gill Farrer-Halls- entitled " How to Make Your Own Organic Cosmetics: Face Masks, Hair Rinses & Body Lotions: Recipes for Natural Beauty".
You can also visit different websites dedicated in providing information about home made beauty products that will teach you how you can formulate your own personal care products, ex. "Make a Lotion at Home". In fact, there are a lot of resources in the net we can use to protect ourselves from the obvious disregard of some manufacturers to the well being of consumers.
Fortunately, we have concerned citizens in our midst who have taken the initiative to unravel the truths about these toxic chemicals in baby products and other harmful ingredients in cosmetic and personal care products.
