If your health is important to you, you have probably been noticing lately that there has been a lot of talk about organic products. Yes, they are more expensive, but they are supposedly free of harmful substances that could lead to chronic disease like cancer. The challenge is that, thanks to "green washing", it can be difficult to determine which "organic" or "natural" products are really chemical free. Green washing is the deceptive use of marketing to portray an item as organic or green when in fact it is not.
The challenge comes in because many products that are portrayed as green are actually not green at all. They may have a few organic ingredients, but they are also full of synthetic ingredients that may potentially be harmful to your health. Let's take a look at some harmful substances you want to avoid!
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Sodium lauryl sulfate is one of the primary ingredients in car wash soaps, floor cleaners and engine degreasers. They also happen to be used in most shampoos! They are what give shampoo the lather that we have all become accustomed to.
Researchers use sodium lauryl sulfate as a skin irritant when they are testing different products for their potential to heal.
Sodium lauryl sulfate penetrates into the liver, heart, brain and eyes in is retained long term in the body's tissues. Studies show that it may lead to cataracts and hair loss. Because they absorb into the body so easily and large quantities have been proven to cause cancer, most natural health experts agree that you should stay away from Sodium Lauryl Sulfate if you can.
Polyethylene Glycol
Polyethylene glycol is used in everything from medicine to industrial manufacturing. According to a study in the International Journal of Toxicolgy they may include: ethylene oxide, 1.4 dioxane, Polycyclic aromatic compounds, nickel, lead and arsenic.
Parabens
Parabens are low cost chemicals that are used to increase the shelf life of shampoos, moisturizers and shaving gels. While some studies show that they are not toxic, there is plenty of evidence that suggests otherwise. According to a UK study by the Department of Biology and Biochemistry of Brunel University, parabens have the ability to mimic estrogen, which can have harmful effects. For starters, it can impact pregnant women and may be potentially damaging the developing fertility systems of male fetuses. Some experts believe that parabens can lead to low sperm counts in men and breast cancer in women.
No comments:
Post a Comment