Toxic Chemicals Found in Personal Care Products

So, as a kind of part two to my toxic chemicals posts, I thought I'd share my research about the toxic chemicals found in personal care products. After I researched this stuff about two months ago, I started reading all of the labels on my everyday personal care products like shampoo and lotions, and I was seriously astounded at the number of toxic chemicals that are found in each of these things that I put on my body everyday! It's really crazy to think of how many toxic things we put in or on our body on a daily basis…we give our bodies no time to get rid of these toxins. We just keep piling them on, no wonder the risk for cancer is super high. Here's a small list of toxins that I've comprised for you all.

• Isopropyl Alcohol - Found in hair color rinses, body rubs, lotions, after shave lotions, fragrances, etc. Causes headaches, mental depression, dizziness, and vomiting.
• Mineral Oil (Baby Oil) - Coats skin like plastic wrap. Causes skin not be able to release toxins, promotes acne and premature skin aging.
• PEG (Polyethylene Glycol) - Found in face cleansers that dissolve oils. Potentially causes cancer and leaves immune system vulnerable.
• PG (Propylene Glycol) - Found in make-up, hair products, lotions, after shave, deodorants, mouthwash, toothpaste. The active component is antifreeze. Causes brain, liver, and kidney abnormalities.
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) & Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) - Found in cosmetics, toothpaste, conditioner, shampoo and products that foam. Causes eye damage, depression, death, and damages the immune system.
• Chlorine - Found in tap water, showers, pools, cleaning agents. Contributes to asthma, anemia, bronchitis, confusion, dizziness, nausea, and possibly cancer.
• DEA (Diethanolamine), MEA (Momoethanolamine), & TEA (Triethanolamine) - Found in products that foam. These are hormone disrupting chemicals. Found to increase liver and kidney cancer.
• FD & C Color Pigments - Almost all of these cause cancer.
• Fragrance - There could be up to 4,000 different chemicals used to make the fragrance and they only have to put fragrance on the label. Many of these compounds cause cancer.

Like I said before I scared you with all of these chemicals, after researching these and taking a look at everything that I used on a daily basis, I freaked out a little. There was at least one of these toxic chemicals, if not more, in everything that I used! So my husband and I decided to buy some organic personal care products and see how those worked out for us. I found that Burt's Bees had some really great stuff! We went organic with our shampoo, conditioner, lotions, after shave, face wash and body wash. We still use some of our old stuff, but it's a start right? Just be aware of the stuff you're putting in and on your body…it really can make a difference!

Color Yourself Healthy!