Stop Slathering on Toxins

Many people who would never dream of eating or drinking toxic chemicals, regularly ingest them through the skin, in the form of soap, lotion, sunscreen, deodorant, shampoo, and other personal care products.  

Synthetic chemicals in the bloodstream have been studied in pregnant women, and the findings are pretty disturbing.  Studies find numerous chemicals in all participants—both contemporary chemicals and those previously banned, but which are apparently still in the environment.  Many of these chemicals are known to contribute to hormone disruption, obesity, metabolic problems, cancer, sexual dysfunction, infertility and more.  

Some of the worst offenders are parabens, phthalates, and synthetic fragrances, but there are many others.  By avoiding toxic personal care products, we can reduce exposure to at least some of the toxins.  Here are two easy ways to find much healthier products:

  1. You could buy products verified by the Environmental Working Group. They do the work of reading ingredients, checking their safety, and giving a rating to each product. Look here for best choices: Link
  1. Second, you could make your own products out of healthy items you may already have in your pantry.  

Homemade creations can be very simple—such as using unrefined coconut oil as moisturizer— or you can get as fancy as you like.  There are numerous recipes online, using herbs, spices, essential oils, tea, honey, and almost any healthy food you can think of.  It’s fun, quick and easy, and gives you far superior products at a fraction of the cost.  

Here are some websites that can get you started:

To purchase fragrant and healthy ingredients and get recipes: Link

Some DIY shampoo recipes: Link

A DIY deodorant recipe: Link

Three DIY soap recipes: Link

These just scratch the surface.  There are so many online recipes for personal care products that you can find dozens for any fragrance or natural ingredient you might want. We may not be able to avoid all toxins, but we can at least avoid absorbing them in the very personal care products that are supposed to make us healthier.

Source:

Mitro SD, Johnson T, Zota AR. Cumulative Chemical Exposures During Pregnancy and Early Development. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2015;2(4):367-378. doi:10.1007/s40572-015-0064-x

Link to Article