Recent Scientific Study: Teen Girls' Body Burden of Hormone-Altering Cosmetics Chemicals (wait till you see what was found in their blood) and How to avoid this for your family

What's in "your" blood?

Protect yourselves and your families by learning the hazard scores of all your personal care products on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com! Start reading the labels on everything. If you are not willing to eat the ingredient, then don't put it on your skin. Whether you eat it or put it on, it ends up in your bloodstream with possible severe consequences. It's really not worth "dying to look good!"

All diseases begins in the blood. If the blood is pure, we are healthy. If the blood is not pure, we are diseased. The life of the flesh, the life of man, is in the blood. All the organs feed from the blood. The organs appropriate from the blood the specific nutrients they need to remain healthy. If those nutrients are not present or have been altered synthetically, the organs will malfunction and we will become sick. The life is in the blood. In Scripture Christ reveals to us the dyer importance of keeping the blood pure. If we pollute the blood, which feeds the body, we are defiling the temple of God, which we are.

God has much better options for us than the world does. It is absolutely unnecessary to accept the synthetic products that the world is pushing on us when healthy, affordable alternatives are widely available now. Nowadays, you can even find organic cosmetics and personal care products at places like Wal-Mart at great prices. Even better, shop online at the great discount warehouses below, but make sure to run your selections against the cosmetics database first because many "so-called" natural products are not always so natural. A couple of years ago, I ran every product in my house against the database and made shopping changes accordingly. I had been using natural products for the previous six years but the database helped me to fine tune my purchases for optimal safety (i.e. I stopped buying natural products that listed fragrance, parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium benzoate, etc. as ingredients). It took several hours of work initially but once I was done, I had acquired tons of knowledge that helped me identify safe options for my family now and in the future. I rarely have to visit the database now since I memorized most of the important hazard scores, but on occasion I run into a new product that sounds great and will go there to check it out. Here's a good rule of thumb: If you can't pronounce a word on the ingredient list, beware! That goes for food products too. Here is a handy wallet size Shopper's Guide to Safe Cosmetics (http://www.ewg.org/files/EWG_cosmeticsguide.pdf).

Natural Online Discount Warehouses:
www.Luckyvitamin.com (health food store brands: cosmetics, personal care, nutritional supplements, food, and much more)
www.Vitaglo.com (health food store brands: cosmetics, personal care, nutritional supplements, food, and much more)
www.Vitacost.com (health food store brands: cosmetics, personal care, nutritional supplements, food, and much more)
www.Purebodysoloutions.com (cosmetics and personal care only)
www.Bewellstaywell.com (cosmetics and personal care only)

"My people perish for lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6
Beloved, "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (3 John 1:2)
Miriam

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Teen Girls' Body Burden of Hormone-Altering Cosmetics Chemicals
Adolescent exposures to cosmetic chemicals of concern
By Rebecca Sutton, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, September 2008



The 20 teens we tested had an average of 13 hormone-altering cosmetics chemicals in their bodies.Laboratory tests reveal adolescent girls across America are contaminated with chemicals commonly used in cosmetics and body care products. Environmental Working Group (EWG) detected 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families - phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks - in blood and urine samples from 20 teen girls aged 14-19. Studies link these chemicals to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption. These tests feature first-ever exposure data for parabens in teens, and indicate that young women are widely exposed to this common class of cosmetic preservatives, with 2 parabens, methylparaben and propylparaben, detected in every single girl tested.


In Alex (Washington DC): 12 hormone-altering cosmetics chemicals. "It's frightening to learn about the many different kinds of toxic chemicals that can be found in my body. At the same time I would much rather be knowledgeable about my body's chemical makeup than uninformed; in this case, ignorance is NOT bliss."This work represents the first focused look at teen exposures to chemicals of concern in cosmetics, exposures that occur during a period of accelerated development. Adolescence encompasses maturation of the reproductive, immune, blood, and adrenal hormone systems, rapid bone growth associated with the adolescent "growth spurt," shifts in metabolism, and key changes to brain structure and function. Alterations in an array of sex hormones, present in the body at levels as low as one part per billion (ppb), or even one part per trillion (ppt), guide this transformation to adulthood. Emerging research suggests that teens may be particularly sensitive to exposures to trace levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals like the ones targeted in this study, given the cascade of closely interrelated hormonal signals orchestrating the transformation from childhood to adulthood.



Study teens use more personal care products daily than an average adult woman

Source: EWG product use surveys.
During this window of vulnerability to toxic assault, adolescent girls typically experiment with an increasing number and variety of body care products. Teen study participants used an average of nearly 17 personal care products each day, while the average adult woman uses just 12 products daily. Thus, teens may unknowingly expose themselves to higher levels of cosmetic ingredients linked to potential health effects at a time when their bodies are more susceptible to chemical damage.

Cosmetics and other personal care products are an alarming example of government and industry failures to protect public health. Federal health statutes do not require companies to test products or ingredients for safety before they are sold. As a result, nearly all personal care products contain ingredients that have not been assessed for safety by any accountable agency, and that are not required to meet standards of safety. To protect the health of teens and all Americans, we recommend action:

The federal government must set comprehensive safety standards for cosmetics and other personal care products.
Teens should make healthy choices for themselves by reducing the number of products they use, and by using our Shopper’s Guide to Safe Cosmetics to select safer products. (http://www.ewg.org/files/EWG_cosmeticsguide.pdf)
Companies must reformulate products to protect consumers from exposure to potentially toxic chemicals, untested ingredients, and noxious impurities.


Related News:
Confused by SPF? Take a Number
New York Times | May 14, 2009
Saving Face: How Safe Are Cosmetics and Body Care Products?
Scientific American | May 6, 2009
Many Baby Bath Products Contain Carcinogens, Report Finds
eNews 2.0 | March 13, 2009
Not Just A Cosmetic Problem
Reproductive Health Reality Check | March 13, 2009
Group Finds Carcinogens in Kids Bath Products
USA Today | March 12, 2009
http://www.ewg.org/reports/teens