Switching to Natural Products
*Originally published in September of 2020, updated in April of 2024.
Food and drugs are regulated for safety by the FDA, but did you know that personal care products do not need government approval? The FDA says it is the companies' responsibility to ensure product safety. For cleaning products, the EPA only requires a company to list active disinfectant ingredients.
Why You Should Switch to Natural Products
Over 40 countries have banned over 1,400 ingredients that are believed to be harmful in personal care products and cosmetics, whereas the US prohibits or restricts just 11. [1] Ingredients banned in other countries have been linked to cancer, disruption of the endocrine system, damage of the nervous and reproductive systems, allergies, and skin irritation.[2]
The process to remove harmful ingredients in makeup and personal care products is long, slow, and often unsuccessful. Companies rarely remove harmful products and when they do it's generally after the damage as been done and after a lot of bad press. For example, WEN conditioner received thousands of complaints yet the product still remain on shelves.
Exposure To Toxins In Everyday Products
Consider the average woman uses 6 or more cosmetics and 13 or more personal care products per day with hundreds of identifiable ingredients, some of which are carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and allergens. Exposure to toxic ingredients doesn't stop there. Food, food packaging, electronics, furniture, lawn care products, automobiles, building materials, often contain harmful chemicals.
““The cumulative effects of toxic ingredients are at best underestimated and definitely not fully understood.””
What does the research of toxic ingredients show?
When research indicates a specific ingredient is harmful, it does not factor in the aggregate exposure of chemicals combined in the product or exposure from other sources.
The research that has been done indicates the cumulative effects of toxin exposure are large but not enough research has been done to explain exactly how much. We can reasonably assume the health threat from toxic products is great, and it's worth the effort to make small changes when we can.
Additive Effect
Currently, researchers will examine the safety of an individual ingredient and determine how small of a dose must be used as to not cause harm. This doesn't consider the danger of all chemicals combined in a product, not to mention the thousands of other chemicals we are exposed to in our lifetime (80,000 plus).
Cocktail Effect
Additionally, some chemicals may be safe when used individually, but become harmful when combined with other ingredients. For example, the widely used additive, EDTA contributes to genetic instability when combined with other chemical mutagens, in addition to inhibiting DNA repair on its own. [3] The preservative sodium benzoate will react in the presence of ascorbic acid, to form benzene which is a known human carcinogen. In animal studies, the combination of ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate synergistically aggravates testicular dysfunction. [4][5]
Since our skin is a barrier, do the chemicals actually get into our bodies?
It’s true that some ingredients have molecules that are too large to be absorbed, but for others this is not the case.
Take sunscreen for example. For many years, chemical UV filters used in sunscreens were deemed safe because they were not thought to be absorbed by the skin. In May 2019, the Journal of the American Medical Association published results from a study confirming the absorption of active sunscreen ingredients in the skin.[6]
The FDA has since concluded the only two ingredients determined to be safe and effective are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, which are physical blockers that are not absorbed.[7]
Additionally, many cosmetic products are made to penetrate the skin, and contain chemicals that are penetration enhancers such as sodium lauryl sulfate and polyethylene glycols.[8]
Aren't the amount of chemicals too small to make a difference?
While smallest doses are thought to be safest, this is not the case particularly with endocrine disruptors. Our bodies are designed to detect the smallest changes in hormones like estrogen and testosterone. Normal endocrine function works this way.
Small amounts of endocrine disrupting chemicals can negatively effect our neurological, reproductive, and immune systems by harming attention, immunity, metabolism, puberty, and reproduction.
Low doses can lead to abnormalities, especially when exposure happens during a critical development time period. Because we are exposed to multiple endocrine disruptors at the same time through diet, air, skin, and water, assessment one of their effects is difficult. Human disorders are believed to be result of chronic low dose exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. [9][10]
Some common endocrine disrupting chemicals include phthalates (found in fragrance), PBDE (found in flame retardants), BPA (found in plastic bottles), PFAS (found in non-stick cookware), and triclosan (an antibacterial agent found in cleaning and personal care items). [13]
Are Natural Products Better?
While not all natural products are safer, generally speaking products derived from natural and organic ingredients are less toxic. For example, synthetic fragrances have been found to contain endocrine disrupting phthalates as well as other toxic ingredients; whereas, fragrances derived purely from essential oils are time-tested and likely safer.
There are exceptions in which synthetic is better than natural. For example, iron oxides, that are synthetically produced contain fewer heavy metals. For this reason, the FDA only allows synthetic iron oxides for use in cosmetic colorants. [11][12] Also, synthetic mica is more environmentally friendly than natural mica.
In Conclusion
Switching to natural products in which companies not only strive for safety and efficacy, but maintain transparency with customers, helps you ensure a safer and healthier lifestyle and home.
References
[1]https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations/prohibited-restricted-ingredients-cosmetics
[2]https://www.ewg.org/californiacosmetics/toxic12
[3]http://www.gettingtoknowcancer.org/environmental_exposures.php#:~:text=Genetic%20instability%20itself%20is%20therefore,genetic%20alterations%20and%20cause%20cancer.&text=When%20EDTA%20is%20combined%20with,important%20contributor%20to%20genetic%20instability.
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4745501/
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5871628/
[6] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2733085
[7] https://www.fda.gov/media/124654/download
[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3283952/
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726844/
[10] https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/index.cfm
[11]https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating/function/pigment/118610674.html
[12] https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=73.2250#:~:text=73.2250%20Iron%20oxides.&text=Iron%20oxides%20shall%20conform%20to,than%2010%20parts%20per%20million.
[13] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726844/
