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Harmful Ingredients and Chemicals In Use Everyday
We are always told to read the label. But, even if we do read the label, most of us don't know what most of the ingredients are on a label. Take toothpaste for example. The disclaimer on the tubes that I have read says to call poison control if ingested. Now I imagine that caution is for children, but why? I was shown that it is possible to use backing soda to brush teeth and this natural substance works just as well as toothpaste, although it does not have the sweet flavor of typical toothpastes. But what do we pay for flavor and a product that is dangerous to a certain degree? Do we have any idea of what is good or bad for us? What about personal care products? Do we know what ingredients really work or what ingredients may cause or have been shown to cause cancer? Probably not. In fact if we read enough labels we may see enough common ingredients that we might think they are all right because they are in so many products. This is usually not the case. Many common chemicals in everyday products are cancer-causing. The home is a haven for cancer. According to Michael Dufresne, a leading researcher in environmental cancers, "54% of women working in the home are at a higher risk of developing cancer than women working outside the home." The reason: chemicals in everyday products. Dufresne, a researcher professor at the University of Windsor, who is also a research coordinator for Cancer Care Ontario and a member of the US Barbara Karmanos Cancer Institute, says that the presence of cancer-linked chemicals in cosmetic and hair products, toothpaste, shaving cream, furniture polish, dish washing liquids and other household products should raise major concerns. Dufresne said his greatest worry is the lack of information given to the public about products they use every day, more so because they are being used together. He said, "People are blindly being led in the use of these products; they assume they are safe, and they are not." He added, "Scientists are discovering that exposure to a variety of trace chemicals over the span of a lifetime is dangerous." Did you know that the U.S. Public Interest Group reports that there are more that 100,000 synthetic chemicals in use? It is even more frightening, according to Dufresne, that unlike cigarettes there are virtually no warning labels on cosmetics and virtually no FDA regulations policing them. What about price. If the product is expensive it must be good for you right? No. Dufresne's own study shows, "Men and women think they are safer if they pay more, but there is absolutely no relationship between cost and safety." One product that saved farmers millions of dollars was DDT. The U.S. government outlawed the use of the pesticide DDT because research has proven there are several cancer-causing dangers associated with the chemical. Unfortunately most people are unaware that many countries from which we import fruits and vegetables still use DDT because their respective governments aren't worried about the effects since the produce is exported to the U.S. Monsanto, one of the major chemical producers, manufactures DDT and sells it abroad. Why? Because it works well, it is cheap to produce, and, of course, profit. Unless you grow your food yourself or buy organic produce, you may never really know what you are adding to your diet. The choice is yours! As the adage goes, buyer beware. So what can we do about it? Buy organic! ...Or we all become farmers; or we demand to know more about our products so that we can make the choice for ourselves! The main reason most chemicals show up in so many products is because they are inexpensive, simple and effective, and the government allows them to continue to be used by virtually every cosmetics and personal care product manufacturer in the country. A lot of them were being used before the Food and Drug Administration began regulating the use of dangerous chemicals in such products and they were "grandfathered in," and, at the time, seemed ok. Below is a listing of some of those chemicals, their properties, and their other uses. With this list in hand, the next time you go to the drug store, the local grocery store, or your own household cabinet, you can examine the labels on every product you have and compare ingredients to the following list. If you find these ingredients on the label the wisest course is to dispose of the product and find something that does not contain these chemicals.
Did you also know that approximately 3,000 chemicals are intentionally added to our foods and that 700 different chemicals have been found in drinking water? There are also 884 neurotoxic chemical compounds that are used in cosmetic and personal care and perfume industry products. Are they safe? And at what levels and in what combinations are they safe? Who is really willing to take that chance? For those of us that have either gone through an illness or a loss of someone close to us, we have first hand knowledge of the toll it takes on us and the family. And what if it could have been changed just by some simple things in our lives? What these products can do by themselves, let alone if they are used in combination with each other, is frightening. These type of studies are not done very often because of the thousands of possible combinations and costs, but should we just ignore that and hope that it is ok? Not if we truly want to ourselves and our family to be as safe as we can. It will not take much effort, except a change in our life style. It will require change and a new commitment to one’s lifestyle, but being ill or unhealthy is the one of the biggest inconveniences there is. According to the founder of the Response Team for the Chemically Injured, at least one study from the National Cancer Institute suggests that as many as 98 percent of all cancers may be linked to chemical exposures. WARNING LABLES: They are appearing on more and more personal care products everyday, but we just ignore them and continue rubbing irritants into our skin, having our children (and ourselves) brush their teeth with dangerous chemicals and use mouthwashes that are not safe. The labels warn us not to swallow. If the product is ingested in large amounts, labels instruct us to contact the Poison Control Center. Other labels warn us of the danger of prolonged contact with the skin of products that are designed to be rubbed into the skin. Learn the names of these harmful chemicals, and stop ignoring the warning labels. Start reading the ingredient lists, and if these harmful chemicals are listed, put it back on the shelf. You may live longer and with fewer health problems by doing just this one thing. |
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