Organic Body CareSelecting organic body care products protects your body from harmful chemicals. States have laws requiring the use of devices on automobiles to protect us from air pollution. But there is little regulation to protect our bodies from the harmful substances in cosmetics.
Yet items such as soaps, shampoos, various body moisturizers, deodorants, and even nail polish all contain these hazardous substances. Phylates, for instance, are commonly found in many body care products.
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Phylates can be absorbed into the body either through the skin or by inhaling. Animal studies that have been conducted on these substances discovered that phylates cause kidney and liver damage in laboratory animals.
In other research studies phylates were shown to imitate certain hormonal processes thereby disrupting their normal behavior. Because of this they may constitute a breast cancer risk.
In 2003 they were banned in Europe. However, the manufacturers of main stream cosmetics in the United States claim that their products are safe because the quantity used is not large enough to be dangerous. But the problem with this logic is that phylates do not wash off in the shower like dirt. They are absorbed into the skin and are not excreted. So they accumulate in the tissues of the body until the quantities exceed the prescribed safety limits. Organic body care manufacturers do not use phylates in their products.
Two other unsafe products used in mainstream cosmetics are SLS and ALS. SLS is the acronym for Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. ALS stands for Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate. A research study was conducted applying a patch of 2% or greater to experimental mice. As a result, the mice underwent severe epidermal changes to their skin. The researchers concluded that further studies were needed to assess if there is any danger of tumor enhancement.
The way in which sulfates are used also affects their safety. If used occasionally and thoroughly washed off, they may not cause any damage. But daily use over a long period of time results in an accumulation of the substances in the body to the point where they are no longer safe. In addition, some products exceed the 2% margin and actually contain up to a 20% concentration of sulfates.
The problem with identifying the sulfates is that manufacturers are permitted by law to list them as "fragrance" making it difficult to determine their presence in any given product. However, the manufacturers of organic body care products do not use sulfates at all so there is no need to worry about a safe versus an unsafe concentration.
One reason for opting for organic body care products is time. Time is a commodity that most of us don't have enough of. Analyzing ingredient lists for every cosmetic that we buy is time consuming; most of us are not familiar with the chemical names so we would need to research each one. By making it a practice to always buy organic body care products we are assured that our bodies are not exposed to these harmful substances in any quantity.
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