Well, not killing you, but possibly contributing to cancer and infertility.
Emily told me about this a while ago but I just recently decided to look into the products that I use (shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.) after reading this article: http://alternet.org/healthwellness/66074/
Basically, in the U.S. there are tons of products that have chemicals known to cause cancer and infertility in them, in trace amounts. Europe doesn't allow even trace amounts in their products, however, and while there's no way to know for sure that these products are contributing to cancer/infertility etc., I'm going to stop using products that are high in dangerous chemicals. If you don't want to read through the article above you can go right to cosmeticsdatabase.com to see what products are bad or good.
The products you clean yourself with are killing you
-
funklovesfootbag
- Womanizer
- Posts: 1381
- Joined: 04 Aug 2005 11:05
- Location: SANTA CRUZ, CA!
The products you clean yourself with are killing you
Fletcher Funk...
*Retired From Stitching*
(and basically freestyle.)
*Retired From Stitching*
(and basically freestyle.)
This is fucking ridiculous. The companies know that they're putting carcinogens in their products, yet they refuse to take them out unless there's direct proof that the product causes cancer. I can understand a little, because there's no such thing as a risk-free life, but some of these products have way too much shit in them. And the government isn't doing annnnything about it.
Re: The products you clean yourself with are killing you
The safest solution is to buy your soap from an Amish store. I've been to one and they have a neat ceiling fan powered by a leather belt connected to a pulley.
That's right kids, don't clean yourself. Be that stinky footbagger.
I'm sorry but this is rediculous.
Cleanliness is more beneficial toward health then not using bathing products at all because you are afraid of cancer. Eat well and exercise so your cells are working correctly and clean yourself often.
I'm sorry but this is rediculous.
Cleanliness is more beneficial toward health then not using bathing products at all because you are afraid of cancer. Eat well and exercise so your cells are working correctly and clean yourself often.
bodybuilda
It's not a choice between being clean or not, it's a choice between being making an educated decision or not.
Go to this site and type in your body wash or toothpaste (up top in the search box) and see if it's a high hazard. Or, the next time you need to buy an item try checking out some of the less dangerous products. Instead of getting something with a 9 out of 10 on the hazard scale, try for a 5 or 6. You don't have to change your life drastically to put less harmful stuff in your body. And you don't have to smell bad.
Go to this site and type in your body wash or toothpaste (up top in the search box) and see if it's a high hazard. Or, the next time you need to buy an item try checking out some of the less dangerous products. Instead of getting something with a 9 out of 10 on the hazard scale, try for a 5 or 6. You don't have to change your life drastically to put less harmful stuff in your body. And you don't have to smell bad.
"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."
Emily Kulczyk
Emily Kulczyk
I would always be initial sceptical of websites like that, and I think a short amount of research bears out that scepticism.
I went to shampoos, to the most "dangerous" shampoo and then to a random compound - D and C yellow 10 aluminium lake. In this case the substance is dangerous because it causes developmental/reproductive toxicity and neurotoxicity. I then checked the most accessible of the references given for this compound - which was an article in the Lancet (probably the most respected medical science journal in the world). The article in question, that they've referenced as a source for the claims did not mention the substance at all, but did provide an unreferenced side box to the article listing chemicals that are known to be neurotoxic in adults, which included on that list "aluminium compounds"
For starters such an article has no bearing at all on whether this shampoo is dangerous. It appears very much like the website has included the article because they know people won't look it up and presenting an article from the Lancet as a reference gives your claims a lot of credibility.
Of course this doesn't at all mean the claim isn't true, just that their not supporting them very well. I therefore did some further research on aluminium compounds (I can give you some references for this if you like, or you can take a couple of minutes with google scholar to check for yourself).
People at risk of suffering any kind of negative effect from aluminium are infants who consume aluminium compounds and people who work in an industry where they come in to close and regular contact with aluminium compounds. Infants who consume aluminium compounds are almost twice as likely to develop intellectual impairment as infants who don't - hence the risk of developmental neurotoxicity. This sounds fairly dangerous until you realise a few of points;
1. The risk of infants developing intellectual impairment is very low. Double very low is still very low.
2. People don't typically eat shampoo. Our bodies are also designed to not allow poisons into them. About 2% of aluminium compounds swallowed make it in to the body - the other 98% passes straight through. Given how little shampoo is ingested, this poses very little risk.
3. I'm not an infant. Infants are far more likely to suffer many negative effects to many chemicals than adults are. Ok, so I won't feed this shampoo to my future children. I don't really need a website to tell me this would be bad.
The other people at risk are adults who work very frequently with aluminium compounds. They have a small but significant risk of developing some kinds neurotoxicity as a result of this. So if you wash your hair for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 5 years you might have reason to be concerned about aluminium toxicity. If this is the case, you probably have other more pressing concerns as well.
Essentially aluminium compounds in shampoo offer no serious threat to our health, and suggesting that they do, and using an article from the Lancet to support this claim is significantly misleading.
This is only one of many substances listed, and I certainly don't have the time or desire to look up any more. No doubt some of the substances in some products can have negative health effects, especially in large quantities. Whether this means we have anything to fear, and should worry about which toothpaste to buy in case it makes us sick is another question. I'm unconvinced and think it's needless fear mongering with very little change in risk.
I went to shampoos, to the most "dangerous" shampoo and then to a random compound - D and C yellow 10 aluminium lake. In this case the substance is dangerous because it causes developmental/reproductive toxicity and neurotoxicity. I then checked the most accessible of the references given for this compound - which was an article in the Lancet (probably the most respected medical science journal in the world). The article in question, that they've referenced as a source for the claims did not mention the substance at all, but did provide an unreferenced side box to the article listing chemicals that are known to be neurotoxic in adults, which included on that list "aluminium compounds"
For starters such an article has no bearing at all on whether this shampoo is dangerous. It appears very much like the website has included the article because they know people won't look it up and presenting an article from the Lancet as a reference gives your claims a lot of credibility.
Of course this doesn't at all mean the claim isn't true, just that their not supporting them very well. I therefore did some further research on aluminium compounds (I can give you some references for this if you like, or you can take a couple of minutes with google scholar to check for yourself).
People at risk of suffering any kind of negative effect from aluminium are infants who consume aluminium compounds and people who work in an industry where they come in to close and regular contact with aluminium compounds. Infants who consume aluminium compounds are almost twice as likely to develop intellectual impairment as infants who don't - hence the risk of developmental neurotoxicity. This sounds fairly dangerous until you realise a few of points;
1. The risk of infants developing intellectual impairment is very low. Double very low is still very low.
2. People don't typically eat shampoo. Our bodies are also designed to not allow poisons into them. About 2% of aluminium compounds swallowed make it in to the body - the other 98% passes straight through. Given how little shampoo is ingested, this poses very little risk.
3. I'm not an infant. Infants are far more likely to suffer many negative effects to many chemicals than adults are. Ok, so I won't feed this shampoo to my future children. I don't really need a website to tell me this would be bad.
The other people at risk are adults who work very frequently with aluminium compounds. They have a small but significant risk of developing some kinds neurotoxicity as a result of this. So if you wash your hair for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 5 years you might have reason to be concerned about aluminium toxicity. If this is the case, you probably have other more pressing concerns as well.
Essentially aluminium compounds in shampoo offer no serious threat to our health, and suggesting that they do, and using an article from the Lancet to support this claim is significantly misleading.
This is only one of many substances listed, and I certainly don't have the time or desire to look up any more. No doubt some of the substances in some products can have negative health effects, especially in large quantities. Whether this means we have anything to fear, and should worry about which toothpaste to buy in case it makes us sick is another question. I'm unconvinced and think it's needless fear mongering with very little change in risk.