Chemicals in personal care products

Posted By: Bobby

Chemicals in personal care products - 01/29/06 12:20 PM

Hello everyone. I would like to add an important topic to our everyday lives and address some concerns I have with information I have learned this past year.

Our everyday products, cleaning supplies, shampoo, hair spray, deodorants, toothpaste, hair dyes etc... all have been unregulated and contain some of the same cancer causing chemicals that are present in cigarettes. Why is this important ? Because everything that is put on our skin, eventually makes its way into our blood stream. Then, it makes its way to our organs and so on. Some of these chemicals cause birth defects, genetic/DNA damage, contribute to Alzheimers and Parkinsons. But mainly cancer. And that is what I would like to point out.

Chemicals in our products, take a look and see if these are in any of your products you are using;

Sodium lauryl sulfate (or laureth sulfate)
PEG (followed by any number. PEG meaning polyethylene glycol)
Propylene Glycol
MEA, DEA, or TEA (alkylamines; monoethanlomine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine)
butane, propane, benzene, aluminum silicate (or anything beginning with aluminum)

There are some 80,000 chemical presently in use for human products that are not tested for safety before proceeding to store shelves. A bottle of shampoo is cheap to produce. It cost the companies more money to produce the bottle and cap, than its contents. Every year, about 1,000 more chemicals are introduced for use in personal care, cosmetics, toiletries, perfume/colognes etc...

Recently, if anyone was priviledged to catch it, CBC market place (or watch?) had a program regarding the pesticides present in our household cleaning products such as Windex, pledge and Mr Clean. I learned from another person who informed me that Lysol contains agent orange, which was used in the Vietnam war as a weapon.

According to Dr Samuel Epstein of the Prevention of Cancer coalition in Chicage Illinois, and author of many books including, "The politics of Cancer, The safe shoppers Bible, Unreasonable risk" and others, non smoking cancers are on the rise. Some of them as high as 300% !! This is due to the use of petrochemicals, many of which are not tested for human safety, and thrown into our products. Due to the fragrance used in perfumes, fragrance, as an ingredient, can be comprised of anywhere from 300 to 3000 different chemicals.

This is why Environmental illness is on the rise back in Eastern Canada, coupled with the Gulf Stream bringing a lot of Eastern US pollution along with it. But Nova Scotia has taken other steps in the right direction by banning use of pesticides. I have recently learned that pesticides have the same effect on human cells as radiation does; the cells either mutate and become cancerous, or they die. This is why chemo therapy doesn't always work, and severely weakens cancer patients.

By following God's diet, our bodies can reverse any disease. God gave us the promise that if we follow His laws, HE will keep us free from all disease.

This is serious stuff folks and I believe that every Adventist should know about these types of things. I am seeing more Adventists coming down with cancer, and it is unnecessary in my opinion. We have the gift of extra knowledge from God to help others. I have learned of many food related things as well, which we eat and have no idea of what it is. The food industry has been infiltrated by Satan and have taken it by storm. Even our favorite vegetarian food (like Fried Chik) is a hazard to our health long term.
I will start another thread on that one.

Posted By: razorren

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 01/30/06 02:04 AM

Thank you for posting this information. We live in the age of profits, profits and more profits. Therefore we need to be wise and on our guard more than ever before.

~Ren

Posted By: Daryl

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 01/30/06 04:21 AM

So what do we use to safely wash our hands, hair and clean our teeth?

Posted By: vastergotland

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 01/30/06 10:58 AM

*joke mode*

Hands, Alcohol
Hair, Soap
Teeth, whats the need to brush ones teeth once all the suggar is cut out?

Youd smell from your mouth and look really bad in your hair but at least your hands will be disinfected and youll live long doing so. [Eek!]

*end joke mode*

/Thomas

Posted By: Colin

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 01/30/06 08:29 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Daryl Fawcett:
So what do we use to safely wash our hands, hair and clean our teeth?

Products that have harmless chemicals. Several manufacturers out there do this.

Samuel Epstein, MD, the Cancer Prevention Coalition's Chairman, personally uses the non-toxic products I use and distribute: details on request, and via the website on my profile page. (Link not allowed on this forum, is it...)

They've done the homework on what chemicals hurt us and which don't, but picking the best of the bunch is by word of mouth and testing: there's no commercial advertising.

Harmless chemicals cost more, so advertising is an unnecessary expense when personal testimony is so effective.

[ January 30, 2006, 02:05 PM: Message edited by: Colin ]

Posted By: Redfog

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 01/31/06 04:15 AM

Now let me see if I got this right. There are now more things than ever that will kill us, like autos, airplanes, additives in our food, our clothes made of who knows what, AIDS, bird flu, margarine, polluted water, lead in our soil, green house gasses, mad cows, milk, guns, spouses, etc etc etc. And yet we are living longer and longer and being active for longer than people lived a hundred years ago. Just an observation.

Redfog

Posted By: Colin

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 01/31/06 04:14 PM

And who's paying for that longer life, given the death rates from the various causes you listed? That's the scandal here... We pay to preserve our health after we've paid to be ill [Eek!]

. There's no avoiding it [Big Grin]

.

Half your list is pure propaganda, though - but raises a smile if you're into British humour: AIDS & bird flu (where's the scientific evidence for these two??!...the press releases by leading medics are not scientifically sound: as scientifically reliable as full scale evolution!).

Margarine, green house gasses, mad cows, & milk are all hoaxes too...I've not heard of milk and 'marg' being fatal [Roll Eyes]

, so the lethal elements are bad bachteria (polluted water), toxins (lead in the soil), and violence. The first two we personally can do something about.

However, if you're happy buying the toxic products which are heavily advertised - thus paying toward the adverts while the product is worth next to nothing (70% of the price is advertising), and are happy paying for the medical care (taxes in Canada, insurance in America) which only prolongs the toxicity - you at least keep using those products, then how scandalous are y o u? - aside from fostering your own ill-health.

This is really about Christian stewardship of health and money, isn't it. Yes, but only once you know all the facts [Cool]

. Until then, what you don't know can kill you [Confused]

Posted By: vastergotland

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 01/31/06 04:37 PM

Colin

Just curious to know, have you studied college science? I am with the assumption that you need some level of knowledge to read and understand medical, chemical, environmental, foodrelated scientific articles and then some more to be able to make informed evaluations of their content as you imply having done.

/Thomas

Posted By: Redfog

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 01/31/06 04:51 PM

Yes Colin it was meant to be a bit of hyperbolic humor, however it was also meant to raise a question of why are we living longer and better than in years past. When I was hiking the Appalachian trail I walked for hundreds of miles with people in their 60's who a hundred years ago would be pushing up daisies by then.

Redfog

Posted By: Bobby

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 02/02/06 01:24 PM

I think we should consider that in many places around the world, people are not consuming the same foods as here in North America.

I have found a couple of companies which use no chemicals whatsoever, and are certified organic as well. One of our children is very sensitive to chemicals, as well as gluten and dairy. So we have a completely chemical free house. I finally gave in to using vinegar (ugh!) for cleaning, and another person told me they use lemon with water. I found that many "natural" cleaning products are not chemical free.

Posted By: Bobby

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 02/02/06 01:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Redfog:
Now let me see if I got this right. There are now more things than ever that will kill us, like autos, airplanes, additives in our food, our clothes made of who knows what, AIDS, bird flu, margarine, polluted water, lead in our soil, green house gasses, mad cows, milk, guns, spouses, etc etc etc. And yet we are living longer and longer and being active for longer than people lived a hundred years ago. Just an observation.

Redfog

Do you have the numbers to verify that ? I have watched my grand parents age, and my great grand parents as well, the oldest living to be 106. I doubt any of us will live to be that age. The preservatives in the food, and the chemicals being used are affecting the children at an alarming rate. Diabetes, cancers, leukemias, etc...

I spent some time in Children's hospital in Vancouver, when our 4 year old had to go for heart surgery this past year. I saw first hand what is happening. The diseases know no age now. They are hitting the children quicker and more problems are arising. Heart surgeries on babies I bet weren't a necessity 100 years ago either.

In the US, do you know what the number one leading cause of death is ? Death from unnecessary medical intervention. I would classify that as surgery and drugs. And it can be avoided.

I should point out that the reason why people may not have lived as long 100 years ago, is because western medicine wasn't all with it quite yet. In Ellen White's time, doctor's were prescribing cigarettes for lung problems. Arsenic was prescribed for certain conditions (yes arsenic!) I have a newspaper article that talked about a true story of a woman who tried to kill her husband with arsenic. The doctor prescribed it first, but she just worked on increasing the dosage.

The medical field appears to sometimes use drugs or methods which haven't had proper testing. Ellen White even mentions in her book, Ministry of Healing (and I believe Counsels on diets and foods ?) to avoid the doctor's poisons. God has provided the way to true health, if we will follow His lead.

Posted By: Redfog

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 02/02/06 03:35 PM

What Mrs. White said was that drugs should seldom be used, not to avoid at all cost. And she lived in a time when most drugs used were actually poisons or they were narcotic in nature, therefore addictive, though they do have their place (like in my own life of dealing with headaches).

If a person does not believe people are living longer all the have to do is study the Social Security mess in the US. Where people are living longer and longer so that it will take more and more people to support them in their retirement.

Babies needed heart surgery 100 years ago but since it was not available they just died. Infant mortality was much much higher years ago.

Most diseases today can be attributed to our lifestyle more than the chemicals in the food. Over eating, lack of exercise, smoking, promiscuous sex, excessive drinking, etc are all things that work to bring on our early demise.

Now I'm not at all saying that things are going to continue to keep getting better, I just made the observation that people have been living longer and longer in the 20Th century at the same time we were seeing a huge increase in chemical additives in our food, pollution in the air etc etc.

Redfog

Posted By: Bobby

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 02/06/06 01:53 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Redfog:
What Mrs. White said was that drugs should seldom be used, not to avoid at all cost. And she lived in a time when most drugs used were actually poisons or they were narcotic in nature, therefore addictive, though they do have their place (like in my own life of dealing with headaches).

If a person does not believe people are living longer all the have to do is study the Social Security mess in the US. Where people are living longer and longer so that it will take more and more people to support them in their retirement.

Babies needed heart surgery 100 years ago but since it was not available they just died. Infant mortality was much much higher years ago.

Most diseases today can be attributed to our lifestyle more than the chemicals in the food. Over eating, lack of exercise, smoking, promiscuous sex, excessive drinking, etc are all things that work to bring on our early demise.

Now I'm not at all saying that things are going to continue to keep getting better, I just made the observation that people have been living longer and longer in the 20Th century at the same time we were seeing a huge increase in chemical additives in our food, pollution in the air etc etc.

Redfog

A question regarding your headaches. Do you drink any diet pop, or eat anything with aspartame in it ? A few other things to watch for is sucralose (which is used as an artificial sweetener) or the berry alcohols used to sweeten things as well (sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol etc..)

Chemicals, or even fragrance can cause headaches. The body, once overloaded or exposed to too many chemicals, starts to let us know its limits. A headache is one of the first signs of something that needs to be avoided.

Posted By: Redfog

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 02/06/06 04:38 AM

I've had headaches since long before diet pops. Purfumes are one trigger, thus church is a real pain [Smile]

They are just a part of my life, along with red hair (what little is left), freckles and flat feet. Such is life.

Redfog

Posted By: Bobby

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 02/06/06 09:13 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Redfog:
I've had headaches since long before diet pops. Purfumes are one trigger, thus church is a real pain They are just a part of my life, along with red hair (what little is left), freckles and flat feet. Such is life.

Redfog

What household cleaners do you use, and have you used, or been around any pesticides or herbicides ? Sometimes even things such as mold cause headaches. When I lived in Nova Scotia, everyone's basement always had that mildew smell, sometimes so strong, it would give me a headache. Since moving out west, the air here is more arid. I noticed a huge difference in humidity when we went back east for a visit.

Mold brews in more humid places, so that may be another source. Personal care products contain some very harmful chemicals as well, and a more likely source of daily contamination.

Just trying to get a sense of what may be causing your headaches. There is always a source for them. If we are told they "just happen", it isn't true. The medical field appears to make off as if things "just happen". That is how they deal with diseases and syndromes they have no answer or cure for. We were told that for our 5 year old son who has Williams Syndrome. We know it was due to the toxic chemicals that my wife was exposed to during her pregnancy with him.

Posted By: DebbieB

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 04/21/06 02:21 AM

Reading over this forum this evening has raised more than one concern for me! As a holistic therapist I know that when I assess a person for teatment every aspect of their lives important from the amount of water they dink through to major medical conditions, however I also know that there are certain things that cannot be explained as to what causes them (yes I do agree that there is a case for everything!). However something like a headache can be caused by so many different factors, the most common one being that the sufferer does not take in enough liquid in a day, that in some people it is well neigh impossible to try to find one particular trigger.
Having said that I agree that Mrs White as only cautioning us to use drugs as seldom as possible. Most drugs actually take a plant and isolate it into it's one chemical that does the job and thereby unbalance the chemicals causing unknown side effects.
The essential oils that a aromatherapist works with on the other hand maintains the plants balance and the same oil may be used for many different reasons and also maintains the balance of the plant and therefore has less side effects!

Bobby I am confused in what you mean by "chemical free" as to be chemical free means quite simply to not exist as everything from the simplist amoeba to the chair you are sitting on is made up of chemicles in one way or another! The issue I think from what I've read here the question is not so much is it chemicle free? as do I want to have carcinogenic chemicles in my bloodstream? When I, personally, found out about all the carcinogens (cancer forming chemicles for those who don't know) that are in, for example, my toothpaste I changed over to carcinogen free products, and haven't looked back since! However ridding our houses and our personal care products of their carcinogens is all well and good, but please GET YOUR NUTRITION RIGHT AS WELL!

Your sister in christ
Debbie.

Posted By: Bobby

Re: Chemicals in personal care products - 07/13/06 07:40 AM

Quote:

Reading over this forum this evening has raised more than one concern for me! As a holistic therapist I know that when I assess a person for teatment every aspect of their lives important from the amount of water they dink through to major medical conditions, however I also know that there are certain things that cannot be explained as to what causes them (yes I do agree that there is a case for everything!). However something like a headache can be caused by so many different factors, the most common one being that the sufferer does not take in enough liquid in a day, that in some people it is well neigh impossible to try to find one particular trigger.
Having said that I agree that Mrs White as only cautioning us to use drugs as seldom as possible. Most drugs actually take a plant and isolate it into it's one chemical that does the job and thereby unbalance the chemicals causing unknown side effects.
The essential oils that a aromatherapist works with on the other hand maintains the plants balance and the same oil may be used for many different reasons and also maintains the balance of the plant and therefore has less side effects!

Bobby I am confused in what you mean by "chemical free" as to be chemical free means quite simply to not exist as everything from the simplist amoeba to the chair you are sitting on is made up of chemicles in one way or another! The issue I think from what I've read here the question is not so much is it chemicle free? as do I want to have carcinogenic chemicles in my bloodstream? When I, personally, found out about all the carcinogens (cancer forming chemicles for those who don't know) that are in, for example, my toothpaste I changed over to carcinogen free products, and haven't looked back since! However ridding our houses and our personal care products of their carcinogens is all well and good, but please GET YOUR NUTRITION RIGHT AS WELL!

Your sister in christ
Debbie.

You are very correct on the nutrition part. What I mean by chemical free is no synthetic or petro-chemicals (in essence man-made) in our households as far as food, personal care products, and household cleaners are concerned. Many of our typical cleaning products contain pesticides, according to a documentary on CBC (marketwatch or marketplace? can't remember which it was)

Products like Windex, Pledge, Mr.Clean, and Lysol, are not exactly the safest things to be using. I even heard from one person that Lysol contains agent orange, but I haven't checked their source or if it's true or not. From what I have learned and researched so far, I wouldn't doubt it.

Keep in mind that pesticides alone can cause cancer. On the other hand, if the body is alkaline, it will be much harder for disease to flourish. Disease prefers an acidic body.

The rates for non-smoking cancers have skyrocketed and coincided with the rise in petro-chemical use since 1946. Not only is the petro-chemical industry polluting the air and environment around us, but also many chemicals are used on our produce, as additives in our foods, as well as personal care products, cosmetics, toiletries, fragrances, etc.. the list goes on.

We cannot live in a bubble, that is true, but we can do something to limit our exposures and that comes with choosing better food, beverages, personal care products, and so on.To date I haven't found a chemical-free (remember that means synthetic/petro-chemical) cleaner. So we are left to use vinegar, which smells gross but oh well.