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Chemical Detection:
Know How to Protect Yourself
Have you ever wondered what "NATURAL"
actually meant when you read it on the bottle of shampoo or skin care
product you just bought? Or did you assume because the word natural was used
that it must be good for you and safe? You get the product home and then you
find you can't even read the long chemical names on the label let alone
pronounce them! Why on earth do they say it is "NATURAL"? How can this be if
the chemical names are so long you can't even begin to pronounce them?
Would you be shocked to find that what
manufacturers can claim is "natural" is actually so far removed from natural
it isn't funny.
Would you like to know more about what you
are putting on your skin rather than the hype most products are described
with. Well - you will have to do a little undercover work and become an
"Toxic Chemical Ingredient Sleuth".
This is relatively easy to do now that we
have the Internet. Virtually every synthetic chemical produced has a
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) published with the facts about the
chemical and the potential dangers to human health. So if you think you are
using safe, non-toxic approved chemicals in your skin care products, perhaps
you should think again. The MSDS lists a summary of the chemical facts and
summarizes the little known things like hazard identification, first aid
measures, precautions when handling the raw material, exposure limits and
what medical action should be taken if the chemical is accidentally touches
skin and other names by which the chemical is known. You will be surprised
to learn that many of these so-called safe "natural" chemicals have skull
and crossbone warning signs on the storage containers to warn handlers of
the dangers.
Why is this if they are safe and natural?
The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requires an MSDS
be prepared for chemicals that are hazardous according to the criteria
described in the HCS. In fact hazardous chemicals all have to be indexed and
a safety data sheet published for them.
If you think that the cream you just smoothed
onto your face is safe and "natural" do you own research and type the
chemical names into Google's search engine to see what safety data sheets
come up. You just may be shocked at what you read. Another excellent website
to research ingredients is
www.hazard.com/msds, which provides three search options:
- Search by manufacturer, which you may
not know
- Search the database by keying in the
chemical ingredient
- Search the Chemical Toxicity Database.
For example, enter phenoxyethanol (a
preservative used in many so-called “natural” skin care products) into the
database, and five MSDSs are listed. Enter phenoxyethanol into the Chemical
Toxicity Database, and seven entries are listed. A sample of information
found on phenoxyethanol includes:
Hazards Identification
EMERGENCY OVERVIEW WARNING!
- Harmful if swallowed
- Causes skin irritation
- May cause central nervous system
depression
- May cause kidney damage
- May cause respiratory and digestive
tract irritation
- Target Organs: Kidneys, central nervous
system
POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS
- Skin Contact: Severe irritation or burns
- Eye Contact: Severe irritation or burns
- Ingestion: May cause gastrointestinal
irritation with nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea
- May cause central nervous system
depression
- May cause headache, dizziness,
drowsiness, and nausea
- Advanced stages may cause collapse,
unconsciousness
- May cause coma and possible death due to
respiratory failure
- May cause kidney failure
- May be harmful if swallowed
- Lesions may appear in the brain, lungs,
liver, meninges and heart
ANIMAL TESTING DATA
Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) indicates the quantity
of the chemical necessary to kill 50% of the animal test subjects and is
measured in units per kilogram or PPM (Parts Per Million) of the animal’s
body weight.
- Oral, mouse: LD50 = 933 mg/kg
- Oral, rat: LD50 = 1260 mg/kg
- Skin, rabbit: LD50 = 5 mL/kg
- Skin, rat: LD50 = 14422 mg/kg
How do you feel about using products that
include that ingredient?
By arming yourself with independent
information about the many toxic ingredients found in today’s skin and
personal care products, you can make an informed decision to protect the
health of you and your family.
Informed people make informed choices. |
