Cafe LaLeche Information Library/Archives

General Health

The address to the searchable database for Cosmetic & Personal Care Product Safety that I frequently site here changed.

New addy is:

http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/index.php

Quote:
Skin Deep was conceived and developed by the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. focused on safeguarding public health and the environment. Skin Deep is an online, brand-by-brand personal care product safety guide with in-depth information on 14,228 products - 988 brands of lotion, lip balm, deodorant, sunscreen and other popular products - and the 6,923 ingredients that form them. With its core of 37 toxicity and regulatory databases, Skin Deep provides safety ratings and brand-by-brand comparisons that can help consumers choose safer products, and that can guide companies in plans for reformulating products. Acknowledgements
Read the Methodology (how they collected the data & made the safety assessments) here.

Why This Matters — Cosmetics and Your Health

Have fun, ladies.

For more information on toxins and carcinogens in cosmetics, including searchable ingredients and products databases see:

http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/index.php

http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/Pages/SafeShoppersGuide.html

http://www.hallgold.com/toxic-chemical-ingredients-directory.htm

Really excellent article on the politics behind why there is so much toxic crap in our cosmetics:

http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20041227&s=schapiro

Dr. Warns Cosmetics may be carcinogenic:
http://www.safe2use.com/health/cosmetics.htm

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics:
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/pp.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=70918

Books:
Natural Beauty at Home
http://www.hairboutique.com/books/bookreview008.htm

The Safe Shopper's Bible by Consumer Reports

Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey

Make of this what you will.

Quote:
For the first time, scientists have shown that pregnant mothers exposed to high but common levels of a widely used ingredient in cosmetics, fragrances, plastics and paints can have baby boys with smaller genitals and incomplete testicular descent. The more a mother was exposed to the chemicals called phthalates (THAL-ates), the greater the chance gher boy's reproductive development would be harmed.

Andrea Dunaif, chief of endocrinology at Northwestern University, called the findings "strong evidence in humans that this endocrine-disrupting chemical is associated with changes in boys." The changs are subtle, but male infertility rates appear to be rising, she said, and it's hard to know if a problem is environmental or just diagnosed more often. "The public health implications are enormous."

- Environmental Health Perspectives Journal, May 29, 2005

Reprinted in: Pathways to Family Wellness, I.C.P.A. issue 6