Wake up. Turn off annoying alarm. Sleep five more minutes. Reach for shower caddy. Walk to the bathroom. Do your morning preparation ritual. By 8 AM, you have already exposed yourself to possibly over 50 harmful toxins that raise risks of cancer and affect development and reproduction in women. It is a scary fact that products used every day may be killing us.
Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep online site reviews cosmetics and discovers the risks products have. Each product it researches receives a rating between 0-10; 0 being the lowest risk and 10 being the highest.
I was curious about my daily products that I have put so much trust in to get the job done and searched for my product ratings. Neutrogena Facial Cleanser has been my go-to face wash since middle school and I was shocked to see it was a 5 on the scale. Overall, it has moderate risks, though I was most surprised to see it had some concerns of cancer causing toxins. The worst aspect of the face wash is the induced fragrance in the soap. The fragrance ingredient in the soap received an 8! How can a face wash cause cancer?
The FDA does not have to approve personal care products before they reach the store. Companies review and test their own products to ensure the safety of a product, but it doesn’t go “Skin Deep.” The long-term side effects from using personal care products are not of concern by cosmetic companies if one cannot directly correlate side effects to one product. For example, a woman develops cancer and uses seven different brands of products, though it cannot be traced how she developed cancer other than lifestyle choices and genetics. There are various factors that can cause cancer, so one cannot pinpoint a specific product’s harm on the body. Therefore, it is not an issue to big personal care companies. What sells sells, right? In top selling products, chemicals like formaldehyde and antifreeze are found in lotions and other cosmetics. These chemicals are not okay to be using on your body for extended periods of time. They cause serious damage and Skin Deep informs consumers on the kind of damage specific products cause.Â
I decided to search for the worst possible options in personal care and was stunned to see St. Ives Gentle Scrub as one of the worst products to use. When reading the major concerns I read things like, “contamination concerns,” “organ system toxicity” and “biochemical &/or cellular level changes.” I couldn’t help but wonder how products like these can be legally sold to consumers without advertising such risks. It is because the FDA does not require companies to.
As an avid skin protector, I am always wearing sunscreen between 30-50 SPF. Top brands such as Banana Boat and Coppertone topped the list of hazardous sunscreens while lesser-known brands were virtually risk free. I began to understand there was a major problem in today’s thriving consumer society. The brands most used by Americans are actually harming us. In a society that has the technology to be health conscious is blindly buying harmful products.
Skin Deep was formed in 2004 and is continuously researching new products and advertising their risks and problems. Women can explore this website, review their products and hopefully have the courage to switch to less harmful cosmetics. We can simply avoid cancerous chemicals by choosing different products. This is one decision we do have over our health. Why not make the switch?