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Prenatal cosmetic use may determine if a child has behavior issues

02/10/2010 in Health | No comments

When a women is pregnant, the makeup she wears, the deoderant she uses and the lotions she uses may effect her baby’s behavior later down the road.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that high levels of phthalates found in a women’s blood during pregnancy directly correlate with behavioral issues in their child at ages 4-9 years.

Phthalates are non-organic chemicals used in lotions, makeup products, soaps, nail polish, perfumes and shampoos.  “Phthalates are part of a group of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, that interfere with the body’s endocrine, or hormone system.”1 Phthalates is also known as BPA when used in plastics.

Children whose mothers tested with a high level of Phthalates in their blood during pregnancy consistently reported behavioral issues in their 4-9 year olds associated with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder and ADHD.

To avoid phthalates in personal care products, buy only all natural products and read the ingredients.  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or have never heard of it, look it up on the EWG website before buying.  Most Phthalates in personal products are called one of the following:

BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate)

DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate)

“fragrance” is another ingredient to avoid.  If a chemical blend is a trade secret, manufactures are not legally required to disclose the contents on the lable.  They simply denote this as “fragrance”, which likely contains parabens or phthalates.

The best paraben free products to replace your most common personal care products are:

Deoderant: Crystal Salt

Toothpaste: PerioBrite

Shampoo and Conditioner: [amazon ASIN="B001JAH2V0"]Hugo Naturals[/amazon]

Lipgloss, cosmetics: [amazon ASIN="B000WRZSCQ"]Honeybee gardens[/amazon]

Lotion: [amazon ASIN="B0012NZ9LY"]Hugo Naturals[/amazon]

Hand and Body soap:[amazon ASIN="B001ET77YI"]Dr. Bronners[/amazon] or find home made soaps from your local farmer’s market.

Nail polish: just don’t use it!  Nail polish is basically paint that you absorb through your skin.

Learn more: The Do-Nothing Method to Healthier Skin ::   BPA powder on your receipts?!

References:

1. Science Daily

Non-stick pans wreak havock on your Thyroid

01/25/2010 in Health | 2 comments

Recent studies link a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to human thyroid hormonal imbalances and diseases.  PFOA is found in the coatings of non-stick cookware, stain resistant carpeting, upholstery and clothing.  The most common way PFOA makes its way into the human body is by eating foods cooked in non-stick cookware or foods that touched non-stick coatings on fast food wrappers and styrofoam packaging.

Science Daily reports:

The researchers found that the individuals with the highest 25% of PFOA concentrations (above 5.7ng/ml) were more than twice as likely to report current thyroid disease than individuals with the lowest 50% of PFOA concentrations (below 4.0ng/ml). The most specific analysis included 163 women and 46 men who reported having current thyroid disease and who were taking thyroid medication at the time the blood samples were taken.

What is the moral of the story?  Organic, all natural carpet, or just cut out the hairy stuff altogether.  Get natural, organic furniture, not stuff made out of synthetics and PFOA.  But more importantly, replace all non-stick cookware with stainless steel, woods and metals without the teflon coatings.  Your thyroid will be much happier and more easily regulate your metabolism and mood without a bonbardment of PFOA.

Organic Toothpaste that actually works: PerioBrite

09/25/2009 in Environmental, Health, Product Reviews, Sustainable Living | 3 comments

When our household switched from toxic products to non-toxic, all natural alternatives we enjoyed every part of it… except the toothpaste.  We went through so many toothpaste brands like Jason, Toms of Maine and many others.  All of them left our teeth feeling fuzzy.  Some of them even still contained Fluoride, one ingredient we get too much of in our drinking water and a chemical that disrupts the natural hormone production in the thyroid.

Feeling dismayed and out of options, we found ourselves at the Wholefoods store, staring at a wide array of natural toothpastes.  We were going to trial and error again, just pick some and return them if they didn’t work when we bumped into a gentleman buying toothpaste as well.  He reached for a brand familiar to him.  I quickly piped up and asked him if he liked that stuff.  He looked at me funny.  I explained that we were having a hard time finding a paste that worked and wondered if he would recommend the PerioBrite he held in hand.  He told us it is the only thing that works and turned to leave.  Dylan and I looked at each other.  I grabbed a tube of PerioBrite and since then we have been hooked.

PerioBrite is clay-colored and does not contain “sudsing” ingredients that make conventional toothpastes suds in your mouth.  It does contain natural peppermint flavors that really cool and refresh the mouth.  And they graciously leave out the Flouride.  It is clay based and does not leave your teeth feeling fuzzy.  We use it three times a day and our teeth are healthier and cleaner than with chemically loaded conventional toothpastes.

Learn more: Organic, non-Alcohol Mouthwash