Teens and Toxic Skin Care:
A Parent's Responsibility
Monday, November 17, 2008 by: Al G Smith, citizen
journalist
See all articles by this author |
NaturalNews) No one has ever said that being a
parent is an easy job. In the 21st century there are
many reasons why successful parenting could be said to
be more difficult than ever. Thanks to the impact of
modern marketing methods, exploited so successfully by
the cosmetics and personal care industry, teenagers are
increasingly encouraged to utilize toxic synthetic chemical
laden products to solve their perceived `socially
embarrassing`, but perfectly natural, adolescent
problems. Helping to educate your children in suitably
subtle, but effective ways, has never been more urgent
as yet more evidence emerges about the toxic chemical load
youngsters are already carrying as a result of using
higher than average levels of synthetic skin, hair and body care
and cosmetics products.
Disturbing news has recently emerged from the ongoing
research published by the respected Environmental
Working Group (EWG) in September 2008, that parents need
to take note of. If you have teenagers, in particular,
you will know that they are at a difficult and
vulnerable time of life, when their own bodies are in a
state of turmoil and constant development. Amongst the
numerous challenges of impending adulthood is the
development of natural body-smells, and minor skin
eruptions, caused by glandular and hormonal
disturbances, which can make any teenager feel
self-conscious. These issues can lead to many teens
being liable to apply synthetic chemical deodorants liberally and
frequently, and also to use a variety of synthetic
chemical commercial
creams and lotions. Teenagers are also tempted to
experiment with all sorts of cosmetics without paying
much attention to the chemical ingredients used to manufacture
them.
The EWG`s research has confirmed that teenagers do
indeed use more `substances` on their skins than the
average person. This means that during this vulnerable
physical and emotional time they can be exposed to a
whole host of potentially harmful toxic chemical components
regularly used in the manufacture of body, skin and hair
product in the majority of typical, off-the-shelf
brands.
If you are the main provider of skin, hair and body care
products for your children to use then it is your direct
responsibility as a parent to ensure that you are using
the
safest products available – even if these safer
alternatives do cost a little more. Surely no parent
would want to justify continuing to provide something
that might be slowly poisoning their children's skin and
bodies.
If ignorance is truly bliss than perhaps this is the
excuse for those parents who are less proactive about
getting adequately informed. Perhaps they simply do not
know or realize what an array of
toxic chemicals are
commonly found in the products that their child or
teenager may be using every day. For others, perhaps
they are happy to accept the claims made by certain
`official` sources - often with politically and/or
commercially invested interests to protect - that
currently there is insufficient evidence of any harm
that these products or ingredients might cause.
Most responsible parents will go out of their way to
make sure that they are adequately informed so that they
can properly care for their offspring. When this is not
the case not, it begs the question: "how soon does such
an attitude become tantamount to neglect?" Only an
individual parent's conscience can provide the answer,
perhaps.
But if this helps you to make more informed purchasing
decisions, or to make more strenuous efforts to inform
and educate your own teens about their personal shopping
practices, you should be aware that EWG research has
shown that teens tend to use an average of 17
body/skin/cosmetic potentially toxic products a day compared with adult
use of an average of 12 products. The study indicated
that, across the United States, teenage girls are
already typically contaminated with a wide variety of
known toxic synthetic chemicals routinely used in many personal
care and cosmetic formulations. Some of the
toxic
ingredients identified at elevated levels in blood and
urine samples included:
Phthalates – Often used in the manufacture of
plastic products, they can be absorbed both into
susceptible products and also the body via various
means. Known to be toxic (though played down by
`official Government sources`) phthalates are
potentially cancer causing and disruptive to natural
hormones and may affect normal gender development and
fertility.
Triclosan – Widely used in liquid hand soaps,
toothpaste, anti-bacterial creams and other so-called
`body care` products. It is a chlorophenol that is
registered as a `pesticide` by the US Environmental
Protection Agency. It progressively increases in its
toxic potential through accumulation as it is very hard
to get rid of once absorbed by the body. It is known to
cause cause irritations, trigger allergic reactions and
is also potentially carcinogenic in humans.
Parabens – A `family` of carcinogenic chemicals
(e.g. methylparaben; propylparaben and others), These
chemicals are also known to have disruptive effects on
hormones and they were found in all of the sample of 20
teenage girls studied by the EWG.
Fragrances – Synthetic fragrances such as `musk`
are frequently used in the popular, cheaper brands of
perfumes, toiletries and cosmetics (typically favored by
pocket-money-spending teens), These synthetic perfumes
can trigger allergies and sensitivities, and have also
been shown to cause cancers in mice.
These are just a `handful` of common constituents found
in many personal care products - ranging from soaps,
deodorants, hand lotions, body creams, toothpastes,
anti-microbial blemish creams, and so on, right through
to cosmetics of all kinds.
As yet there are still relatively few skin, hair and
body care products on the market that can truly claim to
be safer alternatives for adults to use, let alone
vulnerable teens and younger children. This is because
the majority of off-the-shelf products rely heavily on
synthetic chemical for preservation, coloring, fragrance
and as `bulking` agents, amongst other things. Some
truly natural product ranges are, however, emerging but
they have to be hunted-down. With effort you can find
new, ethically-inspired brands that utilize the
wisdom of ages and entirely natural formulations to
ensure their preservation and safety for use for all
age-groups. For example, you might browse the
information about the
certified organic
skin care products
supplied via
http://www.saferalternative.com, and examine the
product range originally formulated through the
diligence of one concerned Mother who knew she wanted to
be absolutely certain that the products her three
children used were as safe as could be humanly produced.
But do not make the bland assumption that every other
product on the high-street, or online, that calls itself
'natural' or 'organic' actually lives-up to the apparent
claims or implications made by marketing campaigns,
brand names and images. Only by reading the small print,
specifically the ingredients label, on your body, hair
and skin care products, can you become properly informed
about what is really used in their manufacture.
Even so, the ingredients listings on many labels,
regularly prove to be barely legible, and will often
contain items that are either hard to decipher, and even
more difficult to pronounce. Another trick that
manufacturers frequently use in listing ingredients is
to `imply` natural derivations by mentioning
natural-sounding words and phrases. It is up to every
parent to do their due diligence and familiarize
themselves with the names and potential health risks
associated with common components in hair, skin, body
care and cosmetics. For this purpose (if, as a regular
Natural News reader, you do not have it already) a free
ebook is downloadable from:
http://www.gonando.com/healthier-li... that lists
and identifies the major toxic, synthetic chemical
ingredients of particular concern that could appear on
your personal care labels.
It is never easy to educate or inform teenagers – who
naturally `know it all` already. But if you can persuade
your teen to read a resource that allows them to learn
for themselves about the health risks posed by some of
the ingredients in their favorite skin care and
cosmetics products, you might just help them to avoid
unnecessary, further exposure to toxic synthetic substances that
could potentially cause their health to suffer in years
to come.
Sources:
http://www.ewg.org/reports/teens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthal...
http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/...
http://www.gonando.com/triclosan.html |
|
Description: Teens
using toxic skin care products containing man made
synthetic chemicals may be causing chemicals to build up
and reside in their body. Play it safe and use
completely natural skin care products free of all toxic
synthetic chemicals.
You have probably found this website
using one or more of the following keyword terms: toxic skin care,
toxic skin care ingredients, toxic skin care products, non toxic skin
care products, all natural non toxic skin care, toxic "skin care
ingredients", toxic skin care "Propylene Glycol", toxic skin "personal
care products", toxic skin care Phthalates, toxic skin care ingredients,
teens using toxic skin care, teenagers toxic skin care products, toxic
skin care cosmetics, toxic makeup, nontoxic make up products, toxic skin
care "mineral oil", toxic skin "personal care products", toxic skin care
shampoos, teens and toxic skin "personal care products", teens
and toxic skin care EWG, teens and toxic skin care ingredients, teens
toxic skin care "propylene glycol" deodorant,
|
|