Sometimes the process of sifting out bad chemicals from your personal care routine can seem daunting. Fear no more! The Environmental Working Group has given regular folks a powerful tool to weed out bad personal care products. I use it constantly, and I hope you will too. It's called Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database -- don't let the word "cosmetics" fool you; both men and women will benefit from this database. Read more for all the details.
In the whirlwind of chemical products that is American consumerism -- household cleaners, personal care products and fragrances -- the Cosmetic Safety Database is a good tool to help us gauge the good from the bad.
How it works:
- The Cosmetic Safety Database gives products scores ranging from 0 to 10.
- Low hazard is 0-2. Moderate hazard is 3-6. And high hazard is 7-10.
- Simply enter the product of your choice in their search field.
- In addition to giving you the product's score, it will also provide details like specific ingredients and their health hazards.
- For example, best-selling Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock got the high score of 7, which they classify as "not recommended".
Word to the Wise:
What if you have no knowledge of chemicals, personal care brands, or products in general? No problem. Just click on any of the categories (e.g. skin, oral, sun protection, etc.), and the Cosmetic Safety Database will spit out an entire list of products within that category, sorted by their hazard scores.
Prevention is the Best Cure:
Earlier this year, the President's Cancer Panel released a landmark 200-page report calling Americans to take more rigorous approaches to how we prevent cancer. The report emphasized cancer prevention by limiting exposure to chemicals in our daily lives. This is above and beyond the usual common sense advice like routine doctor visits, eating right, and exercise. The Cosmetic Safety Database is one link in the chain to help us identify and control our exposure to harmful chemicals.
As always, stay informed and green your routine to what fits you best.
Extra Tidbits:
- Only 200 of more than 80,000 chemicals in the U.S. have been tested for safety.
- Many known or suspected carcinogens are completely unregulated.
Previous Decoding Household Chemicals Posts:
- What is Dioxin? How to Avoid Toxin Dioxin
- The Dirt on Bleach: What Makes Chlorine Bleach Bad News?
- What Is Triclosan? A Shady Chemical You Should Unfriend
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This is a really good database for many things, but it can seem a little apocalyptic to new readers or readers without a lot of background information on bath products and/or harmful chemicals. Most things seem to rate fairly well on the "danger scale" but everything sounds extremely dangerous in the descriptions of possible hazards. Olive oil rates a 1 on this site because it can cause eye irritation! A very natural soap making compound is Sodium Hydroxide - it rates a 3 (rather low), but lists neurotoxicity and organ system toxicity as the danger description which makes it sound really dangerous. "Unlisted Herbs" rates a 4 even though we have no idea what herbs they might be or what damage they might cause.
All in all, this is a really good place to read about some of the more dangerous products to avoid, and what the ingredients really do. Do keep in mind though that they rate higher for unknowns and are telling you what problems these products *could* cause or just be shown to mildly attribute to over time, not what they are necessarily known to do. Not all the products are as bad as they sound, especially for the low to moderate toxicity listings!
Skylark254, you are exactly right, and thank you for pointing that out.
Wah. I love that sunblock.
I'm amused that of the eye makeup removers, one of the "0" ratings is petroleum jelly. A bit of a contrast to all the fancy organic products.
I also use the Skin Deep database for non-cosmetic searches. I've found some ingredients in household cleaners in the database as well, so I know when to be careful with my all-purpose cleaner and all that jazz. (Tangent: As a result of using the database, I'm now cleaning with a lot more white vinegar and a lot less commercial cleaners.)
As for the sunblock, I've looked and looked for a sunblock that uses only "natural" ingredients and they didn't seem to be as effective. And if they are effective at blocking UVA and UVB rays, they have scary ingredients in them. I'll choose scary ingredients over skin cancer any day... but if anyone has any recommendations on good all-natural sunblock, I'm all ears!
Along the lines of what skylark said...sometimes you have to be willing to do a bit more legwork. I've used both Weleda and Dr. Hauschka, but Skin Deep docks them for the "fragrance" listed on their label. Yes, artificial fragrance isn't good for you...but both Weleda and DH use essential oils - in Germany (where both of these companies originate), it isn't required that they list their "patented" essential oil blends, so they only indicate "fragrance."
The scary thing is, some of the harmful product have been more closely linked to skin cancer than UVA UVB! Trying to prevent skin cancer may be doing more damage. If you are fair skinned or have a genetic susceptibility to skin cancer from the sun, the best thing you can do is cover up, even with thin fabrics and hats!
I agree that the rating on the petroleum jelly is weird. It may be that it is not an obvious irritant, but it does clog your pours horribly and many people develop an allergy over time. Not to mention it's effect on the environment.