Toxic Beauty Extracts: Cosmetics and Cancer
Cosmetics and Cancer
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America, after heart disease and around one in four deaths in the EU are as a result of cancer. Cancer can be characterised as a cluster of diseases where normal cells multiply beyond normal growth mechanisms, generating millions of similar self-multiplying cells that become cancerous when they spread beyond their normal area (metastasis). There are over 100 types of cancer.
It is thought that every cancer develops from one altered cell, which fails to respond to normal attempts to control its growth, inheriting or aquiring DNA Read more
Scientist Links Chemical Cocktails to Male Infertility and Birth Defects
May 21, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Endocrine Disruptors, Health Issues
Environmental Chemicals Linked to Birth Defects
Professor Richard Sharpe of the Medical Research Council highlighted in a report commissioned by CHEM Trust published last week that chemicals in consumer products may contribute to human male reproductive disorders that manifest at birth (cryptorchidism – undescended testes, hypospadias –where the opening of the urethra is abnormally positioned somewhere along the underside of the penis, between the base and just below the tip), or in young adulthood (impaired semen quality or testicular germ cell tumours). Such disorders are collectively referred to as Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome, a phrase coined by Professor Niels E Skakkebaek MD.
Schoolgirl Suffers Severe Allergic Reaction to L’Oreal Hair Dye
April 16, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Allergies & Asthma
Schoolgirl Suffers Allergic Reaction to Hair Dye
Today the Daily Mail reported a story about Carla Harris, a 15 year old schoolgirl who suffered a potent allergic reaction to L’Oreal Recital hair dye, causing her head to swell up to twice its normal size, leaving the teenager in agony for several days. You can see an image of the damage caused on the Daily Mail website.
Despite conducting a patch test prior to using the product, Carla still had a severe reaction after using the L’Oreal hair dye and was admitted into hospital and treated with antihistamines and steroids.
Common Fragrance Ingredient is a Potent Allergen
April 15, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Allergies & Asthma
Linalool Oxidises to form Potent Allergen
A thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden suggests that linalool, a common fragrance ingredient in personal care products and household products, instigates allergic skin reactions in considerably more people than was previously thought to be the case.
Linalool is a colourless fragrant terpene found in various plants e.g. lavender, rosewood. It is also synthetically manufactured to cut costs and used in household and hygiene products as a fragrance chemical. The concentrations used in cosmetics are fairly low but in aromatherapy products, natural products and in homemade soaps and fragrances, higher Read more
Shampoo Boosts Drug-resistant Bacteria
April 13, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Other Health, Polluting Cosmetics
Shampoo in Water Supply Triggers Growth of Drug Resistant Microbes
Scientists at Birmingham and Warwick universities have warned that fabric softeners, disinfectants, shampoos and other household products are spreading drug-resistant bacteria around Britain. Once these products are released into sewers and rivers they instigate the proliferation of drug-resistant microbes, increasing the likelihood that certain medicines will not be able to combat dangerous diseases.
The research suggests that the problem of drug resistance is not simply due to antibiotics being over-prescribed or poor hygiene standards in hospitals, although the emergence of deadly superbugs such as MRSA are not linked to the use of disinfectants.
Read more
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics: Carcinogens in Children’s Bath Products
March 12, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Health Issues
Carcinogens in children's personal care products
A report called “No More Toxic Tub” released today by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has revealed that, far from being safe and gentle, dozens of best-selling children’s bath products are contaminated with the cancer-causing chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics commissioned an independent laboratory to test 48 products for 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde. Findings included:
17 out of 28 (61 percent) products tested contained formaldehyde and 1,4- Read more
Cosmetic Products May be Over-preserved
March 10, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Allergies & Asthma
Preservative levels in cosmetics too high?
Researchers, led by Michael Dyrgaard Lundov from Gentofte University Hospital, Denmark, in a study published in the journal Contact Dermatitis, have suggested that concentrations of preservatives may be too high in some cosmetic products. For example, the preservative Kathon CG was found in concentrations of up to 15 parts per million (ppm) even though this preservative is a potent sensitiser and concentrations as low as 2.5 ppm have elicited allergic reactions in sensitised individuals.
Preservatives are added to cosmetic products with a high water content to minimise product spoilage and the proliferation of undesirable
Read more
Toxic Beauty in New Zealand Sunday Star Times
March 1, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Health Issues, Interviews
Is your skincare harming your health?
The New Zealand Sunday Star Times ran a feature today about the toxic synthetic chemicals used in cosmetic products. The article features part of an interview I did with Karen Tay, a journalist for the newspaper.
A snippet of the article is below and you can click on the link at the bottom to read the full article.
Is your skincare harming you? Sunday Star Times. New Zealand. Sunday 1st March, 2009.
Cosmetics Companies Should be Concerned About Safety
February 27, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Health Issues
Peanut Scandal Sends out Warning
Guy Montague-Jones writing on Cosmeticsdesign.com warns that cosmetics manufacturers should be wary of toxic chemicals in cosmetics and “learn from the mistakes made in the food and banking industries.” The contamination of products made by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) has resulted in six deaths and made 600 people ill, leaving in its wake “a trail of corporate irresponsibility that would have been difficult to imagine three months ago…The Peanut Corporation of American is the perpetrator of a tragedy that reflects a failure to properly prioritise risk in modern business.”
Guy compares the toxic assets now crippling the global financial system to Read more
Living a Healthy Lifestyle Could Reduce Many Cancers
February 26, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Cancer, Health Issues
Healthy Living Prevents Cancer
Surprise, surprise, a study commissioned by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research, has suggested that living a healthier lifestyle could prevent approximately a third of the most common cancers in rich countries and a quarter in poorer countries.”
The study involved 23 experts who assessed the incidence of 12 common cancers across the world and data on diet, exercise and weight, to identify how these factors contributed to a range of cancers.
