Product 1: Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Dry-Touch Sun Screen SPF 30
I selected this first product to be what I hoped would be the "healthier" of my two selections. I use this product on my face every day, assuming that sun screen is an important component of my skin care regimen. After running this product through www.ewg.org, I felt a bit relieved! This product held up pretty well from what I learned - the only cause for concern being "Use Restrictions" which scored just below "Moderate".
Product 2: Cover Girl Full Lash Bloom by LashBlast Mascara
This is one of the few other products, aside from my Neutrogena sun screen, that I apply to my face every day. I assumed that this product would be "worse" than my Neutrogena sun screen, and I was right. The most concerning aspect of this product was the "Overall Hazard" which ranked smack-dab in the middle of "Low" and "Moderate". Even though my findings surrounding this product were less than ideal, they were actually better than I had thought they would be.
Overall, I wasn't incredibly alarmed at my findings concerning these two products. I think I will likely spend some additional time using www.ewg.org to check out other products I have in my house that I use on a regular basis - and it will probably serve me as decision making tool in the future when I decide to switch shampoo or change toothpastes. Based on the information I found today, I will not currently be changing out either of these products from my daily beauty regimen. To conclude, I think that everyone should have access to the kind of data provided on www.ewg.org. I am glad this website is public, and I now feel obligated to tell people about it and usefulness! I already leaned over and interrupted my boyfriend's statistics homework so that he could run an analysis of his hair gel! I think this kind of information and teaching gets lost in most general education programs, so it becomes the duty of public health professionals to help spread the word wherever we can.
Ken Cook Video:
This video was a terrifying wake up call to remind us all that we are being exposed to some very terrible chemicals on a daily basis - even when we try to lead "healthy" lives. The fact that these 10 Americans averaged 200 chemicals in their blood was astounding and that so many of them were absorbed while they were still in their mothers womb was very sad. Even before we are able to make choices of our own we are already being exposed to toxic chemicals via our mothers blood, even if she is doing all that she can to try and protect us based on the knowledge she has. I found Mr Cook's point about how much low doses matter to be extremely powerful. He does a very, very good job of driving this point home with his pancake metaphor.
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Thank you for sharing your observations about the Ken Cook video. It is quite scary that the average American has about 200 chemicals in their blood! Seeing as the food, beverage, cosmetic, and supplement industries are so powerful, do you think there is hope for much change, or will hundreds of chemicals just be the norm? What do you think is the best way to begin reducing the number of toxins and chemicals we are exposed to everyday?
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteThe Ken Cooks video was really interesting! I learned a lot about my products as well and decided to make changes to some of my personal care products for the best of my health. My deodorant had a health risk for cancer and that was extremely alarming to me! LOL at your boyfriends hair gel. Were there any interesting findings?
Response: Christina
ReplyDeleteI was so pleased to hear that the information you learned about your soap has prompted you to make a change. The risks of personal care products has been one of the most important things I've learned from this class and it's made me re-assess my options as well. It really makes you reconsider if some of these things are items you really want to be spraying/running on your skin!
Response: Brianna
Have you had any luck switching to the Thai deodorant you mentioned in your blog? I use a great many Dove products as well, so your post really resonated with me. I've since switched my deodorant to another brand (I can't recall what its called as I'm away from home) but I feel this switch was pretty easy once I discovered where I could buy a suitable replacement (Sprouts Market!).