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From willamettelive - Every adult American uses an average of 10 personal care products a day containing 100 or more unique chemicals, according to a recent report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

The study is part of an effort by EWG to provide comprehensive safety information on industrial chemicals in cosmetics.

It identified a total of 200 chemicals from personal care products alone. Many are known toxins.

The chemical body burden
A scientific technique known as bio-monitoring, in which scientists track the levels of synthetic chemicals in people, continues to provide details on what has become known as the chemical body burden. Varying studies reveal that everyone is contaminated with hundreds of man-made pollutants -- discovered in blood, urine, breast milk, and body tissue. 

Brooke Truax, manager of the Bella Vita Salon and Day Spa in downtown Salem at Liberty Plaza, is particularly concerned about petroleum-derived ingredients. She specifically recommended avoiding any products with petrolatum or mineral oil.
The federal government has not established acceptable levels for most of these toxic chemicals in humans. What happens when these compounds interact with the human body remains largely unresolved.

"We all want to look and feel good," Michael Hankins, owner with his wife Libbie  of Above and Beyond Salon Spa, said. "Unfortunately many people just don't pay attention to what they use." He, too, wonders about the dangers of mainstream cosmetics.

The big picture
According to Hankins, over 90 percent of all beauty and cosmetic ingredients are derived from petrochemicals and other synthetics.

"The manufacturing and processing of these compounds is not only bad for people, but it creates an unsustainable business considering we have hit peak oil production," he said.

Although a series of reports on human exposure to environmental chemicals by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has catalogued hundreds of toxic compounds in nearly every one of the adults and children it has tested, little significant progress has been made in protecting the public from dangerous industrial chemicals in everyday products.

For example, lead in lipstick is an ongoing problem. As a neurotoxin, lead can cause severe health problems affecting learning, language and behavior. According to product tests released in October by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, popular brands of lipstick contain extremely high levels of lead.

One-third of the lipsticks exceeded the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lead limit for candy, which helps protect children from ingesting lead directly. Lipstick is also often ingested accidentally, but the FDA has not set lead standards for cosmetic products such as lipstick.

Gonna wash that poison right outta your hair

One chemical known as 1,4 dioxane is prevalent in baby shampoo. It is not added but is sometimes an unintended byproduct of the manufacturing process. Because it is not added directly, the FDA does not require listing it on product labels.
Product tests released last January found the chemical in more than a dozen popular brands of baby shampoo and bubble bath, including Sesame Street character-brands. The Environmental Protection Agency lists 1,4 dioxane as a probable human carcinogen.

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