Do you know what you are putting in your body? - The Story of Cosmetics

This week in sustainability, our topic focused on the story of cosmetics, delving into the many ingredients in our cosmetic products and how they are affecting us.

Now if you have ever tried to read the ingredient list on the back of your cosmetics, you probably wouldn't know what a lot of them are, let alone how they can impact you.

As it turns out, there are a LOT of products that contain poisonous and/or carcinogenic ingredients, and I decided to look at just one of my daily used products, Suave 2-in-1 Ocean Charge to see if I have been exposed to such vile things.

The Research

Overview

The first step towards finding out how harmful your product is to examine it on the Environmental Working Group’s online database of chemical safety information which can give you an overview of how dangerous your products are, and how.

Using a 1-10 scale, (with 1 being the best and 10 being the worst) the shampoo I use is a 4 overall, and while it doesn't have any ingredients related to carcinogens or reproductive toxicity, it scores high on immunotoxicity and medium on problems with constant usage, which means the product is not good for you.

Taking a Deep Dive

The next logical step here was to take a deep dive and see how dangerous some of the ingredients are individually.

The first ingredient I chose to investigate was CI 42090 (FD&C Blue No. 1 or D&C Blue No. 4) which is commonly used in as a color additive in many cosmetic items such as shampoo. But while such a common item may seem docile, it is also considered a contributor to organ system toxicity, and The EPA has even stated it is a contributor to developmental problems!

Although that alone might seem scary, the truth is that this is one ingredient in one bottle, while the average person uses 6-12 cosmetic products daily, exposing themselves to an enormous amount of harmful substances.

Some Rules Of Thumb

If like me you found this unsettling, you can take a look at the red list to for some known chemicals that are known to pose serious, chronic health concerns including cancer, hormone disruption, and reproductive and developmental harm.

Aside from that, you can always look for chemicals through resources such as EWG's Skindeep, the EPA, and the CDC to research what is in your products and what problems they can create.

What's Next

After doing all this research, I can safely say I will no longer be using Suave 2-in-1, as it is literally a danger to my health. For now, I will be eliminating shampoo altogether from my morning routine, and perhaps later I will be able to find a product that isn't slowly trying to kill me.

But for the rest of you, I would hope that you take a look at the personal care products you use, and make sure that you aren't poisoning yourself just for some aesthetic value.