Lead Face

So I have turned into a super cyber geek mom. I have my lead-laden face cream to thank for it all. A few months ago my 6 month old was learning to kiss–a.k.a. licking my face. It got me thinking about what she was licking. So I checked to see if, and what, my face cream was rated at http://www.costmeticsdatabase.com and was horrified to learn that it was rated an 8 out of 10(10 being the worst or most toxic). It contained a rather high amount of lead so I immediately threw it out. I proceeded to gather a bunch of other personal care products from around my house to see where they rated on the database and was horrified to see most of their ratings as well. Baby wipes, shaving cream (A TEN!!!), shampoo, conditioner, diaper cream, mascara, all toxic. Most of my products were "only" in the mid range, which was not OK with me. The few products that were rated 7 or more out of ten got thrown out immediately. How dare cosmetic companies, and government-for that matter, allow these companies to sell these products? I started doing some research and discovered North American standards and European standards were very different. In fact some American companies manufacture two separate lines of cosmetics/personal care products. One line to be sold in Europe (without all the crap in it) and the other line to be sold in North America (full of cheap cancer causing crap). Don't even get me started on cleaning products (GET RID OF YOUR FABRIC SOFTENERS! http://www.ourlittleplace.com/fabric.html). Did you know that in order for Mr. Clean to disinfect (remover 99.9% of bacteria), you need to use it AT FULL STRENGTH and leave it on the surface for a MINIMUM of ten minutes?! Read the label? I don't remember ever using Mr. Clean without diluting it or leaving it anywhere for any period of time. Frustrating.

Anyway, eventually I found a line of skin care that originates from Europe (where they have some of the strictest guidelines) and are ECO-CERT certified. Eco cert is considered to be the most important organization in Europe in setting the criteria for natural and organic cosmetics. A min of 10% of the total ingredients must be certified organic. at least 95% of the ingredients must be of vegetable/plant origin and while the product may contain a max of 5% synthetic ingredients, none of these must be included on the negative list (no mineral oil and silicon, no synthetic emulsifiers like PEG, no viscosity controlling agents like carbomer, no preservatives such as formaldehyde releasers, parabens or phenoxyethanol, no synthetic perfumes or dyes, and no synthetic solvents like propylene glycol).

I haven’t found a comparable children’s line, however their shea butter works great on my baby’s bottom! Childhood cancer statistics are startling, and they are just going up. The amount of indoor toxins our children are exposed to (in our own homes http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/Environmental_Toxins.shtml) is alarming. If I can at least get rid of the toxins I apply to their skin and the ones they ingest, I am happy.

Hence I am now on facebook, twitter, yahoo, google, other people's blogs, my own blog, digg, and my own website! This past month I have been going pretty hard on the learning curve. Together, we can make a difference. Stop buying these products and start shopping smarter. We can prevent some infertility issues and some cancers (breast cancer and other cancers are thought to be linked directly to chemicals/toxins in personal care products that we use http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5278.php ). We need to unite as mother's and say no to these companies who are using cheap but harmful ingredients in our products. If we're not buying them, they will hear our message.