February 2009 - What's Your Body Product's Hazard Rating?

Ah, February, the month celebrating Cupid and lovers . . . what will you give your sweetie on Valentine's Day? Aftershave? Her favorite perfume? Teenagers today enjoy dowsing themselves with an amazing amount of scented products from hair care to body washes to colognes and perfumes . . . everything, it seems, has a signature scent. To those afflicted with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, however, the multitude of "fragrances" can be anything from mildly discomforting to downright repulsive, and can cause a host of physical responses ranging from nausea and headache to itchy, watering eyes and sneezing, to difficulty breathing, hives and more.

Ever been in a public setting such as a grocery store and walked into "cloud" of fragrance left behind by a shopper who's nowhere to be seen? Ever had a friend, relative or co-worker get into an elevator or vehicle with you and smelled as though they had marinated in their favorite cologne? Were you able to detect the fragrance hours, or even days, later?

Check out http://ciin.org and click on MCS for more information on multiple chemical sensitivity and the current research which estimates that more than 15% of the population are afflicted with MCS. And, while MCS deals with many chemicals, not just those related to fragrance, this month we will specifically discuss fragrance related to bath and body products ...especially for the baby.

Last month's column listed two websites devoted to research and safety ratings of cosmetic, bath and body products: www.ChemicalSafeSkincare.co.uk
and www.safecosmetics.org.

Since manufacturers are not required to disclose the full content of their products, YOU need to visit these sites and find out for yourself what might be harmful to your baby.

With product labeling geared toward consumer spending, you may think you're purchasing the gentlest, most natural product for your child. But you may actually be introducing hazardous and toxic substances to your baby's body. Remember that the skin is a two-way street and absorbs many substances on a daily basis.

For instance, at safecosmetics.org, I searched "baby products," then narrowed the search to "baby bubble bath." From the comprehensive list of baby bubble bath products, I clicked on Baby Magic Baby Bath, Original, and discovered out of a score from 0 - 10, this product received a rating of 6. A score of 6 represents a moderate hazard risk. What does that mean?

The hazard score represents a synthesis of known and suspected hazards from more than 50 definitive databases. The hazard rating of a product can be higher than for its individual ingredients - it adds up the hazards of all ingredients, and is scaled higher if the product has penetration enhancers or other ingredients that increase skin absorption. For this particular product, ingredients are linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions & warnings, and allergies/immunotoxicity. Other concerns for these ingredients are neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), enhanced skin absorption, contamination concerns, and biochemical or cellular level changes.

So, do lower scores mean safer products? The website states:

"No, we don't necessarily consider low-hazard ingredients safe. Scores... are based on safety information in publicly available toxicity databases, but since safety studies aren't required by law*, for many ingredients we find no publicly available information at all. One major finding of our research is that further study is needed on ingredients safety (nearly 90% of ingredients have not been assessed for safety even by the industry's own safety panel*). [This site] is packed with information on known and suspected hazards, but we aren't able to give people complete certainty that low-hazard products are safe..."

I'm not picking on any specific product or ingredient as a target; I chose Baby Magic because I used this product when my children were little. This article is not meant to imply that your child will develop any of the horrible health issues listed above from using this product. Presenting this information is for the purpose helping folks to avoid substances that can do harm, in the short or long run. Remember that we are exposed to many, many substances on a daily basis, and that exposure is cumulative. Each time your body is called upon to resist or fight a foreign substance, it uses precious stores of energy from different systems, energy which may, one day, be required for a far greater need.

An unexpected result turned up over and over again while conducting research. One ingredient consistently was responsible for higher hazard ratings (8, 9 or 10 in most cases) for hundreds and hundreds of cosmetics and bath and body products. If I listed just the categories that contained this ingredient, not even the products themselves, I would have no room for this article! Have you guessed? It's fragrance, also listed as parfum, on the labels.

Meanwhile, Chew On This: "Serenity is not freedom FROM the storm, but peace WITHIN the storm." -- Anonymous

*Emphasis the author’s.

"Let food be your medicine," sums up Sue Cosgrove's stance on health and wellness. She believes nutrient-dense and biologically-alive sustenance is not only nature's best prevention, but also nature's best cure. Comments welcome by e-mail at chewsorganic@yahoo.com.