Most Personal Care Products Are Toxic: Choose Wisely

Our tissues and organs act like sponges as they soak up and retain hundreds if not thousands of toxic chemicals each day through exposures to the compounds in our food, water, air and the products we use. It is now clear that this toxic burden impacts our physiology in ways that promote chronic diseases, including cancer, through changes in hormonal signaling, free radical production and systemic inflammation.

I believe strongly that it is our responsibility as physicians to help our patients understand the negative impact of these chemicals and help them reduce their exposure.

Homework Assignment: Reduce Your Toxic Burden

During each of my integrative oncology consultations I assign a very important homework assignment to my patients, and that is:

Take one week to go through all of your personal care products and exchange the unsafe ones with more healthful alternatives

Did you know that you are literally bathing in toxic chemicals when using the vast majority of personal care products on the market? These products include cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, lotions, perfumes, toothpaste, deodorants, sunscreens, etc. Frequent readers of the IOE know that cancer loves inflammation, free radicals and tumor growth hormones…all of which increase when you use these toxic personal care products. By reducing your exposure to these “dirty” products you are ‘anti-cancerizing’ your body. Here are just some of the commonly found cancer-promoting compounds in many of our personal care products:

BHA/BHT
PEGs
Petrochemicals
Parabens
Phthalates
Formaldehyde releasing agents
Siloxanes,
Sulfates
Fragrance/parfum

What’s In This Product?

Although the concentrations of these chemicals in our personal care products are very low, they are simply not low enough. New research has discovered that although many of these chemicals are “safe” when tested individually, when combined can cause cancer.

So, how do you know if your products contain toxic ingredients? There are two fantastic resources I highly recommend:
- ThinkDirty is my new favorite app for learning about the safety of thousands of personal care products. You can even scan the bar codes on product labels to access the database of products.
- Another fantastic resource is Skin Deep, the online cosmetics safety database created by the Environmental Working Group. This searchable database includes more than 78,000 personal care products.

Do you want expert help in selecting safe personal care products?
- I often recommend to many patients and survivors that they seek out an esthetician with expertise in working with cancer patients and survivors, as they can help you make informed choices on personal care products. Find one here.
- If you like to go to the spa, read our previous article on What Cancer Patients And Survivors Need To Know Before Going To A Spa.