is very unlikely that cosmetic ingredients have
serious health effects because of the low dose from
such exposures, even with regular use.”

A study by researchers at the Kyoto Prefectural
University of Medicine suggests that methyl
paraben, an ingredient in more than 16,000 products
including toothpastes and moistures, may mutate
on exposure to sunlight, causing premature aging
of the skin and damage to DNA. No wonder,
theworldcounts.com calls these cosmetics “a cocktail
of industrially produced and potentially dangerous
chemicals that could damage our health, and, in
some cases, rather than delivering on their patent
‘anti-ageing’ promise, are causing us to age faster.”

As cosmetics are somewhat an unregulated area
of consumer products law according to Scott Faber,
Vice President of EWG, we should continually pay
attention to the beauty and personal care products
that we use. It may not be altogether possible to
avoid the intrusion of these chemicals in our lives,
but we can certainly keep them at arm’s length by
choosing paraben-free cosmetics and personal
care products, using natural or organic brands of
consumer products, discarding PVC material, and
using phthalate-free plastic instead.

EWG has also been looking into the use
of chemicals in cleaning products that release
formaldehyde, which can cause skin allergies. The
chemical is added to the cleaning products and
personal care items to act as a preservative. Since
formaldehyde is a skin sensitizer, repeated exposure
to it may cause an allergic reaction.

Use of chemicals in processed food is a matter
of grave concern because they have direct effects on
our bodies. Another analysis by EWG has revealed
that out of an estimated 84,000 processed food
items on sale in American super markets, more
than 27 per cent carried harmful artificial trans fat.
Another 1o per cent are made with ingredients that
may include trans fat. In most cases, the labels do
not show the trans fat content because of federal
food regulations that allows the reducing of less
than half a gram of trans fat per serving to zero.

Dawn Undurraga, an EWG nutritionist, says:
“Most people would not know they were consuming
unhealthy trans fat, because when they see zero or
trans fat-free on a label, they assume it means what
it says.” EWG has listed food items with definite or
probable hidden trans fat exceeding the prescribed
World Health Organization’s recommended
limit of less than two grams per day for an adult.
Trans-fat consumption could be the underlying
cause of cardiac arrest, depression, Alzheimer’s,
and diabetes. Refined oils, artificial flavours, food
colours, and emulsifiers are some other food

 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

products that contain trans fats. To be on the safe
side, avoid processed food and switch over to
organic food as often as possible. In a recent report
published in DailyMail.com by Colin Fernandez,
there are around 50 chemicals commonly found in
items such as fried potatoes, hand wash, and sun
block creams that in low doses are known to have
negligible effect on the body, but combined with
other chemicals, they may trigger certain reactions
that pose a risk of leading to cancer.

The report says: “Current approaches to the
study of chemical exposures and carcinogenesis
have not been designed to address effects at low
concentration or in complex mixtures.” Cancer
biologist Dr. Hemad Yasaei of Brunel University in
London said, “This research backs up the idea that
chemicals not considered harmful by themselves
are combining and accumulating in our bodies
to trigger cancer, and might lie behind the
global cancer epidemic we are witnessing. We
urgently need to focus more resources to
research the effect of low dose exposure to
mixture of chemicals in the food we eat,
air we breathe, and water we drink.”

We must make efforts to live
chemical-free lives to make a
positive change for our own health;
we are not laboratory guinea pigs.