A Deeper Look into Cosmetics- Do We Really Know What's In Our Products?

This week we are looking at cosmetic products and the chemicals they have in them that are turning out to be a lot worse for our bodies than I would have expected. Our instructions were to choose a product we use frequently and look more deeply into the ingredients. I chose to take a look at the face cleanser that I use twice a day, Cetaphyl Gentle Skin Cleanser. I have used this face wash every day for about 5 years now so I figured this was a great opportunity to find out what I was putting on my face all the time. I was pretty nervous but the results were a lot better than I initially thought. Here's what I found:

Ingredients in Cetaphyl Gentle Skin Cleanser:

• Cetyl alcohol
• Propylene glycol
• Sodium lauryl sulfate
• Stearyl alcohol
• Methylparaben
• Propylparaben
• Butylparaben

This product scored an overall score of 3 on EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.

The most concerning ingredients include Propylparaben and Butylparaben which both had a score of 7 because they had developmental and reproductive toxicity. Luckily, these are the last two ingredients listed in Cetaphil so the amount that the cleanser contains is not very high or toxic if you use the recommended amount.  

After reading about this facial cleanser I will continue to use it. It had a good overall score of 3 which means that it really isn’t very bad for you. There are no carcinogens and the overall hazard is low. Luckily, none of the chemicals were found in Chapter 15 of Okala so that’s exciting.

I did some further research on the parabens which include methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl. Cetaphil contains all of the parabens except for ethyl. Parabens are used as preservatives in cosmetics and can also be found in some foods to prevent food spoilage. Some parabens are naturally found in certain types of wines and juices. There is a very low risk associated with the use of parabens.

The Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) is a project aimed to hold corporations responsible for producing safe products by holding a standard of transparency between the companies and the consumers. There are benchmark goals that these companies can strive towards making it possible to measure progress with measurable guidelines. This image is an overall picture of the goals of the CFP and how it will affect every chainlink of the industries involved with production and these toxic chemicals.

My current event for this week can be found here.
This article explores the untapped innovation associated with dealing with the abundance of plastics in the oceans. Obviously it should be a goal to clean up the oceans regardless but now, companies such as Dell are starting to discover that there is money to be made through ocean cleanup. It's a win-win! This push towards a circular economy model is a shining ray of hope for the species of the oceans as well as companies looking for new and exciting innovations.

An update on my sustainable goals that I set are as follows:

1. A compost bin has been set up under the sink at my apartment and has so far been working great.
2. Meatless Monday has also been a success, I have found myself significantly hungrier on these days but I've been eating a lot of Morning Star Farms products this Monday which has helped tide my hunger a lot. 
3. I didn't make it to the Farmer's Market this weekend so I'm planning to stop by the co-op within the next day or two to pick up some lettuce and other veggies for my salads this week. 

So far so good I would say; let the journey continue!

Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Parabens_BiomonitoringSummary.html