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

Comments

  1. WendyApril 13, 2017 at 1:12 PM

    Zoe@ Excellent analysis and write-up. Please make sure you included references for sources you cite, e.g., EWG. 50/50 points

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ecological Footprint Reduction

Image
Hello! My name is Zoe Haywood and as a senior at Western Washington University studying business and sustainability, I would like to consider myself an environmentally conscious person. The reality is, telling that to yourself is the easy way out. We tend to go about our lives in the same ways with the same little habits paying thinking our actions are so small they don't really matter, right? The thought of walking flashes across our mind as we fasten our seat belts; our shoes crunch on a candy wrapper as we walk to class but we just keep walking, one foot in front of the other. The trash cans scattered about campus are often overflowing with paper coffee cups that we all are very aware should be in the recycle but for some reason, we can't be bothered to carry that empty cup until there is a place for it to be recycled. It's much more convenient for you at that moment to throw it into that bin right there where you know you'll leave it never to really think about it...
Read more

Ecological Footprint Re-Calculation

Image
At the beginning of the quarter, I calculated my ecological footprint and these are the results that I got: If everyone in the entire world lived the same way as I did, it would take 4.1 planet Earths to sustain everyone. This is not a good thing! I constructed some goals to attempt to reduce this number. My goals were: I will start a compost bin in my apartment with my two roommates so that our food waste isn't just thrown in the trash but instead can be carried on into a cyclical system of putting the food back just where it came from in the first place.  On the first day of class, the alliteration of Meatless Monday really stuck with me so once a week, every Monday, I will stay away from any meat at all seeing as that is where a fair amount of my impact is rooted. The food that I choose to purchase is more frequently than not something that's a little more on the convenient side rather than the eco-conscious side. With that being said my final goal for the quarter wi...
Read more