Keeping Clean: A Chemical Conundrum

A place to get your questions answered from McDougall staff dietitian, Jeff Novick, MS, RDN.

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Keeping Clean: A Chemical Conundrum

Postby JeffN » Mon Aug 03, 2020 9:25 am

It is hard to make a living for someone wanting to do this 100% professionally. Most of those who work in this area, do it as a side job or as a service. Over time, to try and generate income, some may resort to selling supplements, tests, products, utensils, small appliances, cosmetics, etc. Often, there are high priced versions of the items and in most cases, unnecessary. Not that one can’t benefit from having certain kitchen equipments or gadgets, but to think one must have them, and certain high priced versions, is not true and becomes an added obstacle.

Over the last few years, I have seen a push from some in the field to sell cosmetics and skin care products. This may be through direct sales, affiliate marketing or even through a Multi-level Marketing (MLM) set up, or something similar. You can read my post on MLM’s here.

Why You Should Avoid All Products Sold Thru a MLM
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/view ... &hilit=MLM

Unfortunately, many of these products being sold are marketed as being natural, organic, GMO free, vegan, non toxic, etc, yet some of them may still be fairly toxic. What matters is the chemicals used in them and their relative toxicisity. The regulations of cosmetics and the chemicals that go into them, is also a concern. You can read about it here...

https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics ... -regulated

One way you can check is to use a website called cosmeticdatabase. They rate cosmetics and personal care products based on their ingredients and give a overall score. You can also see the breakdown of the chemicals and the individual ratings and links to further discussions. A few years ago, they started a “verified” program for any product that met all their guidelines for safety. Reminds me somewhat of the system used by ConsumerLab.

It is not a perfect system but we have used it for many years and find it very helpful. The best part is the rating system as one can look at exactly how they got the rating and what it is based on. When I teach label reading, I always explain the how and why of my rating system so everyone knows my thinking and how I came up with the system and ratings. This way, if they disagree with some of it, they can make their own adjustment. And, like with food, you have to recheck every now and then because formulas and ingredients change.

You also may not like some of the products that score high in safety ratings as they are not rated on effectiveness. They also have an app which will scan the barcode of a product.

You can read about their rating system here

https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/contents/users-guide/

When you first go there, and start looking up products, you may be a little surprised at how poorly some of the “organic natural, etc” products score. You also have to check individual products within a brand, as some may score low hazard and some may score high hazard and it can be one ingredient that changes it. There is also an important difference between “fragrance free” and “unscented.”

We use as few of these products as possible and use a few home-made ones. By checking out a few of their verified products and those rated the lowest hazard, we have found a few products that are no only effective but safe and in many cases, fairly priced.

This past week I received another WFPB Professionals email promoted their new line of personal products. Sadly, many of them did not score well at all.

Sadly, Caveat Emptor!

In Health
Jeff
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Re: Keeping Clean: A Chemical Conundrum

Postby Drew_ab » Mon Aug 03, 2020 10:07 am

Thanks for this important post Jeff. I think information like this is important for everyone, but is particularly important for people following this WOE who are still looking to continue to move in the direction of health. For most of the population, if they ate starch centered/WFPB, got some movement, and a little sunshine, their health would improve vastly. It reminds me of your post titled something like 'the real dirty dozen.' Yet this doesn't count for 100% of health, though it's pretty darn far in that direction. Avoiding chemical exposure, breathing clean air, drinking clean water, and so forth, can account for the very small balance that remains... which is important for people like me who have been following this lifestyle for nearly a decade.
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Re: Keeping Clean: A Chemical Conundrum

Postby JeffN » Mon Aug 03, 2020 10:20 am

Drew_ab wrote:Thanks for this important post Jeff. I think information like this is important for everyone, but is particularly important for people following this WOE who are still looking to continue to move in the direction of health. For most of the population, if they ate starch centered/WFPB, got some movement, and a little sunshine, their health would improve vastly. It reminds me of your post titled something like 'the real dirty dozen.' Yet this doesn't count for 100% of health, though it's pretty darn far in that direction. Avoiding chemical exposure, breathing clean air, drinking clean water, and so forth, can account for the very small balance that remains... which is important for people like me who have been following this lifestyle for nearly a decade.


I think you once asked me about this (either in a post or an email) and we had a brief interaction on it.

(Update: Here is the original post)
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=57605

I hesitate to post it as it is not my area of expertise, though one I have been very involved in for just as long as i have been following this WOE if not longer. I am also very sensitive to many of these chemicals and maintain a very toxic chemical free home and lifestyle.

In regard to clean air, one aspect that really worries me about this issue, is that many people put these on and use them (often in the form of sprays) in a small space (ie, bathroom, car), that is often not well ventilated. That adds up to one heck of an exposure.

In Health
Jeff

PS, i have added in the email conversation I had with Drew_ab right after the original post, at the link above.
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Re: Keeping Clean: A Chemical Conundrum

Postby JeffN » Sun May 21, 2023 6:28 am

Article

Common Consumer Products Contain Multiple Toxic Chemicals, New Study Shows

Hair and nail products, all-purpose cleaners and automotive products contain some of the highest numbers of chemicals.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/03/well ... icals.html

More than 100 types of common consumer products contain at least one, and often multiple, chemicals linked to cancer or reproductive and developmental problems, according to research published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Many of the chemicals were found in personal care products, including nail polish, shampoo, lotion and soap. Cleaning products, particularly all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergent and dish soap, also contained numerous chemicals. The largest group of products were those that might be used in workplace settings, such as factories or construction sites, and included adhesives, degreasers, lubricants and sealants.


Study
Identifying Toxic Consumer Products: A Novel Data Set Reveals Air Emissions of Potent Carcinogens, Reproductive Toxicants, and Developmental Toxicants

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c07247

Abstract
Consumer products are important sources of exposure to harmful chemicals. Product composition is often a mystery to users, however, due to gaps in the laws governing ingredient disclosure. A unique data set that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) uses to determine how volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) from consumer products affect smog formation holds a partial solution. By analyzing CARB data on VOCs in consumer products, we identified and quantified emissions of volatile chemicals regulated under the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (“Prop 65”). We here highlight individual chemicals as well as consumer product categories that people are likely to be exposed to as individual consumers, in the workplace, and at the population level. Of the 33 Prop 65-listed chemicals that appear in the CARB emissions inventory, we classified 18 as “top tier priorities for elimination”. Among these, methylene chloride and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone were most prevalent in products across all three population groups. Of 172 consumer product categories, 105 contained Prop 65-listed chemicals. Although these chemicals are known carcinogens and reproductive/developmental toxicants, they remain in widespread use. Manufacturers and regulators should prioritize product categories containing Prop 65-listed chemicals for reformulation or redesign to reduce human exposures and associated health risks.


Synopsis

More than 5000 tons of volatile Prop 65-listed chemicals were estimated to have been released from consumer products in 2020 in California.
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