Parents, here’s something you need to know: the personal care products that your daughter uses could be disrupting her hormones.
Toxic Risk of Personal Care Products
A recent study by UC Berkeley and Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas showed that teenagers who stopped using certain shampoos, lotions, and makeup for a short time experienced a significant drop in levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals in their bodies. The study, which was published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, included 100 Latina teenagers who used personal care products free of phthalates, triclosan, parabens and oxybenzone (chemicals commonly found in shampoos, soaps, fragrances, cosmetics and sunscreens) for a period of three days. Urine sample analysis conducted before and after the study showed a considerable drop in the levels of these chemicals in the girls’ bodies.
“Teen girls may be at particular risk since it’s a time of rapid reproductive development, and research has suggested that they use more personal care products per day than the average adult woman,” said study lead author Kim Harley, associate director of the UC Berkeley Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health.
Be Proactive and Choose Safer Products
While the study showed a significant reduction in the levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals, these chemicals shouldn’t have been in the girls’ bodies in the first place. As a naturopathic doctor, I believe strongly in being proactive, instead of reactive, when caring for your health and that of your family. When choosing personal care products, look for labels that say “low chemical” or “phthalate- and paraben-free.” If you want to see the ratings of the personal products that you’re using, check out the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Skin Deep Cosmetic Guide here: http://www.ewg.org/consumer-guides, which rates more than 62,000 products. You’ll be able to see whether the ingredients in the products that you use are hazardous, contribute to your cancer risk, increase toxins that could affect you developmentally and reproductively, or might increase your risk of allergies and immunotoxicity. The EWG guides are also helpful for finding healthy products to use that won’t negatively affect your health.
Make your Own!
If you’d like recipes for making your own healthy lotions, soaps, cosmetics, and many other personal care products, I really like the Wellness Mama website at http://wellnessmama.com/category/beauty/. Here, you’ll find recipes for making everything from homemade lotion and soaps to cosmetics, including mascara and foundation, as well as homemade deodorant (my personal favorite Wellness Mama recipe).
So, the next time you’re shopping, instead of buying whatever personal care products are on sale, make a more proactive choice for your health and that of your family.
Rosia Parrish, ND, graduated from Bastyr University with a Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine degree in 2016. Dr. Parrish earned her undergraduate degree in Anthropology in 2004, with an emphasis in medical anthropology and pharmaceutical politics, from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In addition, Rosia worked in HIV clinical research for nearly a decade.
Rosia has a passion for integrative medicine, healthy eating, preventing disease, and redefining healthcare. Her specialties include mind-body medicine, family medicine, mental health, chronic pain, addiction, and PTSD. She loves inspiring and educating others about the art and science of Naturopathic Medicine and believes that treating the causes and symptoms of diseases is just as important as helping patients rediscover joy and meaning in their lives. Dr. Parrish is currently seeing patients at Nature Doc J, LLC, in Boulder, Colo., at www.naturedocj.com. She is trained to provide naturally focused medicine to patients of all ages, backgrounds, and medical conditions.
In her free time, Dr. Parrish is in the process of creating a low-income naturopathic clinic in Boulder, so that anyone who needs care can access naturopathic medicine. Rosia also enjoys working on naturopathic legislative efforts and continuing her studies of the mechanisms of chronic disease, treatment of root causes of illnesses and disease prevention.