Guest Author - Jennifer Beddoe
Are you poisoning yourself?
The average adult has 21 square feet of skin. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and it is very good at absorbing most of what it comes into contact with. This includes any toxins that might be in the soaps, lotions and makeup that you are using. If you look at the ingredient list on the back of your store bought soap, you will probably see the following items.
SLS (Sodium Laurel Sulfate) – used to create foam and lather, can be an irritant
Lauric Acid – irritating to mucus membranes
Pentasodium pentetate - used as a water softener, emulsifier and dispersing ingredient in cosmetic cleansing creams, lotions and soaps, can be an eye irritant
Tetrasodium EDTA - synthetic preservative
Trisodium etidronate – a preservative and possible irritant
BHT - (butylhydroxytoluene) - synthetic antioxidant to keep oils in formula from going rancid, it has been linked to tumor formation and liver enlargement
Triclosan (or triclocarban) – this is found in most anti-bacterial soaps and is registered with the EPA as a pesticide. (It does kill the bacteria. All the bacteria, even the good stuff you need to stay healthy) Commercial manufacturers of anti-bacterial soaps will tell you that it is used at such low levels that it is not harmful, but it has been shown that Triclosan can be stored in your fat cells and it will soon reach a toxic level.
“A study at Virginia Tech discovered that products containing triclosan produced either chloroform or other chlorine byproducts when exposed to tap water.1 In fact, triclosan decomposes into chlorine byproducts in as little as one minute when exposed to chlorinated tap water at 100 degrees Fahrenheit.2 The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers the triclosan byproduct, chloroform, to be a probable human carcinogen that could cause cancer.” (www.bodyecology.com/07/09/20/avoid_dangerous_triclosan.php)
Another reason to stay away from commercial soaps is that most of them are not really soap. Look carefully at the label and you will see the words “beauty bar”, “cleansing bar”, “deodorant bar” or something similar. This is because these products are not soap. They are detergents.3 The glycerin that is a natural by-product of the soap making process is removed so it can be made into lotions and other products that can be sold for a higher profit. That natural glycerin is very moisturizing and when left in the soap, can keep your skin soft, reducing the need for lotions. Using a commercial detergent strips your skin of the natural moisturizing oils that your skin needs, leaving it dry and irritated.
So, the next time you are at the store buying soap, take a look at the ingredients and consider an all natural alternative that is much safer and better for your skin.
References:
Gutierrez, David, "Antibacterial soap ingredient triclosan may be harmful to humans," 15 Mar 2007, NewsTarget.com. http://www.newstarget.com/021703.html
2 ibid
3 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-glycerin.htm
