Avoid These Skin Care Ingredients

Skin Care Ingredients To Avoid

What you are putting on your skin may be putting your health at risk. Some commonly found skin care ingredients are linked to allergies, cancer, learning disabilities, reproductive disorders, and birth defects.

Here’s a common sense approach to skin care products – the Ayurvedic principle.

The Ayurvedic principle is simple. Do not to put anything on your skin that you would not eat. If you follow that advise you will avoid the following skin care ingredients that are toxic to the body.

Toxic Skin Care Ingredients

Toxic skin care ingredients include the following:

Triclosan

Triclosan is antibacterial/antifungal that is effective for gingivitis and in the treatment of methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA). It’s found in toothpastes, mouthwashes, soaps, and deodorants. When combined with chlorine it forms chloroform which is classified as a probable human carcinogen. Triclosan is also linked to allergies and is a hormone disruptor specifically affecting thyroid function.

Dioxin

Dioxin has been linked to cancer, nervous disorders, miscarriages, and birth defects.

Parabens

Parabens are preservatives found in shampoos, shaving gels, moisturizers, makeup, toothpaste, and spray suntanning solutions. Though felt to be safe parabens have been found in a small number of breast tumors as they have xenoestrogen activity. Thus, they can increase the estrogen load in the body. They can cause contact dermatitis and rosacea in inividuals allergic to parabens.

Phthalates

Phthalates are use a plastizers and therefore are found in a number of consumer products. They are found in perfumes, eye shadow, nail polish, moisturizers, liquid soap, and hair spray. They are the main substance to package bottled water. Phthalates are hormone disruptors. They are anti-androgens. In animals they suppress testosterone production, cause birth defects, cause obesity and insulin resistance, and increased rates of liver and testicular cancer.  In humans they are linked to higher rates of diabetes.

Sunscreen Ingredients

Avobenzone, benzphenone, PABA, and ethixycinnamate are found in sunsreens. They generate free radicals and therefore can damage DNA possibly increasing the risk of cancer.

DMDM Hydantion

DMDM hydantioin is a preservative found in skin care products, shampoos, and hair conditioners and gels. It releases formaldehyde which can cause skin irritation, allergies, depression, joint pain, and chronic fatigue.

Overexposure to Skin Care Ingredients

The problem with all of these skin care ingredients and others we did not review is that they are felt to be safe at low concentrations. The problem is many of these ingredients are ubiquitous and not just found in skin care products.  Thus we may be overexposed to some of them and with continued use they may be causing toxicity for some. Again, if you would not eat it, think twice about putting it on your skin especially your face.

This link will take you to a scientific paper from the Endocrine Society that discusses the many endocrine-disrupting chemicals we are exposed to.

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