Petrochemicals, The Real Weapons of Mass Destruction: Part IV: Save The Children

[Rebecca]

Take a look around the room you’re in. You’ll probably see lots of plastic stuff. But petrochemicals are in almost everything, not just plastics.
Phthalates make perfumes stick around longer so they’re in just about everything scented. Scented candles, air fresheners, cleaners, you name it. Phthalates can interfere with the normal sexual development of a fetus or infant. Studies have linked phthalate exposure in infants, especially males, to reduced testosterone and reproductive defects. Phthalates have recently been banned from toys in California, but they are allowed in clothes, and bed sheets.
Researchers measured phthalate concentrations in the urine of 163 infants between the ages of 2 and 28 months. They asked mothers how long their babies had spent playing with teething rings, pacifiers and other soft plastic products in the last 24 hours, and whether they had used body care products such as powders, creams, wipes, shampoos and lotions.

All the infants contained at least one variety of phthalate in their urine; 80 percent of them had seven or more. The urine of babies who had been exposed to lotions, shampoos or powders had four times the phthalate levels of children who had not been exposed to those products. Children under the age of eight months and those who used lotions had the highest phthalate levels
As far as “natural” scent goes, “natural means nothing other than that it probably smells like something in nature such as a green apple or rose or “fresh scent”, but it’s likely made from the same chemicals.
Many toothpastes include ingredients made from petroleum, such as artificial colors and mineral oil.
Petrochemicals are very prevalent in cosmetics. Examples include lip gloss, which is commonly made from petroleum oil, and nail polish, which contains petroleum-derived solvents such as toluene. Many cosmetics on the market contain harmful phthalates.
The benzene family of chemicals tends to have a sweetish aroma that is very popular among perfumers and fragrances. The benzenes are petroleum-based, so they’re cheap, easy to come by, and a known cause of leukemia.
According to the Environmental Working Group, “Fragrance formulas are considered to be among the top five known allergens and can trigger asthma attacks.”

After hearing numerous reports from people who believed that scented products were making them sick, Dr. Steinemann, an environmental engineer, conducted a chemical analysis of three best-selling air fresheners and three laundry products. She says, “I was surprised by both the number and the potential toxicity of the chemicals that were found.” To avoid legal issues, Dr. Steinemann didn’t reveal any brand names of the products tested.

STUDY RESULTS:
• In six products, Dr. Steinemann found nearly 100 volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• 10 of the VOCs are regulated as either toxic or hazardous
• Three are classified as carcinogenic hazardous air pollutants, which have no safe exposure level according to the EPA
• One of the VOCs was methyl chloride, linked to nervous system, liver, and kidney damage in animals
• Each of the six products contained at least one of the 10 toxic or hazardous VOCs
None of the product labels listed any of these VOCs, because U.S. laws don’t require manufacturers of household products to list contents.
Here are the results of another study done in the UK where researchers monitored VOC levels for one year in 170 homes where mothers spent their days at home with children.
STUDY RESULTS:
• In homes where air fresheners were used daily, mothers averaged nearly 10 percent more frequent headaches than mothers in homes where air fresheners were used once a week or less
• In the “daily” homes, mothers had more than 25 percent higher risk of depression
• In the “daily” homes, infants were 32 percent more likely to suffer from diarrhea
• Infants in the “daily” homes had a significantly higher rate of earaches than infants in “once a week” homes
Researchers noted that the daily use of air fresheners and other aerosol products created a gradual accumulation of VOCs.
Hair mousse, gels, and sprays commonly contain endocrine-disrupting pthalates. Synthetic hair dyes include petroleum-derived coloring chemicals as well as other harmful ingredients such as ammonia and lead. Synthetic hair dyes are known to penetrate skin and to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
Perfume and aftershave usually consist of a combination of chemicals, solvents, and natural essential oils in a base of alcohol, which can include toluene, ketone, and other hazardous substances. Approximately 95% of the ingredients in perfumes are derived from petrochemicals.
Many soaps contain petroleum-derived synthetic fragrances, artificial colors, and mineral oil that may cause skin rashes and other allergic reactions.
Many lotions, sunscreens and body care products contain pthalates, DEHP and DBP.. In animals, these chemicals are toxic to the liver, kidneys, testes, and the nervous system. DBP is used extensively in perfumes, nail polishes, lotions, and hair sprays.
Some sunblocks contain suspected carcinogens, including diethanolamine and related ingredients (DEA, TEA), padimate-o, and titanium dioxide. Other ingredients are suspected endocrine disrupters: benzophenone (oxybenzone), homosalate, octyl-methoxycinnamate (octinoxate), and the parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, butyl-, propyl-). Moreover, sunscreens can contain chemicals associated with skin irritation and rashes, including avobenzone (parsol 1789), benzophenone, octyl-methoxycinnamate, and PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid).
Not only are these chemicals bad for you, they’re bad for the environment. Diethanolamine has been found in waterways around the country, posing a threat to animals and humans. According to the National Toxicology Program, benzophenone has been found in surface water, groundwater, soil, and air, and may affect the liver and bone marrow of animals ingesting large amounts of contaminated water. This and other endocrine disruptors in sunblocks can also enter the water system when we swim or bathe, eventually winding up in fish, amphibians, and marine wildlife, and posing a threat to the animals’ reproductive cycles.
The basic ingredients used in cosmetics, skin and beauty products are mostly the same whether it’s purchased at a high end counter in a fancy package, or for a tenth of the cost at a low end store.
The future of our children and our Earth are at stake here. There is absolutely no reason to be using all these harmful chemicals. Does it make sense to spend your hard-earned dollars on products that make you and your family sick while polluting the environment? There are many natural and organic products available. In the final post of this series I will list many organic sources for products, and also lots of cheap and natural alternatives such as using baking soda for toothpaste, vinegar for cleaning etc.