I recommend natural beauty, baby, and cleaning products that are just as effective as toxic ones.
Most lip gloss on the shelves contain heavy metals, even though you won’t see them listed in the ingredient label. Luckily, there are non toxic lip gloss options sans heavy metals that you’ll love the look and feel of just as much as the others. Fitglow Lip Serum is my favorite non toxic lip gloss. They not only look beautiful, but contain organic, plant-based ingredients.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of over 9,000 chemicals used in the manufacture of water-repellant personal care items and fabrics, non-stick cookware, polishes, paint, wax, cleaning products, firefighting foam, microwave popcorn bags, floss, and even some menstrual underwear. PFAS are toxic to the cardiovascular system and linked to adverse health effects such as increased cholesterol, immune system effects, cancer, thyroid hormone disruption, and effects on infant birth weights.
Flip over to the ingredient label on your skincare and you’re likely to find a long list of words you’ve never heard of. While some of these are harmless (think coco nucifera which is just coconut oil), many commonly used ingredients are linked to endocrine disruption, irritation, and even cancer.
Switching to food storage made of reusable, long lasting materials is not only better for health but better for our planet. Reusable items may be more expensive than disposable options, but will save you money in the long run. Studies show plastic food storage can expose us to endocrine-disrupting bisphenol A (“BPA”). BPA leaches into the food and drink it packages and enters the bloodstream.
“Clean at Sephora" might lead us to believe a product is safe, but in reality there are many potentially harmful ingredients allowed in products with this label. There is no legal definition for "clean," so it's important to vet the full ingredient list instead of simply shopping from the clean section.
Adverse health effects from 1,4-dioxane include eye, nose and throat irritation from short term exposure, and kidney and liver damage from long term exposure. [1] Unfortunately studies over the years (dating back to the 1970s) have continually detected 1,4-dioxane in a range of products, some far exceeding the supposed safe threshold of 10,000 ppb.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are different types of chemicals that evaporate easily at room temperature. VOC exposure can cause short term and long term health effects including the following: eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination, and nausea, damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some VOCs cause cancer in animals, and some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans. Because VOCs indoors can be up to 10x more concentrated compared to outdoors, it is important to take a look at the sources of VOCs in our homes.
