My wife Amy uses Alima mineral makeup, and with her last order they sent a card that outlined the top 10 cosmetic toxins to avoid and why to avoid them. I figured I would share with those of you looking for healthier and safer makeup choices!

BHA - (Butylated hydroxyanisole) Toxic to the liver, immune and nervous systems; possible carcinogen

BHT - (Butylated hydroxytoluene) Toxic to the brain, nervous, and respiratory systems; possible carcinogen and endocrine disruptor (See what I wrote before about BHT)

D & C Colorants - Toxic to nervous and reproductive systems

Eugenol - Toxic to the immune and nervous systems, endocrine disruptor

Formaldehyde - Toxic to the immune and respiratory systems; carcinogen

Nitrosamines - endocrine disruptor; possible carcinogen

P-Phenylenediamine - Toxic to the immune, respiratory, and nervous systems

Parabens - Endocrine disruptor, neurotoxic; possible carcinogen

Phthalates - Toxic to the immune, nervous, and reproductive systems

Triethanolamine - Toxic to the immune and respiratory systems; possible carcinogen

It’s amazing what they put in cosmetics that people are supposed to use on their skin!

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Aside from staying home and drinking tap water out of a washable glass, the best way to be “green” while on the go is choosing your water bottle wisely. From the lowly single-use-only plastic water bottle you can buy at your local gas station to the stainless steel and aluminum options, making the right choice is important in maintaining both your health and the health of the environment!

The worst kind of water bottle is the kind that you only use once - the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle that you find in grocery stores, gas stations, etc, that is used for water, soda and juice. This kind of plastic has been proven to leach DEHP (Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate) after repeated use and is a probable carcinogen. They can also harbor bacterial growth inside any cracks and crevices inside the bottle, which cannot be too good for your health either!

Next to the regular old plastic bottles we see everywhere, probably the most common would be your typical bottle as seen here. These plastic bottles, commonly used by exercise buffs and campers, are made out of thermoplastic polymers that usually goes by the name polycarbonate. However, it’s not just water bottles that are made out of polycarbonate; CD’s, iPods, sunglasses, and computer shells are also made of the material. Thankfully though, we don’t normally chew on CD’s or computers because polycarbonates have been proven to leach BPA, a synthetic hormone that can mimic estrogen and cause prostate cancer. Even scarier is the fact that most baby bottles are made out of polycarbonate, and when you heat up milk in them to feed your baby, the BPA could be leaching in at an even higher rate than normal. Not good at all, if you ask me!

A much better option than either of the above two would be an aluminum water bottle. A big manufacturer of aluminum water bottles is Sigg (which you can get at Reusable Bags, where we got ours), which claims to make environmentally friendly products. They have a lot of information on their site about the safety of aluminum,but one little part concerns me that I didn’t know until just a little while ago - these bottles still have a plastic liner. *Update - The liner inside is made from a water-based resin that is baked into the bottles, according to company representative who just emailed me.

The best way to get your daily dose of water on the go, in my opinion, is a stainless steel reusable container. Kleen Kanteen is a large manufacturer of these type of bottles, and you can get them from Reusable Bags. They are made entirely out of stainless steel, which does not leach, is difficult to break or crack, and does not easily stain or interact with whatever product you are consuming. The water always tastes good out of it (at least ours does, and it is Los Angeles tap water!) and it keeps it reasonably cold for a little while when we go hiking or out in the sun. They don’t recommend using them for hot beverages, which is understandable - that’s what a thermos is for.

Ideally, the best way to drink water on the go would be an aluminum or stainless steel water bottle, as they seem to exhibit the least amount of health concerns out of all the choices. Add in the fact that they can be used over and over again with no degradation and do not need to be recycled each time you use one, they really are the “green” choice. And since upwards of 40% of bottled water is actually just tap water in disguise, buying it seems like not only a health risk due to the plastic leaching possibilities, but also a wallet risk due to wasting money on something you already have at home!

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EarthTalk is a weekly installment from E/The Environmental Magazine.

Dear EarthTalk: I just read an article that said air fresheners contain chemicals that can cause health problems when inhaled. Are scented candles any better? — Leanne Chacksfield, Cincinnati, OH

Like most air fresheners, many scented candles contain and release phthalates, potentially harmful chemicals that have been linked to the disruption of hormonal systems and other health problems in people exposed to them. Burning candles can also emit small amounts of acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and naphthalene, organic chemicals that are also potentially harmful and that can leave nasty black soot deposits on floors and other surfaces.

According to Pamela Lundquist of the nonprofit Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC), this black soot deposit “is primarily made up of elemental carbon, but may also contain phthalates and volatile organic compounds like benzene and toluene, which can cause cancer and neurological damage.”

Children can easily ingest these chemicals if their hands have been wandering and end up in their mouths. The chemicals can lodge deep in the lungs, disrupting the lower respiratory tract, exacerbating existing problems like asthma, and potentially causing other longer term breathing problems.

Despite laws against it, many candlewicks still contain lead, long linked to impaired learning and brain damage in children. Lead dispersed from burning candles can be breathed in and also constitute part of the dreaded black soot deposit. Candles with lead-containing wicks are on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ban/recall list now (thanks to efforts by nonprofits like U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), but many are still out there on store shelves. Consumers can avoid them by sticking to candles with soft cotton wicks, not stiff, metal ones.

Eco-conscious candle burners should also avoid paraffin-based candles, which are made from waxes derived in the process of refining crude oil and literally consist of fossil-fuel generating hydrocarbons. Unfortunately, the vast majority of commercially available candles are made from paraffin, though many alternatives are now available.

Soy-based candles are a popular choice, as they are made from plant waste and emit less soot than the paraffin variety. Beeswax candles are another nice alternative, as well, especially if you can pick them up at a local farmers’ market. For scented or aromatherapy candles, look for varieties that use only pure plant essential oils instead of synthetic chemicals with unintelligible names. Some leader makers of Earth- and people-friendly candles include Blue Corn Naturals, Honeyflow Farm, Vermont Soy Candles and Aveda.

CONTACTS: Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC); Blue Corn Naturals; Honeyflow Farm; Vermont Soy Candles; Aveda.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881 USA; submit it at EarthTalk; or e-mail us. Read past columns at our archives.

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Seems legit…anyone have more info on this?

On January 24th, 2008, United States Department of (USDA) Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner announced the availability of $74.5 million in emergency funding to combat the light brown apple moth (LBAM) infestation in California (1). This announcement comes in conjunction with the release of the California Department of Agriculture’s (CDFA) expanded aerial spray zone, which includes the entire cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkley and many others.

Following is a link to a recently published proposal of spray boundaries, the yellow lines indicating the proposed spray zones (www.hopefortruth.com/lbam_2008.jpg) . More than two million people who live in these and other targeted cities are scheduled to be exposed this spring or summer to chemicals that that have never been tested on humans or animals before.

Apparently the CDFA or the USDA, or both, decided that the previous chemical formula’s used, Checkmate LBAM-F and Checkmate OLR-F were not good enough, which really points to the fact that the past two aerial sprays in Monterey, and the one in Santa Cruz County, were a waste of time and money, in addition to the severe health reactions experienced by thousands of people from chemical exposure.

Yellow area denotes proposed spray areas.

Sounds scary…anyone hear about this anywhere else other than right here?

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My wife slowly switched over to all-natural mineral makeup in the last 6 months, but prior to switching over she used the same popular stuff that most people have been using forever. But after reading an article in Mother Jones by Michelle Chandra about the weird ingredients found in some very expensive makeup, I was even happier that she has already switched away from any of these type of products. This list is not for the squeamish, so stop reading now if you don’t want to see what you might be spreading on your face!

In the product Eva Beauty Epicurean Colostrum Cream, the special ingredient is “Bovine Postnatal Secretion“…yep, cow…um…stuff.

In Chantecaille Nano Gold Energizing Cream, the special ingredient is gold - which has been proven to actually damage skin cells.

In SkinMedica TNS Recovery Complex, the special ingredient is foreskin - even Oprah seemed to like it on a recent episode.

In Plazan Placenta Collagen Mask, the special ingredient is placentas…harvested from maternity wards.

And finally, in Neocutis Bio-Restorative Skin Cream, the special ingredient is fetal cells…from an aborted fetus. This offends me and I am a pro-choice guy!

Anyway that you look at it, this is pretty disgusting stuff. These ingredients are supposed to do anything from regenerate skin cells on your face to “replenish skin’s energy using nanotechnology to safely deliver the power of pure gold”. Yikes. When there are great alternatives out there that are all-natural and not this gross, do these really need to be ingredients in women’s makeup? It’s a strange world out there…

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This past week I got an email from Shayna about an ingredient she has been seeing in a lot of skincare products called BHT, which is short for butylated hydroxytoluene. This lipophilic (fat-soluble) phenol is primarily used as an antioxidant food additive as well as in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, jet fuels, rubber, petroleum products, and embalming fluid. Those things all belong in the same category, right? I mean, who doesn’t love using an ingredient that goes into jet fuel or embalming fluid…on their skin!

As for food use, while the United States still allows it to be used as an additive to slow the rate of autoxidation in food, Japan, Australia, Sweden and Romania have banned it’s use in food. Sweet!

In skincare products, it is kind of used in the same way - to preserve the product. But some studies have shown that large doses may cause tumors in lab animals and it can cause allergic contact dermatitis, so why in the world would we want to use it on our skin? Because the FDA says it is safe, that’s why! BHT also contains the chemical Toluene, which has a Material Safety Data Sheet that says:

POISON! DANGER! HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED. HARMFUL IF INHALED OR ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. VAPOR HARMFUL. FLAMMABLE LIQUID AND VAPOR. MAY AFFECT LIVER, KIDNEYS, BLOOD SYSTEM, OR CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. CAUSES IRRITATION TO SKIN, EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT. INHALATION: INHALATION MAY CAUSE IRRITATION OF THE UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT. SYMPTOMS OF OVEREXPOSURE MAY INCLUDE FATIGUE, CONFUSION, HEADACHE, DIZZINESS AND DROWSINESS. PECULIAR SKIN SENSATIONS (E. G. PINS AND NEEDLES) OR NUMBNESS MAY BE PRODUCED. VERY HIGH CONCENTRATIONS MAY CAUSE UNCONSCIOUSNESS AND DEATH. INGESTION: SWALLOWING MAY CAUSE ABDOMINAL SPASMS AND OTHER SYMPTOMS THAT PARALLEL OVER-EXPOSURE FROM INHALATION. ASPIRATION OF MATERIAL INTO THE LUNGS CAN CAUSE CHEMICAL PNEUMONITIS, WHICH MAY BE FATAL. SKIN CONTACT: CAUSES IRRITATION. MAY BE ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. EYE CONTACT: CAUSES SEVERE EYE IRRITATION WITH REDNESS AND PAIN. CHRONIC EXPOSURE: REPORTS OF CHRONIC POISONING DESCRIBE ANEMIA, DECREASED BLOOD CELL COUNT AND BONE MARROW HYPOPLASIA. LIVER AND KIDNEY DAMAGE MAY OCCUR. REPEATED OR PROLONGED CONTACT HAS A DEFATTING ACTION, CAUSING DRYING, REDNESS, AND DERMATITIS. EXPOSURE TO TOLUENE MAY AFFECT THE DEVELOPING FOETUS.

Awesome! Personally, I would refuse to use an ingredient found in embalming fluid to make my skin smoother or my lips look better, wouldn’t you?

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