Avoiding Toxic Ingredients in Personal Products, Part 2

In this second part in a series on toxins in common home products, I tell you about the organic personal & beauty products that make the cut, and the ones whose products contain toxins.  Since the U.S. government doesn’t regulate cosmetics for safety, long-term health impacts, or environmental damage, common cosmetics ingredients are quite harmful. Buying organic brands guarantees nothing since labeling is not regulated. And as it turns out labels like natural, herbal, and organic are widely abused.

The Environmental Working Group is a multi-disciplinary team of people who do research into threats to health and the environment. They’ve done studies and tests on suncreens, pesticides in produce, cell phone radiation, and more. One of the important things they’ve also done is to go through the ingredients of cosmetics and personal care products and researched into the toxicity of the most common ingredients. They’ve put together a Cosmetic Safety Database based on those findings, which are shocking! The breakdown of the individual bad ingredients are in my first article.

Many popular brands are of course huge offenders, they dont even pretend to be organic.  Needless to say, you should’nt use those products.

This article is specifically about those “organic” brands you find in health food stores. This information is derived from the EWG “skin Deep” Hazard Scores, which looks into  “organic” brands.

The good news on organic personal products

There are quite a few brands that are recommended! The main one that I find in most health food stores is good old Dr. Bronners products. These are many other good brands but out of the list below, I dont think I’ve ever seen any of them in the health food stores around here!!  Anyway, here’s the list of good brands:

• Alteya Organics
• Baby Bear Shop
• Badger
• Brittanie’s Thyme
• Bubble and Bee Organic
• Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps
• Earth Mama Angel Baby
• Indian Meadow Herbals
• Intelligent Nutrients
• Kimberly Parry Organics
• Little Angel
• Mercola
• Miessence Certified Organics
• Nature’s Paradise
• OGmama and OGbaby
• Organicare
• Organic Essence
• Origins Organics
• Purely Shea
• Rose Tattoo Aftercare
• SoCal Cleanse
• Sensibility Soaps/Nourish
• Terressentials
• Trillium Organics
• Vermont Soap

And now the bad news on so-called “organic” brands:

Here I give a general breakdown of each of the brands with multiple offenses. the various brands below are all rated by individual product. The scoring system goes like this: ratings 7 to 10 are the red zone and are products that contain known highest grade toxins. 3 to 6 is moderately hazardous and considered the yellow zone. Anything less than 3 is not considered hazardous.  Its not that all the products by these brands have toxic ingredients, just that many do.  The details can be found in the EWG Hazards Scores pages.

Jason “Pure, Natural & Organic” Products has 12 products in the red zone, one of them a 9 (their Damage Control Creme Shampoo)! They have at least 2 dozen other products (mostly shampoos and conditioners) that are 6, yellow danger level. Totally avoid their damage control creme shampoo & conditioner, dandruff relief, tall-grass conditioner, tea tree body powder, scalp elixir, styling gel, therapy after shave, tea tree normalizing shampoo, sunbrellas lip balm and spray, and ester-c skncare. Many of their Kids-only stuff is a 4 : yellow level. Their green level stuff is their Kids Only Toothpaste, Fragrance Free Body Wash, Tea Tree Oils, Hand Sanitizer Gel and Fragrance Free Daily Conditioner.

Natures’s Gate Organics has 3 products that are 8 rating, red level! The Chamoile & Lemon Verbena moisturizing lotion and the Happy Glow bronzers. The Chamo and Lemon Verbena Body Wash, Conditioner, and Shampoo are all level 7 red too. Almost everything else they have is in the yellow zone. Three products come clean and green: their Lavender and Aloe Deodorants, and Rainwater organics bergamot patchouli with acai oil moisturizer!!

Avalon “Organics” Products all are in the 5 to 3 hazard level (yellow), with quite a few stuff in the green zone too. Nothing red zone, thank goodness, but stay away from their Vitamin C and Lavender Skin Care stuff, their Everyday Renewal cleansers and anti-aging stuff, their Glistening shampoos,and their bath and shower gels.

Kiss My Face has fewer products. Their three lip balms are 6 : yellow level danger. Their Obsessively Organic stuff is 5, also yellow, and their foaming Liquid Soap stuff is 4 or 3, still yellow. On the green side: Palm oil soaps, Ginger mango lip balm, Clean for a day cleansers, acne gel, ultra hydrating moisturizer.

Head Organics refused to disclose ingredients!  Be afraid of that.   Never seen this brand anyway.

Llike Organics & Eminence also refused to disclose ingredients.  Never seen these brands.

OrganicWear has about 2 dozen products, half of which are in the yellow zone with the worst being a 6, yellow, the Physicians Formula Organic Wear Natural Origin Blush products.   Never seen this brand.

Giovanni Organic Products worst offense is about 1/3rd of their products rate 5, yellow.  I do see this brand in my health food store.

Stella McCartney “100% Organic” line has four out of four products all in yellow level with an exact rating of 4. Never seen this brand.

Desert Essense also has very few products, the worst offender being a 4.  I see this brand in health food stores.

These are the products I know about.   To make sure you are not buying garbage and poisoning yourself, take a look at my first article on this series that lists the toxic ingredients themselves.