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Decoding Ingredient Labels 101

Have you ever actually read the ingredients of the products you use every day? Even if you have, would you actually understand what’s on the package? Definitely not I. It takes a chemistry major to be able to decipher all of that! Lately, gurus have been saying that if you can’t read what’s in it, you shouldn’t use it on your skin. I’m slowly starting to adopt this principle, however, not everyone can afford to do so.

Here is the honest truth about what you are using on your hair, skin and body so you can make better decisions on your next shopping trip:

1. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

This ingredient is commonly used in shampoos, toothpastes and hand dishwashing detergents because of its cleaning capabilities and foaming properties. Studies have shown that SLS can dry the skin and cause eye irritation and allergic reactions. According to the National Toxicology Program Web site, in humans Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and its derivatives are “moderately toxic by ingestion and a human skin irritant.” There is a rumor going around that SLS is a carcinogen that causes cancer, but I didn’t find any research to prove that. If you want to be on the safe side, there are several products on the market that are sulfate-free.

2. Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorohydrex GLY

This aluminum derivative is the active ingredient in anti-perspirants that keep us “Sure” every day. There have been several reports that link deodorants containing this chemical to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease. Scary, right? I dug a little deeper and found that several countries including Canada limit the use of aluminum-based chemicals in cosmetics. For instance, Canada does not allow aerosol antiperspitants and precautionary labels must be on all packaging telling consumers not to use the product on broken skin. However, the Food and Drug Administration and the American Cancer Society have both said that there is no proven link between deodorant and cancer. As far as neurotoxicity goes, I found the following information in the Hazardous Substances Data Bank:

“Direct injection of aluminum into the cerebrospinal fluid of cats resulted in a progressive encephalopathy with neurofibrillary degeneration and increased intranuclear aluminum content.” (Read: direct spinal fluid contact with aluminum made the poor test cat’s brain turn into mush)

“Excessive dietary aluminum has been proposed to be a factor contributing to several neurological disorders in humans.”

Clearly, we don’t come into direct contact with elemental aluminum, but the above research is making me look twice at my deodorant right about now.

3. Methylparaben

This ingredient is used as a chemical preservative in several skin care and beauty products such as moisturizers, anti-aging products, foundation and eye shadows. The most common parabens used in cosmetic products are methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben.

According to Skin Deep, parabens “mimic estrogen and can act as potential hormone (endocrine) system disruptors.” This hormone mimicking has raised concerns about parabens and breast cancer. According to the FDA Web site, “a study published in 2004 (Darbre, in the Journal of Applied Toxicology) detected parabens in breast tumors.” In spite of this finding, the FDA says that there is no conclusive link between the two since parabens are used at low levels in cosmetic products.

These are just three out of the several chemicals we can’t pronounce that lie within our beauty products. Although there is no hard evidence that cosmetics containing them can harm us, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Want to do some more research? Check out these resources:

http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductandIngredientSafety/default.htm

http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/