SAFER ALTERNATIVE

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Can you forgive those who trespass against us?...

QUOTE:
"The post-war chemical revolution has resulted in global contamination. Thousands of substances have been released into the environment with few prior checks on their potential for causing long term harm. For many years, little attention was paid to what happened to these substances after they were released. However, it has now been realised that many are persistent and can cause unwanted effects in the longer term. Sometimes it is the parent molecule itself which is particularly hazardous, while in other cases, it can be a degradation product or a metabolite which is more harmful."
EXTRACT FROM:-
Chemical Trespass: A toxic legacy - by Gwynne Lyons July 1999

Around 100,000 chemicals have been introduced into our lives within the past 50 years - almost 20% of these have been accepted for use in personal care and cosmetics applications.
YOU can choose whether you (and your family!) want to keep being treated like a lab-rat in the world's biggest experiment...or you can choose to use safer alternative products - http://www.onegrp.com/?saferalternative

You can also choose to be more proactive and inform others about the daily risks they are` taking - at the same time you could be gaining an ethical income whilst helping others make safer lifestyle choices: It's a serious business - http://ethicalincome.saferalternative.com

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

NOT your cup of TEA!

We're not talking about the heartwarming 'cuppa' much loved by Brits, or even the perfumed kind preferred by the Chinese! We are referring to the chemical compounds TEA - or Triethanloamine along with DEA (Diethanolamine) and MEA (Monoethanolamine), which are frequently used in mass-market brands of skin care in th role of solvents, emulsifiers and wetting agents.

These chemicals are also used to balance the pH of cosmetic and personal care and appears in the formulations of a variety of different products - including skin lotion, eye gels, moisturizers, shampoos, shaving foams etc.

Whilst Triethanolamine itself is not classified as carcinogenic to humans - some individuals may develop dermatitis when their skin comes into contact with it, especially if concentrations are relatively high.

Where nastier problems could arise is when TEA/DEA/MEA comes into contact with nitrosating agents that are often found in many personal care products when nitrites used in their preservation start to break down (which is most likely to happen after poor, or prolonged storage). This leads to the formation of N-nitrosodiethanolamine (NDEA) which is a human carcinogen (cancer-causing) agent.

The US Dept of Health and Human Services' National Toxicology Program, 1997 (NTP TR 478) which studied DEA in depth (which chosen for study due to the fact that many people are regularly exposed to it through their personal care products) stated that there was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity by the chemical toxins formed by DEA in combination with nitrostaing agents.

Names to look out for when scrutinizing those product labels include:
DEA (Diethanolamine), TEA (Tea, triethanolamine), MEA(Cocamide DEA; Laurimide DEA; Linoleamide DEA, Oleamide DEA)

Why use products that contain known, potentially harmful ingredients?

Choose to reduce your exposure to toxins today by changing to 100% natural, certified organic product like these (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS of World's First extensive range of Certified Organic skin care and cosmetics)





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Friday, March 17, 2006

Not a lyrical waxing...

More about ingredients in every-day personal-care products...

So you're already aware that you may be paying a fortune for a few millilitres of water (see last post) with some other chemical junk added to it and you are happily buying this toxic potion because you are being told that it will ‘actively renew your skin’ – or ‘decrease your wrinkles’, or ‘make a visible difference in X days’...etc.

You have lapped up the Star-trek like techno-babble about ‘nano-particles’ – because after all, some person in a lab coat has extolled the virtues of these microscopic elements to your ‘looks’ (even though there has been no exhaustive testing of the safety of these chemicals that are deliberately made to be easily absorbed by your skin cells!!!)

You are merrily intoxicating the most delicate parts of your body – each time you shower, or moisturize, or powder, or ‘hydrate’…and worse still you are ‘role-modelling’ this activity for your children to emulate..

So what other things might you come across if you should try to decipher the micro-print of your latest skin-care favourites aesthetically perfect labelling…

How about:

Dimethicone: It is a form of silicone ‘wax’ that apparently imparts “lubricity and softness to personal care formulations” (www.baschem.co.uk) and whilst it is described by the ‘chemists’ as “basically non-hazardous with a very low order of toxicity” - the advice that accompanies this observation includes the fact that: “contact with the skin or with the eyes may cause irritation”!! – Perfect for skin-care products then?

Add to this the fact that Dimethicone has been shown to cause tumors and mutations in experimental work with animals…and…well we leave it to you to decide – do you want to cover your body with products that may ‘foam’ more effectively, and feel ‘softer’…BUT contain this chemical? (NO? – then find safer alternative personal care HERE now).

More soon…




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Wednesday, March 15, 2006

All the ingredients to make a killing in the $$$Multi-billion skin care and cosmetics market...

PART 1
So what are the typical ingredients that can be found in many, if not almost all, mass-market personal care products. This series of short blog entries - over the next week or so - aims to identify a few, and help you know better what to look out for.

Many big-brand names are 'making a killing' in the personal care and cosmetics market - with high-ticket consumables that promise the earth - but effectively deliver a 'ship-load' (ahem!) of toxins direct to your skin...

But let's start gently and consider a non-toxic (usually) substance that really gets the bean-counters excited...because it can mean BIG profits for MINIMUM outlay... SO...

Which ingredient makes the most profit for the makes of most major brands of skin/hair/body care?

It’s an easy one to start with…naturally its ‘Water’!

Water is often the lead ingredient in products – and of course the more you can incorporate into your products the LESS they cost you to produce…not that that means you have to sell them cheap! Oh no…a fancy bottle, a classy label, a decent advertising budget (oh yes, that IS one thing in which the big name brands DO invest!…Why such expensive advertising, glossy production, celebrity endorsements, etc.? Because YOU’RE worth it – of course!)…and you can charge almost whatever you want.

In fact some products are so flagrantly 'super-hyped' that you could be paying 3-figures (that’s over US$100)…per modest bottle of something that cost merely CENTS to make! (I kid you not!)

Sometimes of course they do use 'fancy water'…well at least they call it ‘aqua’…so maybe that fools a few simple-souls into thinking it is something a ‘bit special’! But truth is water is great stuff to sell at a premium price...and at least it is non-toxic - unless you've bought a 'dubious designer copy' parfum from a slick-talking street trader at a 'great price' (and which 'smelled' just like the real thing - because the tester WAS the real thing - you see?) - but which was in fact made on the banks of (and with a scoop-full of) the River Po, or some similar 'natural and untreated' source!...

Needless to say...things get a whole lote worse in part2 which could have you wondering what kind 'of killing' some companies are trying to make...

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Saturday, March 11, 2006

Images speak louder than words? But here are a few words anyway...

Superb 100% natural products; ethical, mission-oriented company; - these products can truly help you reduce your family's exposure to toxic chemicals.

For more information just 'click the image' below!














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Thursday, March 09, 2006

Fast food I - "Your burger and fries, sir": "Sorry, you what?...I'm going to kill myse...huh, forgotten what I was going to say. Who said that?"...

So now we hear that Fast food is being linked with various mental health problems. Foods that lack so many vital nutrients, and so popular with the younger generation, may be responsible for encouraging the development of problems like "Attention Deficit Disorder, depression, Alzheimer's Disease and even Schizophrenia".

In the report "Changing Diets, Changing Minds" published recently by Sustain, a body campaigning for better quality food, in the UK, it was stated: "Food can have an immediate and lasting effect on mental health and behaviour because of the way it affects the structure and function of the brain."

It seems the major fast food brands just can't lose!...People might say "you'd have to be stupid to eat 'fast food' regularly"...and if you do eat them regularly you probably soon will be!...Which sort of guarantees a generation of future customers by now doesn't it?

Fast Food II - "Oh and here's your soft drink sir - would you like extra benzene with that?":

And they've also confirmed that when your soft drinks are left standing for a while - maybe on a nice warm shop shelf...the vitamin C (well the ascobic acid used as an anti-oxidant - don't get carried away with any idea that there might be enough to do you much good!) and the sodium benzoate (some kind of cheap presevative chemical) react together to create benzene...which has of course been long known to be highly carcinogenic (i.e. have cancer causing properties - thought I better clarify, in case you've been hitting the burgers lately!).

Indeed benezene is so nasty that the UK water system has to achieve water quality that has no more than 1 part-per-BILLION! In a series of monitoring experiments soft-drink samples were found to have up to almost 10 times this amount.

Admittedly the World Health Organization (WHO) has set an 'acceptable' level of 10ppb for benzene in water - which enables soft drink manufacturers to downplay the significance of the higher levels of benzene in their products than in UK tap-water. However some recent US studies have found benzene levels in soft drink MANY times higher than this.

The solutions that the manufacturers (who have long known about this potentially hazardous result of the liaison between VitC and sodium benzoate) have tried to come up with have been for instance - in the UK to try and reduce the quantity of sodium benzoate; whilst there are propositions in Australia to 'get rid of' the vitaminC!!!

Reality is that no level of benzene is actually acceptable - knowing as we do that this highly toxic chemical DOES cause cancer. But as Richard Laming, spokesperson for the British Soft Drinks Association, told beveragedaily.com: “We are fulfilling our obligation to keep levels as low as reasonably achievable.” He also confirmed that it was “not a surprise in the soft drinks industry” that ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate might react to create benzene.

'Over the pond' however - where it seems 'science' is increasingly coming in for short shrift - it appears that things are not so 'unsurprising'. The fact that some soft drinks have been found to have several times the upper WHO limit for benzene in drinking water may just be due to ignorance it is admitted!

Apparently, Kevin Keane, of the American Beverage Association, told beveragedaily.com that some drinks brands manufacturers may not even be aware that sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid could potentially form benzene. He stated:

15 years ago it was under control, but this is a fast-growing industry. There are a lot of new companies, a lot of new brands and things have changed.” Obviously what has changed is that (1) there is less control and (2) there is less education! So you can happily profiteer by adding to the welter of pop-brands on the supermarket shelves - but you have no responsibility for making sure you understand what TOXINS your products could contain if inappropriately formulated! THAT'S OK THEN!!!!!

Hearteningly, Keane gave his assurance that for consumers there was no health risk involved (hmm, well I sure that makes everyone feel much better - here kids have another 'slug' of 'cola'...Uncle Kevin says its safe!).

We'd just finish off by saying - you can make a choice about what you eat, and what you drink...and they get plenty of media attention...especially when the chemicals in food and drink you eat are KNOWN to cause ill health.

But for now the 'stuff' you put on your body gets far less coveage - even though it is EQUALLY well known that MOST major body, skin, hair care and cosmetics brands contain MANY toxic chemicals...

If you are trying to live a healthier, better life - make sure you choose safer alternatives in ALL areas of your own, and your kids' lives!


Natural & Organic - Safer Personal Care and Cosmetics


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Thursday, March 02, 2006

"A report by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution found that air pollution was 'likely to be associated' with deaths and hospital admissions for heart problems" Yahoo news in the UK reported today.

Yet more evidence that our exposure to chemicals and particulates in our environment is contributiong to the deterioration of our general health in so-called 'developed societies'. This finding further confirms similar conclusions drawn in 2004 by researchers at the University of Southern California - who cocluded that airborne chemical pollution could have "immense" implications for public health.

Whilst you can make some choices to reduce your exposure to airborne toxins by 'not smoking' for instance...you can't stop breathing altogether! It is imperative that we all make any changes to our day-to-day lives that could reduce our exposure to toxic chemicals.

One step we can all take to reduce our toxic-burden is to clear the chemical concoctions out of our personal care regimes. If you use the typical products that most pharmacies, supermarkets, and body-care stores sell - be they 'designer labels', or supposedly "natural" (a MUCH abused term), or whether 'top-end prices' or 'bargain-basement' - they almost universally use many chemicals in their ingredients (just take a look at the 'chemistry lesson' lists of ingredients on the pack).

Manufacturers use chemicals for for lots of reasons. Chemicals can make products more 'foamy' (commonly confused by customers as meaning the products are 'richer' - as in 'rich, foamy, lather'...in fact they are just more laden with harsh chemicals!). Chemicals are used to extend shelf-life. Chemicals are used to colour the products. Chemicals are used to 'fragrance' the products. The manufacturers also use chemicals for their 'anti-bacterial' effect (VERY questionable). But MOST of all they use chemicals...because they are CHEAP!

If you are like we were until recently - you maybe still believe that the 'big brand' products MUST be safe! After all, surely those well-known companies you have trusted since you were a kid wouldn't use anything that might be harmful in their products that are used by so many thousands of cistomers? Don't be so sure - there is NO requirement for manufacturers to test their ingredients or products exhaustively. Frankly - the claims that some big brand names make in their advertising about being 'acknowledged' by some official sounding body for being good for your skin...aren't worth the 'paper their written on' (so to speak)...because the body that they cite is funded by them!!!

By getting rid of 'chemical laden' body care, shampoos, conditioners, cosmetics, moisturizers, toothpaste, aftershave, shaving foam, etc., etc., you will be MASSIVELY reducing the number of potentially hazardous toxins you and your family (ESPECIALLY your children!) are exposed to on a daily basis (sometimes many times).

Consider making some changes today, take a look here more information about a unique range of entirely natural products that contain NO CHEMICAL nasties: