I decided to go with my Old Spice Red Zone Aqua Reef body wash, because it is one of the products I stick with. I love the scent and the feel of this bad boy, and it really does "DROP-KICK DIRT AND ODOR". When looking over the ingredients list I was relieved to see that none of them showed up on the OED's toxicity list. It wasn't until I got to the Environmental Working Group's website that I saw the dirty truth. The ingredient I researched more into was fragrance, because it was the only one with a high hazard warning on the site. The concerns for fragrance are neurotoxicity and allergies/immunotoxicity. This is not good, because I don't want anything messing with my brain. One of my biggest fears is being diagnosed with alzheimers or some other form of dementia. Fragrance is an undisclosed mixture of all sorts of scent chemicals and ingredients that are used as fragrance dispersants like diethyl phthalate, which is on the toxicity list. Fragrance mixes have also been associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system. The fact that this product may be harmful to my respiratory system is pretty bad, because I have reactive airway disease, which is a very mild form of asthma, but my mom has very bad asthma. As of right now I only have a slight breathing problem when I'm sick, but I'm worried that my respiratory system will get worse over time.
I could switch to a nonscented soap with less chemicals, but I'm still not sure if I'm willing to make the change. I will definately try out other soaps, but I'm hooked on the scent of my body wash and when I smell good, I feel good. All of my morning rituals give me a lot of confidence in myself. I will spend a week trying new soaps, and when I find one that I like I will test it for a week and see how I'm feeling. One of the function/uses of fragrance according to EWG Skin Deep is masking. I want to find out whether or not I really need to mask myself with chemicals when washing myself in the morning.
Ingredients:
WATER, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE, SODIUM SULFATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, FRAGRANCE, SODIUM LAUROAMPHOACETATE, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM BENZOATE, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, DISODIUM EDTA, METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE, METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE, COLORANTS
Stewart -- what was the overall hazard rating of the product? You can't really do any additional research on fragrance, its composition is unknown. You needed to select an ingredient with a high hazard level (next to Fragrance) and research that.
ReplyDelete-EWG printout attached/on blog (10 points) - no
-Findings from eco-toxicity analysis of a personal care product, including “extra research” (15 points)- inadequate
-Actions you plan to take in light of the findings (15 points)
40/50