How Many Chemicals Are You Wearing?

Found on WebMD Blog - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 by Janelle Sorensen

A recent study in the UK found that the average woman wears over 500 chemicals on her body every day. Similar to the US, women douse themselves daily with perfume, moisturizer, lotion, and a wide variety of cosmetics that altogether contain hundreds of chemicals. Most of the women were completely oblivious to the number of chemicals they were putting on. Do you know how many you wear?

Take a moment to figure it out. Look at the labels of all of the products you use and count how many ingredients are listed. Then, add them all together.

Shampoo and conditioner = _______

Lotions and moisturizers = _______

Perfume or cologne = _______

Cosmetics = _______

Hair styling products = _______

Deodorant = _________

Other = ________

TOTAL = _______

Surprised? Most people are. But, don't take this number at face value. Here are some important points to consider:

Some of the ingredients may be present in several of your products, so your total number may not reflect the actual number of different chemicals you're exposed to.

"Fragrance" is considered a trade secret. So, manufacturers can use a wide variety of chemicals (sometimes over one hundred) to make up their signature scent, but they don't have to list them in the ingredients. Given this fact, the total number of chemicals you're wearing may be much larger than what you think it is.

All of the chemicals in personal care products are not bad, but there are a significant amount of commonly used ingredients that are especially risky to your health. Avoid products that contain: "parabens" (Methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and butyl-parabens), coal tar colors (FD&C Blue 1, Green 3, Yellow 5 & 6; D&C Red 33), Diethanolamine (cocamide DEA, TEA and MEA are related ingredients that can be contaminated with DEA), Nonoxynol or nonylphenol ethoxylate, phthalates (can be listed as DEHP, DHP, or DBP5 or hidden in "fragrance"), DMDM hydantoin, triclosan, sodum lauryl and laureth sulfates, toluene, formaldehyde, PEGs, and anything with "glycol" or "methyl." Learn more about these chemicals and find safer products in the Environmental Working Group's Buying Guide and print a Healthy Shopping Pocket Guide, so you always have the information on hand.

It's hard to eliminate everything on this list, especially if you can't afford all the certified organic products. I've been trying to cut back and substitute in simpler, safer products for years, but I'm still wearing over 100 chemicals after my daily regimen (though, many of those chemicals are natural and only a couple of products I use contain anything listed above). I'm not perfect. I try to focus on switching what I can, using fewer products in general, using less of what I use, and even trying to make my own.

What's your regimen like? Are you willing to share how many chemicals you're wearing everyday?