New blog

Since I am overloading this "family" blog with a lot of articles, I decided to create a new blog!
It is still under construction, but here is the info-

It is called: HarmLESS Beauty
LESS toxins
LESS carcinogens
LESS hormone altering chemicals

Beauty should be harmless not harmful!

www.harmLESSbeauty.blogspot.com

Scientists 'hide formula risk'

In case 100 reasons to breastfeed are not enough, here is another one.
This article below says that researchers often "shy" away from talking about the health risks associated with formula.

The article states "“This is not helping properly informed health professionals and mothers,” Dr Smith said. “We looked at the findings of nearly 80 authoritative studies, all of which highlighted that formula-fed babies tend to be at higher risk of poor health than children fed on breast milk.""

For the full article see:

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20091003-18890.html

"Safe for Kids" ???

"Wouldn't it be nice to relieve your child's itchy skin without a prescription?"

Yes, it would, but it would also be nice to relieve it WITHOUT subjecting your child to dangerous chemicals that cause cancer, reproductive problems & neurological problems!!

Please excuse my messy handwriting on this ad, but I got out my permanent marker to write down the overall score off the Cosmetics Database, and it was such a new product I had to look up individual ingredients. Here is the full list, straight from Curel's website- (http://www.curel.com/itch_defense.asp)

Water, glycerin, petrolatum, tapioca starch, cetearyl alcohol, peg/ppg-17/6 copolymer, behentrimonium chloride, dimethicone, isopropyl palmitate, propylene glycol isostearate, cyclopentasiloxane, ppg-15 stearyl ether, cetyl-pg hydroxyethyl palmitamide, bis-methoxypropylamido isodocosane, panthenol, tocopheryl acetate, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, methylparaben, propylparaben, benzalkonium chloride.


Pretty disturbing to say the least. How on earth is this product given the "Seal of Acceptance"?

I guess the National Eczema Association does not care if a product marketed to children contains ingredients that are banned in other countries!!

Tips for Safe Water

You can look up your tap water and see what pollutants are in it, and how it compares to the national average!

Here is the link for the City of Columbus water supply:

http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/whatsinyourwater/OH/City-of-Columbus-Department-of-Public-Utilities/2504412/

What is so amazing to me is how many of the chemicals listed in a lot of our tap water are common ingredients in our products such as forms of pthalates from plastic or "fragrance", or pesticides from farming. We could all do a small part in helping this situation. Think about the chemicals you dump down your sink every day while you shower, wash your face, and wash your clothes & dishes. If we all used non-toxic products think of how much of a difference that would make!

EWG found 38 contaminants in 10 popular brands of bottled water. It is best to drink filtered tap water.

• Use stainless steel water bottles

• Check your city's water

• Make sure to use fluoride-free, filtered water for your baby bottles if you use formula

Happy New Year!

I wish you all a safe, happy and healthy new year! 2009 has been an amazing year, and I am so excited to see what this next year brings!

A year in (blog)words from 2009

My goals for 2010

• Surround myself with positive people!
• GIVE more!
  
• Continue to detox our household
• Expand our recycling efforts
• Juice at least once a day
• Eat 50% of our food raw and 90% Organic
• Try a vegan diet for at least 30 days
• Continue to spread the word about the "toxic" issue by writing letters and holding Ava Anderson Non-Toxic seminars
• Continue with the Dave Ramsey plan and be on Step # 5 by the end of the year

Letter to Snopes.com regarding Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

I read this on the snopes.com website and felt compelled to respond about SLS.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/shampoo.asp

Here is my comment:

Regarding your response for "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate", I URGE you to reconsider your response and check the following sources:

www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
This site lists this ingredient IS linked with cancer, and gives several sources. The website is run by the Environmental Working Group.
Also, another good source is the book "Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry", by Stacy Malkan. Or, the book "Toxic Beauty" by Samuel Epstein, MD.

There are numerous other sources on the subject.

The "Environmental Canada Domestic Substance List" needs to be mentioned in your response. Studies done in Canada have linked this ingredient with cancer.

If you research further you will also find that there are still contamination concerns for this ingredient.

Contamination concerns - ETHYLENE OXIDE, 1,4-DIOXANE

1,4-Dioxane is a KNOWN carcinogen

To simply site that the FDA and our government is protecting us from such substances is completely false.
In the US there are absolutely no independent studies being done on ingredients such as Sodium Laryl Sulfate before they hit the market. It is the cosmetic industry itself, not the FDA that makes determinations on ingredients. Cosmetics are a self-policing industry that the FDA does NOT oversee.

Your response gives full trust to our government and FDA, which seems irresponsible. Why does the European Union ban over 1,100 chemicals from their products, and the U.S. only NINE?! Please read the 1938 FDA mandate where industry lobbying succeeded in blocking the FDA from requiring testing of cosmetics.

I have used the snopes.com site for years as a trusted source, I would hate to now view it as being inaccurate. I urge you to look into further studies on the subjects of toxins in products.

Thank you,

Lyndsi

Shopping Ideas

Were you given any gift cards for Christmas to Amazon or a book store?

Here are three amazing books that I highly recommend.




Toxic Beauty
by Samuel Epstein, MD

Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry
by Stacy Malkan

Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power by Mark Schapiro