The Hidden Dangers Of Skin Care Products

If you're like most Americans, you may be unknowingly poisoning yourself and your family everyday with the many cancer-causing ingredients in today's cosmetics and personal care products.

Makeup, shampoo, hair coloring products, baby powder (Yes, baby powder!), shaving cream, mouthwash and toothpaste are just a few of the products that may contain cancer-causing ingredients.

Many of these dangerous ingredients may not cause any reactions on your skin, but they can be absorbed through your skin and into your bloodstream. A number of commonly used ingredients, while not dangerous by themselves, combine with other ingredients to form cancer-causing chemicals.

One such group, amines, combines with nitrosating agents to form cancer-causing nitrosamines. Some frequently used amines include Cocamide MEA, Cocamide DEA, TEA, sodium lauroyal sarcosinate and amino methyl propanol. These chemicals will form nitrosamines in the presence of ingredients like sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin and diazonlidnyl urea.

How is this possible with all the government rules and regulations?

Well, the truth is that the cosmetic industry is very poorly regulated. The FDA can make suggestions or recommendations to manufacturers about cosmetic products or their ingredients, but manufacturers don't have to comply. The FDA must first prove in a court of law that a product is harmful, improperly labeled, or violates the law if it wants to remove a cosmetic product from the market.

According to John Bailey, Ph.D., director of the FDA'S Office of Cosmetics and Colors, "Consumers believe that 'if it's on the market, it can't hurt me,' and this belief is sometimes wrong."So, how do you know which products contain harmful chemicals and which ones don't?

Dr. Christine Farlow, in her just released, 2006 revised edition of Dying To Look Good: The Disturbing Truth About What’s Really in Your Cosmetics, Toiletries and Personal Care Products... And What You Can Do About It, makes it easy to identify which ingredients are harmful and which are not.

She classifies 1300 commonly used ingredients according to safety. In addition, she includes a list of 750 products that have been evaluated as safe. It's clear, concise and easy to use. Take this book with you every time you go shopping, and you'll never again wonder about the safety of the ingredients on the label. You'll know.

Farlow, an Escondido, CA, Chiropractor and nutritionist has been counseling patients in health and nutrition since 1984 and researching ingredients since 1991. She has helped thousands of people improve their health and well being.

She is also the author of FOOD ADDITIVES: A Shopper's Guide To What's Safe & What's Not and HEALTHY EATING: For Extremely Busy People Who Don't Have Time For It.

She is available for telephone interviews.The book can be purchased online at DyingToLookGood.com for $12.95 or from KISS For Health Publishing, P.O. Box 462335, Escondido, CA 92046-2335, Telephone 760-735-8101. To order by mail, include $4.50 S&H. California residents add 7.75% sales tax.