Choosing Safer Products for Your and Your Family by Carolyn Bernstein

We all know that eating organic blueberries and exercising makes a difference. But did you know your lotions and potions actually impact your health?

Believe it or not there is very little regulation in the US marketplace over personal care products. In fact only 30 chemicals have been banned in the US while in the EU over 1400 chemicals are banned from the shelves given that they are known to be harmful or potentially harmful.

SO that means we need to read labels to assess for safety. You can start by looking for paraben and fragrance free products. Parabens are known to be hormone mimickers and act like excess estrogen in our bodies. Many small doses over time can add up to impact our health – and illness like infertility and cancer are in part linked with hormone disruption. So flip the bottle over and take a look at the label and don’t be fooled by marketing claims on the front of the bottle like “all natural” and “organic”.

Fragrance too is usually made of hundred of chemicals and ingredients do not need to be disclosed to the public. Buying fragrance free is a great choice.

If you want to learn more two great websites are Environmental Working Group and they have an app called Healthy Living that enables to you to check the safety of ingredients and products. Breast Cancer Prevention Partners is another great resource on navigating environmental health.

Learn more about Carolyn and this work.