It's no coincidence that the aisles of products with chemical ingredients in most drug stores ends at the pharmacy counter

Must-Have Information on Harmful Chemicals in Your Home

Whether you are buying personal care and household products for yourself or as a gift for others, you need to be aware of the toxic substances that lurk in these products. Manufacturers lure you in with sexy ads and bright packaging. Chemical-laden choices promise to make your life easier and more fun.

Don’t fall for it. You are probably washing your hair, moisturizing your skin, and cleaning your kitchen with harmful petrochemicals. These toxic materials end up in your body, often dissolved in your fat. The residues wash downstream to deform and kill wildlife. No effective laws slow down industry practices in this area, and many ingredients are not even listed on the packaging. Over 85,000 manmade chemicals are now in use.

There is another way. You can protect yourself, your family, and the planet with facts to make nontoxic choices. But where will you get unbiased information to avoid toxic materials? The popular media, industry groups, and anyone with a monetary interest in the status quo are not going to be reliable guides.

Here are five top sites of nonprofits that are not afraid to speak out with the truth about personal care and household products. These sites have so much useful information you might get overwhelmed. To avoid this, a helpful strategy is to browse one or two sites with a specific product in mind. It might be shampoo, toothpaste, soap, baby products, or kitchen cleaners. See what you can find. Pick up some easy tips to start implementing. Any change in the right direction is better than doing nothing.

If you make every trip to the store a learning experience, soon you will be well down the road to a nontoxic body and nontoxic house. The important thing is to get started and don’t expect to make all changes overnight. It’s easy to keep your head in the sand

You can ignore the risk, but that does not reduce the potential hazards of most commercial insectiicides

and be put off by fear of knowing. But actually it’s much scarier not to know. Soon you will be teaching others.

You definitely don’t need a degree in chemistry. Read labels. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or don’t know what it is, it’s a safe bet you don’t want to put it on your body or give it as a gift. Remember everything you put on your skin gets absorbed through your skin into your bloodstream and eventually your cells. Ditto with chemicals you breathe with sprays and fragrances. Time to begin learning and exploring.

SITE ONE. Environmental Working Group. This comprehensive site showcases toxic materials as a public health issue. The information is specific enough to start you off making better choices after five or ten minutes browsing.

Here are a few of the site’s most to-the-point pages to get you started.

Health tips has a series of guides and tip sheets on everything from baby products to cell phone radiation to healthy pets and safe drinking water.

Chemical index takes you through many toxic chemicals and lets you know why they are dangerous. You will be a much smarter

Note how the bottles are all colorful and feel smooth and pleasant if you pick them up. Manufacturers design packaging to seduce your natural love of color and smooth texture - which spring from our human origins as fruit eaters, loving the color and texture of ripe fruit.

label reader after browsing this information.

The Skin Deep cosmetics database lets you look up specific personal care products to see if they contain chemicals of concern and to find the least toxic alternatives.

SITE TWO. Organic Consumers Association. OCA features a database to help you find less toxic products and services in your area – for example, pet services, pest control, clothing, and health care practitioners.

Their e-newsletter, Organic Bytes, has taken a lead role in battling Monsanto and other companies pushing genetically modified organisms (GMO) crops. This newsletter, which you can subscribe to for free, does an outstanding job explaining why these GMOs are so terribly dangerous and what you can do about it.

SITE THREE. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. As soon as you click on this site, you will see a short, entertaining video on the toxins in “stuff” and how you can start to make healthier choices. Learn which baby shampoo is carcinogenic.

The Science tab on this site is a wonderful information source on specific chemicals to watch out for. I strongly recommend downloading the free report Not So Sexy: The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance. Even just reading through the first few pages of this report will transform your understanding of the toxic mess that industry has been selling you in glamorous ads.

Eagles were among the many birds severely endangered until Rachel Carson wrote her classic book Silent Spring. For this, she was ferociously attacked by chemical companies who denied the harmful effects of DDT and questioned Ms. Carson's scientific credentials.

SITE FOUR. Silent Spring Institute. This nonprofit carries on the legacy of Rachel Carson. This brave scientist faced down industry scorn and wrath to let the public know toxic chemicals were wiping out birds by making eggshells too thin for the chicks to hatch.

The Research page highlights specific studies of chemicals found in the bodies of various Americans. You might be amazed at the

findings. Breast cancer is a special area of concern for this nonprofit.

SITE FIVE. Environmental Health News. Most news organizations concentrate on the predictable– bickering politicians, misbehaving celebrities, the latest stock market gyration. Not Environmental Health News. Their staff has to be working 24/7 to

bring planet-changing information to the public’s attention, all for free.

Subscribe to their daily e-newsletter Above the Fold. Every day you will get information on really important topics that will shape your life and the future of the next generation. You will be in the most informed elite and prepped to make a true difference.

Please explore these top five sites to find essential information to protect yourself and the planet from harmful chemicals. These nonprofits are courageous in battling established interests and remaining free of big-money influence.

If you want to keep learning, you might check out this post on The President’s Cancer Panel April 2010 report Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk. This hard hitting report, which was bashed by polluting industries and then promptly ignored, clearly outlines the dangers from carcinogenic chemicals and provides fascinating must-know information and memorable quotes.

Amphibians, such as this frog, are the animals most vulnerable to downstream pollution from chemicals in personal care and household products

Intrigued? Now you can use our Whole Foods Blog Finder to target informative, fun postings on whole foods, plant-based nutrition. Quick information at no cost!

Blog posting by Janice Stanger, Ph.D. Janice authored The Perfect Formula Diet: How to Lose Weight and Get Healthy Now With Six Kinds of Whole Foods. This easy-to-follow eating plan is built on a whole foods, plant-based diet that can prevent, and even reverse, most chronic disease as well as get you to your perfect weight. The book has two chapters on getting toxic chemicals out of your life. Janice is on a long-term mission to seek out nontoxic personal care and household products that won’t harm her or wildlife.

The President’s Cancer Panel, in the April 2010 report Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk, implores the nation’s scientists and policymakers to decisively address the potential harm from over 80,000 manmade chemicals. This call-to-action is dense with

There is no "away." All toxins end up on our planet, polluting air, water, soil, plants, animals, and us.

stunning facts and a willingness to question accepted wisdom. The document is clearly written, immensely readable, and more suspenseful than a mystery or spy thriller.

The Panel directly takes on some of the wealthiest and most powerful lobbies in the US. The chemical, agricultural, pharmaceutical, medical care, and medical research industries all face intense and direct scrutiny. The Panel also highlights the weakness of government “regulatory” agencies, which often do little more than rubber stamp industry requests at the public’s expense. The Panel even takes the military to task for its unchecked role in spreading carcinogens.

Yet the report is not sensational or strident in tone. It doesn’t have to be. The facts speak for themselves, and any extraneous commentary or criticism would only weaken the conclusions. Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk is meticulously researched, with 454 direct references and input from 45 experts from academia, government, industry, and advocacy groups who testified at Panel meetings.

You might think that it’s just common sense that toxic manmade chemicals may cause cancer and other serious health problems. You might believe that major scientific organizations would welcome investigation into this critical and poorly understood topic.

You would be wrong. Critics from the New York Times to the American Cancer Society have bashed the Panel’s report. The American Cancer Society charges that report is based on opinion rather than fact and dismisses other known cancer causes, such as tobacco, obesity, infections, alcohol, hormones, and sunlight.

This assault on the report is itself misleading and inaccurate. Nowhere does the Panel state that such well-accepted factors are unimportant. Instead, the report explicitly states “At this time, we do not know how much environmental exposures influence cancer risk and related immune and endocrine dysfunction.”

Why is the American Cancer Society downplaying the importance of toxic substances? Their motivation is unclear, and hopefully is innocent. Regardless of the reason, this manufactured “controversy” diverts attention from the Panel’s urgent conclusions, confusing the public and creating a climate of complacency. Such statements are eerily reminiscent of industry’s baseless attempts to discredit Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring following its 1962 publication.

The credentials of the two members of the President’s Cancer Panel, responsible for the report’s conclusions, indicate the trustworthiness of the evidence. LaSalle D. Laffall, MD, earned a summa cum laude Bachelor of Science degree at age 18, and his

All aspects of our environment are becoming degraded and dangerous. How much? We don't know.

career has been uphill from there. He has authored or coauthored more than 140 publications, and was the first African-American President of the American Cancer Society – the organization now attacking his recommendations. He is currently a professor of surgery at Howard University. Margaret Kripke, Ph.D., is a professor of immunology emeriti at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She has authored more than 250 scientific publications and received numerous awards, including Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Society for Photobiology and the American Skin Association, among numerous others.

The achievements, public service, and professional recognition for these two top scientists could go on for pages. How likely are such brilliant and esteemed researchers to be to push an agenda with no factual basis? These leaders have no financial or other interest in anything but impartiality. Why would they cap their stellar careers with a questionable attack on environmental contaminants? Clearly there is overwhelming evidence that these substances need intensive and immediate study.

The only real flaw in this report is that it does not go all the way to recommending a plant-based diet as an important strategy to minimize intake of toxic chemicals. The authors may have felt they antagonized enough industries for one study without taking on the meat and dairy industries as well.

However, the recommendations for individuals acknowledge that animals raised for food are major sources of exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones, and toxic run-off. The report cautions against eating processed, charred, and well-done meats because of the carcinogenic chemicals formed during cooking. There goes the barbeque.

Here are a few highlights of report facts, findings, and recommendations.

• Children are far more vulnerable to environmental toxins and radiation than adults are

• 4 out of every 10 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer during their lives, and 2 out of 10 will die from this disease

• Since cancer takes many years to develop, short-term safety studies are not conclusive

• Women often have higher amounts of toxic chemicals in their bodies than men do

• Toxic chemicals and drugs can damage genetic material, putting future generations at risk

• Both the active and “inert” chemicals in pesticides and herbicides can threaten health

• Americans now receive almost half their total radiation exposure from medical imaging and other medical sources; in fact, patients receiving multiple scans may accumulate doses equal to or exceeding that of Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors

• Animal studies do not predict how humans will be affected by a chemical

The report is jammed with thought-provoking observations that make excellent quotes.

“Research on environmental causes of cancer has been limited by low priority and inadequate funding. As a result, the cadre of environmental oncologists is relatively small, and both the consequences of cumulative lifetime exposure to known carcinogens and the interaction of specific environmental contaminants remain largely unstudied.”

The mega-industries and government agencies are telling you everything is ok, don't worry. Do you believe them?

“The prevailing regulatory approach in the United States is reactionary rather than precautionary. That is, instead of taking preventive action when uncertainty exists about the potential harm a chemical or other environmental contaminant may cause, a hazard must be incontrovertibly demonstrated before action to ameliorate it is initiated. Moreover, instead of requiring industry…to prove their safety, the public bears the burden of proving that a given environmental exposure is harmful.”

“Numerous environmental contaminants can cross the placental barrier; to a disturbing extent, babies are born “pre-polluted.””

“Industry has exploited regulatory weaknesses.”

If you are intrigued by these facts and conclusions, download Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk for free and be prepared to stay up late. It’s hard to put down this page turner.

Judge for yourself whether this call-to-action is credible. Are you going to believe these esteemed researchers, or would you rather rely on mega-industries and government bureaucracies? How much of a chance are you willing to take for your own future, and your children’s? Either way you decide, now is the time to make your voice heard. Delay and complacency are not your friends.

Intrigued? Now you can use our Whole Foods Blog Finder to target informative, fun postings on plant-based nutrition. Quick information at no cost!

Blog by Janice Stanger, Ph.D.  Janice authored The Perfect Formula Diet, a nutrition book built on sustainable food choices. Enjoy six kinds of whole foods for permanent, hunger-free weight loss and health.