!!useful facts!!

An increasing amount of evidence

Breast cancer is the most common oncologic disease among women - it forms one third of all the cases of cancer. Physicians have protractedly had the suspicion that the ever increasing amount of breast cancer for women in the Western world has been influenced by the great amount of creams and deodorants consumed. Initially, these suspicions were considered insignificant and scientists simply thought of them as of illusions of timid women. That was until researches on the impact of parabens appeared one by another. Laboratory researches carried out in the late 90-ies showed that parabens leave an effect on female sex hormones after performing experiments on mice, rats and breast caner cells. Since breast cancer is closely related with the behavior of hormones the initial suspicion on cancer being linked with cosmetics increased even more. In 2004, British scientists under the guidance of researcher Philippa Darbre in University of Reading came up with research results proving the close relation between cancer and preservatives. An assay of 20 samples of breast cancer tumor cells revealed the presence of parabens in 18 of them which had incurred into the tumor through skin from deodorants of creams that women have applied on their body.

An high price for unnatural beauty

What conclusions can we draw from this finding? Up to now it was considered that parabens may be absorbed into blood through skin, then processed and finally excreted with urine. However the presence of parabens in the tumor indicates the opposite - these chemical preservatives are not only absorbed in the organism from skin, they are also stored in tissue cells and moreover they remain in the same form that they are found in the cosmetics. This means that the organism cannot break them down. Besides, there is an interesting fact from the research that whenever you ingest parabens with food, they arrive into the digestive tract and they are broken down there thus reducing the impact on hormones. The chemicals that have incurred in the blood through skin on their part do much greater harm to the organism. Organizations of physicians and cancer patients of many countries have become concerned about the negative impact of synthetic cosmetics on health. For instance, The Canadian Cancer Society points out that almost every second woman in this country is facing cancer within the scope of her kinsman and the alarming spread of the disease is enhanced by the amount of cancerous substances the human organism takes up with food, cosmetics and pollution of the surrounding environment.

Special suspicion fall on deodorants

Another interesting question the scientists have brought forward - if cancer is apt to form in five different areas of the breast, why is it that almost 60% of all tumors are localized at the top outer zone, or in other words - the area closest to the armpit? There are no answers to this question and this gives us a reason for suspicion that the rapidly growing number of affliction has to do with the frequent use of deodorants in the armpit and the presence of harmful substances in them. Another statistical observation - breast cancer is more frequently apt to form in the left armpit rather than the right. Is it related with the fact that the majority of people use the right arm more commonly and for this reason they rub in more deodorant in the left underarm?! Besides, deodorants do not only contain preservatives and parabens. One of the substances most commonly to be found in anti-perspirants is aluminium salts which are capable of bonding with the DNS structure and damaging it. A theory advanced by the scientists on chemical cosmetics attacking health is as follows: aluminium salts from deodorants damage the DNS in breast cells but parabens coming from anti-perspirants and creams, where they are commonly found, are absorbed in the skin and enhance the formation of damaged cells. This might explain the frequent localization of the tumor near to the left underarm.

The same problems in Latvia

Anti-cancer Association of Latvia (LPB) stresses that the situation in Latvia is becoming more and more dramatic. Over the last 10 years (1995-2004), the number of people afflicted with cancer has increased by 19.5% and the amount of deceased has increased by 16.7%. Can the rapid development of this problem be related with the increase in consumption of cosmetics that we - women - use on a daily basis when taking showers, washing hair, washing dishes, applying creams...? And with the harmful food supplements that we eat every day? Just like elsewhere in the West, the main problem of Latvian women is breast cancer, and prostate cancer for Latvian men.

Unfortunately, the future prospects do not promise any betterment. Cancer remains one of the main causes of death throughout the whole world. Only one third of all the cancer cases have been cured thanks to early diagnostics and effective treatment. Furthermore, the number of cancer patients increases rapidly. The total amount of the world's cancer patients was 17.5 million in 1985, but approximate estimations show that this number might exceed 30 millions in 2015. It is projected that the number of cancer afflictions will increase in the development countries and it will not change or it might decrease slightly in highly industrialized countries.

What can you do to protect yourself?

Your first law should go like this - be the one to protect yourself. The great manufacturers do as it is easier for them and they are not likely to give up the use of harmful additives soon. In order to decrease the contact with cancerous substances, start by learning to read some of the substances on the packaging of cosmetic products. Find the list of ingredients on the products, usually followed by the "Ingredients" or INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) heading. If you see preservatives of the paraben group on the list, usually at the end of it - metylpareben, butylparaben, propylparaben, isobutylparaben, it is better to leave that product on the shelf of the store or, if it is already in your bathroom - throw it in the waste bin. We can already tell that the majority of products will be left on the shelf of the store or thrown in the waste bin; that is why we suggest you looking for places or brands that offer natural cosmetics without parabens and other harmful ingredients.

Sources used for the material:
Anti-cancer Association of Latvia
The Canadian Cancer Society
The Organic Consumers Association, www.organicconsumers.org

Nowadays approximately 8 thousand various substances are used in manufacturing of cosmetics. A part of them is of a natural origin - herb oils, extracts, wax, and essential oils; however another great deal of them is made up of laboratory-synthesized chemical compounds. Frequently, the synthetic substances are harmful for the organism and if used for a long period of time they may leave an impact on the immune system, cause an allergy for you and your descendants, as well as contribute to development of cancerous cells. Nobody, of course, can know all the possible ingredients and their impact by heart but it is worth remembering some - the most harmful and commonly used ones concerning your health. Go to next page and learn about them!

It is provided in the legislation that a full list of ingredients should be indicated on each cosmetic product. It should be indicated on every container or tube or on the box where the primary packaging is placed in. You should be able to find the list of ingredients when you take the product in your hands at the store. Sometimes it might even seem that you need a looking glass to explore the ingredients since manufacturers manage to put in a microscopic letter size for this purpose. The list is usually followed by the "Ingredients" or INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) heading.

Ingredients are listed in a descending order - the more the particular substance is found in the product, the closer it will be to the beginning of the list. Many products have distilled water (Aqua or Aqua purificata) as the main ingredient, followed by other substances. Creams usually have oleaginous substances (we sincerely hope that your cream contains herb oils instead of the cheap mineral oil or foxy silicone oils - dimethicone, cyclomethicone and other substances with a similar ending) following the water content. Preservatives and coloring substances are usually found at the end of the list. Look carefully here if the product doesn't contain parabens and other harmful substances. It is good if you can find many names of herbs on the list. The herbs are given in Latin followed by their translation in English in parenthesis. For example, chamomile: Chamomile Recrutita (Chamomile) Extract. Or avocado oil: Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil.

There is an interesting trick that helps us find the approximate amount of specific substances in the product. The maximum permitted amount of preservatives and parabens in a product is 0,5%. If a manufacturer claims that the special ingredient of a particular cream is chamomile, but the chamomile extract is given only at the end of the list even after parabens, we can educe that the amount of chamomile in the cream is 0,..% which is too little to have any effect on the skin. Thus there is no use buying the particular product due to two reasons - the fact that the product contains parabens and that chamomile can only be found in the name of the product. If the name of the ingredient is given at the beginning or in the middle of the list, we can educe that the product contains relatively more of the particular substance.

Natural cosmetics that were available before some time weren't easy to use - they smeared, didn't soak in well, were sticky, and had a short shelf life. Natural cosmetics available in the market today are busting these myths - they're just as easy to use as synthetic products. The shelf life will never be longer than a few years, because the chemicals have been replaced with natural preservatives - enzymes or salts. The shelf life is lengthened with the aide of the packaging, utilising vacuum pumps - the product doesn't come in contact with air or dirty fingers, and therefore is protected from microorganisms that would cause it to spoil. Manufacturing technologies of natural cosmetics in the world have advanced so far that there is no chemical substance that is still necessary to the manufacture of cosmetics.

The body "understands" what's natural

One of the main reasons why natural cosmetics are better than synthetic products is that the body understands and recognises the substances present. Protection, renewal, and metabolic processes in plant cells are similar to those in human cells, and so the human cells recognize plant cells as suitable and are able to utilise them as such. Still, it must be taken to account that natural cosmetics may cause allergic reactions because of the possibility of a person's already present allergy to any of the ingredients. For example, if someone is allergic to calendula, it is possible that a product containing it will cause an allergic reaction.

Natural mixed with toxic substances

There is a difference between what are simply called natural cosmetics, and those made with ecologically certified ingredients. Chamomile can just as well be grown on a farm, but also sprayed with chemicals to facilitate growth. These chemical substances stay in the plant, but ecologically certified ingredients are safe in this sense. As of this moment, the cosmetics market in Europe is unorganised. Manufacturers can print "biological product" on their labels even if only one of the many ingredients is natural. The only way the consumer can protect himself if by cautiously reading the ingredients label.
The effects of natural cosmetics on skin are similar to those of synthesised products, but their effects on health are very different. Even though synthetic beauty care products sometimes have a more intense or fast effect, because of added chemicals whose goal is to more quickly infuse active ingredients, it's important to avoid these products, as they contain harmful ingredients, like mineral oil, a by-product of the petroleum industry. These substances do no good to skin - at best, they are inert and don't have any effect; at worst - they soak into the skin and are stored in the body, like the preservatives called parabens, which can cause serious health problems. These ingredients often are used because they are cheap and extend the shelf life of the product considerably.
Harmful substances can be in both completely synthetic products, as well as those containing some natural ingredients.

Approximately 8,000 various substances are used in the manufacture of cosmetics today. Some of these are of natural origin - vegetable oils, plant extracts, waxes, and essential oils - but a large part is synthesised compounds from a laboratory. More often than not, synthetic substances are harmful, and, when used long-term, can damage the immune system, cause allergies in both parents and their children, and can facilitate the growth of cancer cells. It's impossible to memorise all the ingredients and their effects, but it's important to have some knowledge of the most dangerous and often used.
Ingredients of a product are listed in diminishing order; this means that the more of a substance a product contains, the closer to the beginning of the list it will be mentioned. Many products list their first ingredient as distilled water (Aqua or Aqua purificata), and then comes everything else. In creams, an oily ingredient usually follows water (pay attention whether vegetable oil has been replaced with cheap mineral oil or silicon oil - dimethicone, cyclomethicone, or other substances with similar names). The end of the list usually includes preservatives and colouring agents. It's important to look for parabens.
It's good if the ingredients list contains the names of plant ingredients. Plants are listed by their Latin names, and the English translation is often listed afterwards, in parenthesis. For example: Chamomile Recrutita (Chamomile) Extract; Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil.
There is a trick to approximately figure out how much of a certain substance a product contains. The maximum allowed amount of parabens in a product is 0,5%. If the manufacturer claims that a product contains chamomile, but the extract of it is listed in the ingredients after parabens, we can conclude that the cream contains less than 0.5% chamomile - less than enough to have any real effect. That's why this cream is not worth buying.

Found in nearly all cosmetics.
Purpose: a preservative that extends the shelf life of the product.
Harmful effects: causes allergic reactions, acts as a mutagen, imitates feminine hormone activity, damages the endocrine system, and is toxic. Parabens are able to soak into the deepest layers of skin, be absorbed by the circulatory system, and be accumulated in body tissues. In this way, these substances can reach a heightened concentration and considerably damage the immune system, facilitate various illnesses, and the development of anomalies. Moreover, these substances can travel through a mother's body and affect her children (they have been found in breast milk, also), which cause the immune system of the newborn to be damaged.

Found in shampoos, shower gels, and other soaps and detergents
Purpose: an active ingredient that causes the product to foam. The most popular substances in the market are Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES).
Harmful effects: Japanese studies have indicated that SLS is a mutagen (it can cause gene mutation). In accordance with the views of toxicologists, any substance that is a mutagen increases the risk of cancer. Moreover, SLS and SLES have been shown in studies to be the only substances in soaps to get into the circulatory system.

Found in tonics and face, eye, and body creams.
Purpose: used as a skin moisturiser and additive thinner in the manufacture of cosmetics, but also used in the manufacture of antifreeze, brake fluid, and lacquer.
Harmful effects: is toxic, causes liver anomalies and kidney damage (in animal tests), has a small molecular weight, which means that it easily soaks into tissues. Absorbs moisture, including from the skin, making it dry. It's advisable to use vegetable glycerine in the place of propylene glycol.

Found in all kinds of creams, massage oils, and the main ingredient of baby oil.
Purpose: skin softening, lubricating.
Harmful effects: a cheap by-product of the petroleum industry, coats the skin with "non-breathing" layer, causes blackheads and infection. May contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PHA), are carcinogenic and mutagenic. Used in cosmetics mainly because it is a cheap alternative to quality vegetable oils.

Found in various creams, deodorants, and shampoos.
Purpose: used as a alkali for the pH regulation in cosmetics, and as a solvent.
Harmful effects: possibly irritating. Isopropyl Mystrate (and oily, softening substance) is often used in cosmetics, and together with TEA or DEA can create carcinogens or cancer-causing compounds - nitrosamines.

Found in various creams and deodorants.
Purpose: an antioxidant that inhibits oxidation and extends shelf life.
Harmful effects: a synthetic antioxidant that causes allergic reactions. It's advisable to use natural antioxidants in place of BHT, such as vitamin E, C, etc.

Found in various creams.
Purpose: a preservative.
Harmful effects: carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic.