For years, I have warned people of the danger of personal care products. If you look at the ingredients manufacturers put in their products -- soaps, deodorants, toothpastes and so on -- you will be horrified.

These ingredients are highly toxic and cause cancer.

They promote leukemia, nervous system disorders and liver problems. Now, some new information has come from Virginia Tech. Researchers that have found that the chemical triclosan, which is found in a lot of antimicrobial soaps and toothpaste products, can react with chlorine in the tap water.

Guess what you get?

(This is the horrifying part.) Chloroform.

This is a toxic chemical that can give you cancer. In the old movies, you might have seen someone give a person chloroform to knock them unconscious. If you breathe enough chloroform, you will die.

If you are brushing your teeth with toothpaste that has triclosan in it, and you are rinsing with tap water that has chlorine in it, you are getting a little chemical reaction right in your mouth. What a wonderful gift from the toothpaste manufacturers. That's not to mention that some of the toothpastes contain fluoride that isn't really fluoride but fluorosilicic acid, which is a toxic waste product that is molecularly similar to fluoride but has a much different effect on the human body -- a toxic effect. When you wash your hands with antibacterial soap that contains triclosan, you are getting the fumes emitted from this chemical reaction.

Your home could be full of toxic chemicals

Most people's homes are toxic waste dumps. They have products that contain triclosan, deodorants that contain aluminum (absorbed right through your skin), shampoos that have toxic fragrance chemicals and hair coloring products that contain cancer-causing chemicals. There are perfumes and colognes that people just slather on like they are taking a bath in them. Their senses get dulled, and soon they can't even smell the stuff anymore.

People also put on clothes that have been washed in detergent loaded with fragrance chemicals. These people run around in these clothes and sweat, which helps the toxicity absorb into the skin and bloodstream where it promotes cancer. There are fake air fresheners and furniture polishes that contain toxic chemicals. These products are all promoted as being helpful when really they are quite deadly.

Toothpaste is supposed to help you clean your teeth, but the number one ingredient in toothpaste is calcium carbonate, which is just ground-up seashells that actually mar the enamel on your teeth, giving bacteria a place to hide out and replicate. Some toothpaste also has formaldehyde in it.

The answer to why you are diseased is that if you are the average American consumer, you are bathing and living in a system of toxic chemicals that you have purchased and brought home. You use dish detergents that contain toxic chemicals and then eat off of the plates that were washed in them.

How crazy are we in this country that we keep on making products that kill people and putting them on the shelves and printing little "25 percent off" coupons?

You are seriously misled if you think you can just wipe out all of the bacteria in your house with antibacterial soap. Do you think you are going to be germ free? Have you checked your doorknobs and your own skin? What about your toothbrush?

I bet there are more colonies of bacteria in your toothbrush than there are people in the entire city in which you live. These antibacterial products are useless. They have no value on the market or in your home. It is all a huge marketing gimmick.

 You need immune distress to be healthy

Do you think the microbes on your counter are giving you the flu? That's not what is giving you the flu. You have the flu because you poison your body with all these other toxic products, metabolic disrupters in the food supply and poor nutrition. These poisons create a weak body and weakened immune system, allowing opportunistic bacteria to replicate that wouldn't stand a chance if you had a healthy immune defense in the first place.

Even worse, the use of antimicrobial soaps promotes the spread of superbugs around your house. If you want to be a healthy individual, you have to have a little immune distress. If you don't, your immune system doesn't learn how to defend itself. Your immune system makes a pattern of every invading microbe, and it remembers that pattern forever, so it knows how to beat that invader in the future.

If you try to maintain a sterile environment, then your immune system never gets to learn how to do its job. You need some level of exposure to these germs or mild infectious agents if you want to have an active immune system.

Let's talk about fragrances a little more. Even guys that wouldn't wear perfume go out and buy laundry detergent that has perfume in it. When I go to the grocery store, I can't even go near the aisle with all the detergents or I get a headache. I am very sensitive to this because of my sensory acuity. I can pick up subtle sights, sounds and smells thanks to a healthy nervous system.

The manufacturers of products that have triclosan in them keep saying that it is perfectly safe and that it only affects the nervous systems of various organisms. They also say it's safe because you don't drink it. Sure, we aren't swallowing the stuff, but we sure are touching it and bathing in it.

Do you think the skin is impermeable?

The skin absorbs chemicals, and it can certainly absorb something like triclosan as well. How do you think the nicotine patch works? If nothing was absorbed through the skin, then these patches wouldn't work.

 Studies show triclosan is toxic to your health

This Virginia Tech study shows that triclosan is a real health hazard. However, the companies using it are going to say that the study was flawed, and the amount that is used is so minimal that it is well within the safety levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

They may claim some other silly nonsense, too, but the truth is this ingredient has no place in or around the human body. Only fools coat their body with products containing triclosan.

Unfortunately, most people are fooled by this chemical, and they don't understand its real dangers. Personally, I don't need to wash my mouth out with something that is going to create chloroform. This is basic common sense. The fact that these products are even being allowed on the shelves defies common sense. Where has the sanity gone in our consumer products industry? It has been replaced by the profit motive.

Triclosan is put into these products for the convenience of the manufacturers. It will stop their product from going bad, and it allows them to make ridiculous claims on the label.

For example, a label may say, "Proven to kill 99.99 percent of bacteria." This sells products, yet it isn't based on any kind of science whatsoever.

If you are new to all this and think everything I just said is crazy, doesn't make any sense or is overly worrisome, then do your research. Don't believe everything I just said -- start doing some reading on triclosan. Start reading about aluminum in deodorants and fragrance in shampoos and perfume, and then you will discover the truth for yourself. You can search Google for information right now. Just search for "triclosan" and see what you find.

If you do the research and are honest with what you find, you will quickly discover that these products are a hazard to your health. They are a threat to you and your family and should be outlawed. They should be reformulated without cancer-causing ingredients. Of course, that would cost Big Business a lot of money. Companies use these ingredients because they are cheap. Where do you think the color comes from in mouthwash? It's from an artificial color chemical. What most manufacturers care about is moving products, and until Congress demands they stop using harmful ingredients, they're going to keep doing so.

I encourage you to find out about more about triclosan and stop using products that contain the chemical. Shop at health food stores. Stop giving your money to manufacturers who are poisoning and exploiting you for profit.

About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher and author with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of super bright LED light bulbs that are 1000% more energy efficient than incandescent lights. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and pursues hobbies such as Pilates, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org
Mike Adams

Modern Green Clean - Your source for Norwex online! http://www.ModernGreenClean.com

Originally published March 7 2005 

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor 

Researchers are now finding that the active ingredient in antimicrobial soaps and personal care products causes nerve damage. This really isn't surprising: I've been warning readers about this for years. The ingredient is called MIT (methylisothiazolinone), and it is found in antimicrobial soaps, hand soaps, dish soaps and a surprising number of personal care products. 

People buy these personal care products thinking they're protecting themselves from infectious microbes. They think it makes them immune to viruses and bacteria that might be found in their bathrooms or kitchens, and thus they believe in the mythology of using antimicrobial soaps to create a sterile environment in their own homes. 

This mythology has been promoted by the manufacturers of these products who, through clever advertising, propagate the distortion that bacteria on the kitchen counter and in the bathroom are responsible for making people sick. But the reality is that we don't live in a sterile environment anyway: the only thing that prevents you from getting sick is a healthy immune system. 

We are exposed to bacteria and viruses literally hundreds of thousands of times each day. It is our immune system that takes care of these threats and keeps us safe, not antimicrobial soap. 

But many consumers don't understand this. They think that they can make their homes spotless; that they can create a level-4 biohazard clean room in their kitchen by using this antimicrobial soap, and that this will somehow protect them from getting sick. But the reality is that they're giving themselves nervous system disorders while actually promoting the breeding of resistant strains of bacteria. And thanks to the nervous system damage caused by these antimicrobial ingredients, people are probably accelerating Alzheimer's disease by using these products. No doubt, they are impacting the learning ability of their children by poisoning their nervous systems, too. 

It turns out that this active ingredient is chemically similar to Agent Orange. That's right, this was the Weapon of Mass Destruction used in Vietnam. And while it's not accurate to say that there's Agent Orange in your antimicrobial soap, there is indeed a chemical compound that's similar in its function, purpose, and molecular structure. Is this something that you want to be coating your dishes with? How insane is that?

Yet it's precisely what millions of Americans are doing each and every day that they use these products. They are literally placing a thin film of nerve agent chemicals on their dishes, and then drinking and eating from those dishes. Here, Johnny, be sure to clean up your plate! We washed 'em in something special: nerve toxins! 

There are a great number of dangerous poisons in the average American home. The typical pantry is loaded with toxic chemicals. This is something I've been warning about for years, but most people just laugh it off and say "If these things were dangerous, they wouldn't be legal!" Yet they remain perfectly legal and quite dangerous at the same time. 

For example, most people still use dryer sheets in their dryer. These sheets really serve no function other than to spread perfumes all over your clothing. They're perfume sheets. And these perfumes are not essential oils harvested from flowers out in a wild field somewhere, they are synthetic chemicals, manufactured in a chemical plant, and many are highly carcinogenic. 

So after washing their clothes to get out all the dirt, people are then coating their clothes with a product that deposits a thin film of toxic chemicals onto their clothes. In other words, the clothes were cleaner before they went through the washer and dryer. And now that they come out of the dryer, they are dangerous to your health, because now they have been soaked in a toxic chemical cocktail. And people put these clothes on every single day, then walk around and produce sweat which moistens the clothes, and that accelerates the diffusion of such chemicals into their bloodstream through their skin. They do this and then they wonder why they are diseased. They think their laundry is clean because it smells like perfume. 
 
The average American household is a toxic chemical dump. People have antimicrobial soaps, dryer sheets with toxic chemicals, and then there are people using all sorts of personal perfumes and fragrance products that are also loaded with cancer-causing chemicals. You've got people putting deodorant in their armpits, and that deodorant contains aluminum which promotes dementia and Alzheimer's disease. And if that's not enough toxicity, you can buy air fresheners that will release a mist of toxic chemicals into the very air that you breathe so that you can inhale carcinogenic chemicals directly into your lungs. 

Beyond all that, we have the shampoos which are also loaded with all sorts of toxic chemicals, and we have the cleaning products that contain solvents which directly promote cancer as well as birth defects. And this isn't even to mention the food supply yet, because the food supply in the average American household contains yet more toxic chemicals. But of course, that's for another article altogether. 

So what do you do about all of this? Some people say to me "Mike, you sure are paranoid about all these products." Not really, only the ones that cause cancer and other chronic diseases. I'm fine with all the other products. The thing is, you can't find those healthy products at your regular convenience store or grocery store. You have to go to a health food store or a natural grocer, and you have to know the sources for these products. 

You have to be smart enough to read ingredient labels and figure out what's in these products. And then you have to educate yourself by reading articles like this so that you know what belongs in your body and what doesn't. It's not that difficult to understand; it isn't rocket science to figure out that the human body is not a toxic waste dump (regardless of what the consumer products companies try to convince you to believe).

The vast majority of these chemicals I'm talking about are considered environmental hazards by the EPA. And yet it's perfectly legal for manufacturers to put them in their products and indirectly allow consumers to put them into their bodies. You could be arrested if you dumped these same chemicals into a stream -- that would be a violation of federal law. And yet, you put them into your body every single day, and that's not only legal, it's actually encouraged by media coverage, advertisements, department stores, and retailers. 

It is perfectly possible, by the way, to live a life free of these toxic products. All you have to do is stop buying the toxic products, throw them out, and start buying products that actually protect your health. You could start with your laundry detergent. Go to the health food store, or natural grocer, and get yourself some laundry detergent that isn't made with all these fragrance chemicals. 

Switch out all your soap: get rid of all that antimicrobial soap and switch to a product like Dr. Bronner's soap, which is only scented with natural oils like peppermint and almond oil. It's a wonderful soap, and I strongly recommend it. Throw out all those ridiculous brand name shampoos that are loaded with garbage ingredients that actually promote dandruff and hair loss because of all the toxic chemicals they contain. A lot of these products actually cause the very problems they claim to be solving. Throw those out! 

And throw out all those perfumes and colognes, please, people, you are polluting the air for everyone else who actually has olfactory senses remaining. Maybe you can't smell yourself because your nose has been dulled from years and years of use of these products, but I tell you what - everybody else can smell you! And we're tired of it. Take those products, throw them away and try to live a day without smelling like an artificial fragrance factory! 

And while you're at it, throw out the antimicrobial soap. Er, wait a minute, that might be an EPA violation. Better call a chemical waste processing facility and see if they can take it off your hands in an environmentally responsible way. Just don't be foolish enough to coat your skin with it. 

About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher and author with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of super bright LED light bulbs that are 1000% more energy efficient than incandescent lights. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and pursues hobbies such as Pilates, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org

Modern Green Clean - Your source for Norwex online! http://www.ModernGreenClean.com

Question: What is a major industrial pollutant, lies between lead and arsenic on the toxicity scale, and yet is continually promoted and being good for us?

One group – Health Action Network Society (HANS) – is urging its members to stop using fluoride in any form. The organization, based in British Columbia, researches self-care and preventive health issues. In a recent press release, it made the case for avoiding the substance that the dental industry has long touted as a healthful substance which strengthens tooth enamel.

On the contrary, says HANS, fluoride is not a nutrient; it is a toxic industrial waste – obtained from scrubbing the air emissions from smelters and phosphate fertilizer plants. It is causing severe environmental degradation in Canada and may, notes the group, be contributing to the rapid depletion of salmon stocks.

Cited are international studies which have “clearly revealed that fluoride is linked with arthritis, hip fractures, cancer and other diseases, and even premature skin wrinkling.” It has been banned or discontinued in 21 European countries along with Japan and Hawaii.

Supporting this stand against fluoride are some Canadian medical leaders such as Dr. Richard Foulkes, former special consultant to the Minister of Health for British Columbia. One of the recommendations that he says he mistakenly made to the government was to recommend mandatory fluoridation for B.C. Dr. Foulkes has recently written a feature article in Health Naturally magazine, in which he says, “I placed my trust in individuals from whom I received advice. I assumed they had done their homework, studying all sides of the subject thoroughly. This was not so.”

The group also quotes Robert Carton, Ph.D., a former scientist with the US Environmental Protection Agency, who says, “Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century, if not of all time.”

Source: http://www.life.ca/nl/38/fluoride.html

Modern Green Clean - Your source for Norwex online! http://www.ModernGreenClean.com

Two recent reports raise disturbing questions about the safety of commonly used cosmetic preservatives. They also make very clear why smart consumers are seeking safe and natural preservative systems.

The first report—a recent study from the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology—raises disturbing questions about the safety of a group of commonly used cosmetic preservatives known as parabens. Consumers who check labels will see parabens listed on a wide range of cosmetic and personal care products.

Leave-on products such as facial makeup and skin lotions are of greatest concern because of the long exposure time and opportunity for migration via the skin into the bloodstream.

The recently discovered estrogenic effects of certain synthetic chemicals, such as the parabens, and their subsequent effects on the endocrine system of humans and wildlife, is of growing concern—especially in relation to women's risk of breast cancer.

Reproductive abnormalities in young boys exposed to such chemicals either prior to puberty or as fetuses also may increase risk for undescended testicles, testicular cancer, sperm abnormalities and prostate disorders.


Meanwhile, Thomas Connor, Ph.D., associate professor of environmental sciences at the University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health, claims in a preliminary report in Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis that the preservatives methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone have mutagenic and cancer-causing properties and should be carefully evaluated for safety.

The Paraben Paradox 

For many years, parabens were considered among those preservatives with low systemic toxicity, primarily causing allergic reactions.

However, as we have become aware that some synthetic chemicals mimic the female hormone estrogen, our understanding of the toxic effects of both synthetic and natural substances has changed.

Now, researchers from the Department of Biology & Biochemistry, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, have found that alkyl hydroxy benzoate preservatives (namely methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and butylparaben) are weakly estrogenic.

Although it is reassuring to note that when administered orally the parabens were inactive, subcutaneous administration of butylparaben produced a positive estrogenic response on uterine tissues.

Although approximately 100,000 times less potent than 17 beta-estradiol, greater exposure to the parabens may compensate for their lower potency. The researchers conclude that, "Given their use in a wide range of commercially available topical preparations, it is suggested that the safety in use of these chemicals should be reassessed…" Kathon GC: Emerging Toxic Menace?

Earlier research has shown preservatives known commercially as Kathon GC, and by their scientific names as methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone, alone could damage cell processes in ways that might lead to cancer.

However, more recent research by Dr. Connor is the first to show properties of whole products containing these preservatives may also damage cell processes. Shampoos and conditioners often contain these preservatives. They are listed on labels.

Using bacterial tests, Dr. Connor found three products using the preservatives had cancer-causing potential. "If an ingredient causes skin-sensitization and is mutagenic, that means that it may have the potential to cause skin cancer," cautions Dr. Connor.


An industry-funded Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel concluded that Kathon GC may be safely used in rinse-off products at a concentration not to exceed 15 parts per million (ppm) and in "leave-on" products at a concentration not to exceed 7.5 ppm. "Although it may be assumed that the ingredient is safe at these levels as far as mutagenicity is concerned, the fact remains that it is also a sensitizing agent and may affect some individuals even at these levels," says Dr. Connor.

What's more, he adds, "It is probable that a person could use a shampoo, conditioner, styling gel and skin lotion one or more times in a single day, making the total daily dose substantial. Because many of these products are used by children and young adults, the potential for long-time exposure can be considerable." In addition, the ingredient is absorbed through the skin.


Dr. Connor has continued his research and is now analyzing additional data from more complex systems. Thus far, the results show that the higher the dose, the more likelihood of mutagenicity—although the results have not thus far been statistically significant.

Cosmetics and personal care products require preservatives or they will become contaminated with bacteria, and it would be irresponsible for companies not to use preservatives. The choice of preservatives, however, is especially important because this family of ingredients is, like fragrances, one of the leading causes of contact dermatitis—and, we now suspect, could potentially cause longterm health problems. Furthermore, cosmetics are not required to be tested for safety prior to being put into commerce.

Unpublicized Preservative Hazards 

There are other hazards associated with preservatives that consumers are rarely told about. Some of the most allergenic and irritating preservatives release small amounts of formaldehyde, which is not only an irritant and skin sensitizer, but is cancer-causing and damaging to the nervous system.

Many cosmetic companies do not use such ingredients because they can make the eyes sting and irritate the skin. But many companies do, and health-conscious consumers should be able to identify these ingredients so they can avoid products containing them.


The following ingredients contain formaldehyde, may release formaldehyde, or may break down into formaldehyde: 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol · diazolidinyl urea · DMDM hydantoin · imidazolidinyl urea · quaternium 15.

Seekers of the most gentle yet effective cosmetics should limit their exposure to these chemicals. On the other hand, one of the arts of manufacturing cosmetics and personal care products is in formulating products to achieve an effective yet gentle balance of ingredients. Some of these chemicals may be used at such low concentrations that they are not allergenic or irritating to most people. They may still incrementally increase the consumer's overall cancer risk.

Safe and Effective Preservatives 

The following ingredients—which research shows are both extremely gentle and effective—can also be used as preservatives and seem to cause the least irritation and fewest allergic reactions: grapefruit seed extract · phenoxyethanol · potassium sorbate · sorbic acid · tocopherol (vitamin E) · vitamin A (retinyl) · vitamin C (ascorbic acid).

These are the preservatives that you should prefer whenever possible. In particular grapefruit seed extract appears to be an extremely potent and well-tolerated preservative. Its use in cosmetics was introduced into the United States by Aubrey Organics®.

Among companies that have long refrained from deliberate addition of the parabens, Kathon GC, and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are Aubrey Organics®, Dr. Hauschka and Weleda. Each of these companies, whose products are available at health food stores and natural product supermarkets, offers consumers facial makeups, skin lotions, shampoos, conditioners and other personal care products with extremely safe, yet effective preservative systems.

The studies on the parabens and Kathon GC are preliminary. That means there is probably a great deal that is as yet unknown. For example, the researchers who discovered the estrogenicity of the parabens have further confirmed these effects in a subsequent study. They are now doing skin-painting studies. If these studies also show estrogenic effects, it would mean that the preservatives are toxic precisely in the manner as used by consumers. The most cautious consumers may prefer to avoid these preservatives altogether.

Some companies such as Aubrey Organics® not only have implemented policy guidelines that strictly prohibit the addition of such preservatives to their products, they have also begun screening programs to further insure that their raw materials are free from these preservatives.

NOTE: Kirkland Brand baby wipes (Cosco) does not have Parabens, while Pampers does.
Source: Unknown

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