Hello everyone!
This week we will be discussing personal care products and toxins
we may be exposing ourselves to. I decided to review a toothpaste and bar soap since I use these products daily and multiple times a day.
The brand of the toothpaste I
use is Sensodyne. I use the Complete Protection Sensitivity Toothpaste with
Cavity and Gingivitis Protection. The rating was a 3 which means it is moderate hazard, but on
the lower spectrum. As for ingredient concerns regarding cancer and developmental
and reproductive toxicity there was no information/rating. Allergies and
immunotoxicity were rated low while user restrictions were rated moderate. I
thought it was interesting to read that there were other high concerns in
multiple additive exposure sources and contaminations concerns.
As a second product I decided to evaluate Dove Cucumber and Green
Tea soap bar. The rating for this product was 4 (moderate hazard). Very similar
to the toothpaste, ingredient concerns regarding cancer and developmental and
reproductive toxicity had no information/rating. Allergies and immunotoxicity
were rated moderate. I found that out of all the ingredients used for the soap
bar fragrance scored very high at an 8 (hazardous).
I was surprised to read that products I use rated moderate.
I would think that products like toothpaste and soap that are used daily would
be less hazardous. I now started looking into organic and fragrance-free
options but need to do more research. Doing this activity has made me more
hyper alert. I think products should have a rating based on toxicity and
hazard. Many consumers don’t read the ingredients, nor do they understand some
of the ingredients. I think a clear display of a rating would shift consumer
purchases. Producers don’t display ingredient information clearly because it could
drastically impact their consumer pool and purchases.
Hope you enjoyed this post!
-Iliana
Hi Iliana,
ReplyDeleteYou and I chose very similar products to examine. I used the same logic as yourself when choosing products and chose Dove bar soap and Listerine mouthwash. Like yourself, I was not happy to learn that the products I use EVERYDAY, sometimes MULTIPLE TIMES as day ranked moderately hazardous to health. I too thought the ratings were be closer to 0 or 1. I think it is a great suggestion to have these products state on their bottles their toxicity and hazard ratings. As we have learned in this lesson "Organic" or "Fragrance free" does not always mean that the product is free of toxic chemicals. Requiring companies to have these toxicity and hazard ratings and providing the public with scales that explain how to read these ratings would be a great way to increase the consumer's knowledge on what they put in and on their bodies.
I really enjoyed reading your post and look forward to reading more from you.
-Navdeep
Hi Iliana,
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered more about Sensodyne. Both of my parents use it, and I should probably be using it as well, but I always wondered what makes it different from other major toothpaste brands. I'm glad to see that it doesn't have any developmental/reproductive toxicity issues, but I'm concerned about the additive exposure sources and contamination concerns. Any idea what type of additive exposures/contamination concerns would apply to this product? Just wondering since this product is often marketed as safer for our teeth/gums/easier on our mouth, but I wonder if that's a trade-off for more serious systemic and long-term health effects!
Aveena