By Matthew Turner, environmental scientist, founder Green Sedona &  Suzy “Chapstick” Chaffee, Olympic skier, co-chair Native American Olympic Team Foundation

Do you find shopping for healthy, all natural products can be difficult and confusing, even in health food stores?  One of the reasons is that many companies promote a few "natural" or "organic" ingredients on the front of their products, but fail to mention that they also include potentially toxic chemical ingredients, like "fragrances/perfum/cologne/scent," which, like parabans, damage hormones that support every body function. 

This is called "Greenwashing" and was the subject of an October 2007 Business Week article (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_44/b4056001.htm), entitled, "Little Green Lies!"   

“We put this together to help save you and your families precious time learning what took Matthew years and with his help, me months to learn.  His helping me switch to all-natural products may have saved my life, by normalizing my elevated cancer cell levels – we all have cancer cells - within four months.  One in three Americans has cancer from the indoor pollution from synthetic products, “which escape and become the No. 2 cause of pollution in our cities next to tailpipe exhaust,” say California scientists.   Switching also turned back my age odometer 10 years, while doing my part to bring clear blue skies back to our cities,” said Chaffee.  Here’s what we learned:

Perfume is thousands of years old and was made naturally from herbs and flowers (essential oils) until 70 years ago, when the chemical companies very cheaply replicated them with petrochemicals that can cause allergic reactions and long term health problems in humans (see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3076635/), and animals.   See Stanford Report, Household Fragrances May be Harming Aquatic Wildlife, Study Finds: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/ 2004/november3/Perfume-1103.html). Essential oils have amazing healing properties, but excessive amounts can also be irritating to the cell membrane of yourselves and millions of multiply chemically sensitive people, called MCS.  Therefore, Turner recommends using subtle amounts of essential oils, like you find in Nature. It’s also cooler.

BEAUTY PRODUCTS
See Dictionary of “The Most Unwanted Ingredients” in synthetic beauty & hygiene products at http://100777.com/node/1117. Jackie Kennedy died from cancer/lymphoma, which was traced to the hair dye she used regularly for years. 

Protecting Our Babies!
Some red flags ingredients in baby products to avoid, like in some shampoos, include: 1) Quanternium-15, which releases carcinogenic formaldehyde, 2) Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, which may keep children’s eyes from developing properly, and cataracts in adults, and 3) parfum/fragrance.

Some baby powders contain Talc which, when regularly put on female genitalia, can cause ovarian cancer in both moms and babies, along with respiratory deaths. Propylene glycol is used in antifreeze, deodorants, shaving cream, and foods like even in birthday cakes, which can cause liver and kidney damage. See “Healthy Baby Naturally”: http://www.ecomall.com/biz/baby.htm

Fragrance Bans  Marin County, CA has introduced a voluntary ban on scents in public areas. Children are especially sensitive.  Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada has banned the use of deodorant, herbal shampoos, perfumes, and other scented products in most indoor public places, including local government offices, libraries, hospitals, classrooms, courts, and public transport.

After fragrances triggered asthma attacks, some college campuses have also banned them. It also helps safeguard students and staff already suffering from MCS, which affects tens of millions from developed nations.  Symptoms may include dizziness, disorientation, confusion, head and muscle aches, nausea, depression, and breathing challenges.  Many people considered healthy can get minor headaches and eye irritations when near strong chemical fragrances.

FRIENDLY INGREDIENTS

The Dictionary of “The Most Wanted Natural Ingredients" and ideally organic, is courtesy of Plenish, a cutting edge natural cosmetics and skin care formulator at: http://plenishskincare.com/ingredient_glossary/ingredient_glossary.pdf Some role model Natural products include: Astara Skincare(.com), Ultra Aesthetics (nearly sent free), Aubrey, Dr Hauschka, and most tribally-made and “Fair Trade” companies…

“After urging Chapstick to put natural emollients in their lip balms in the 70’s, a member of the National Nurses Association later clued me in on their study that Petroleum jelly robs the lips of moisture.”  Chapstick now have an ‘all natural’ version. 

By age 60 women have absorbed 30 pounds of moisturizers, cosmetics and lipsticks in their skin, which goes into our bloodstream, hearts, brains and lungs!  That is why people are starting to pay as much attention to what they put on their skin and scalp, as they put in their mouths.  

NATURAL CLEANING PRODUCTS
To prevent contaminating air, tap water, and aquatic life, natural cleaning detergents are a must, which can be found at Safeway and health food stores for around $4, like Native American inspired “7th Generation” dish and laundry detergents.  Debra Lynn Dadd’s book Home Safe Home, Dr. Samuel Epstein’s Safe Shoppers Bible, and the US Dept of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services have household tips, including natural cleaning, like using lemon and vinegar for around a dollar (see http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/highlights/homegarden/hazmat.html). Eco Pioneer/Star EdBegeley(.com) offers an all natural cleaner via the internet, plus info on affordable solar ($500 deductible) on www.citizenre.com.

Mercury Fines - Effective January 1, 2008, Minnesota will ban mercury, a toxic heavy medal, from mascara (for thicker lashes), eye liners and skin-lightening creams.  Although the federal government allows small amounts of mercury as a preservative in eye makeup, scientists say it can cause neurological damage in tiny quantities, in addition to killing fish.

Retailers who knowingly sell mercury-containing cosmetics now face fines up to $700, and $10,000 for manufacturers failing to disclose mercury on product labels, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Also banned are mercury in thermostats, barometers, industrial switches, medical devices, toiletries, fragrances, and over-the-counter drugs such as eye drops, n consumers complain.

DENTAL BEAUTY  For those reasons, use natural looking white resins instead of silver/amalgam dental fillings that are 50% mercury. Mom’s Against Mercury just successfully sued the FDA because mercury fillings may cause fetal brain damage in pregnant women.  Removal of this oxygen-robbing heavy metal –oxygen protecting us from diseases - must be done by dentists certified with the highest safety protocols.  The FDA now passes the warning to all dentists, and Wall Street stopped funding mercury production.

Dioxins “The Darth Vaders of toxins” - Avoid being near, or find green alternatives to products that include DNA-mutating dioxins, like in synthetic pesticides and herbicides, which can linger in humans, aquifers, and wildlife for up to 15 years.

Green Golf Courses at Last!  Think it can't be done?  Audubon International, in cooperation with the United States Golf Association, has helped develop or convert over 2,000 golf courses in United States and worldwide to (dioxin-free) vibrant green ones. (see http://www.usga.org/turf/environmental_programs/audubon_sanctuary_program/ audubon_sanctuary_program.html).  Jack Nicklaus’ Signature Green Golf Course at Basalt’s Roaring Fork Country Club is part of a valley-wide green effort that converted Aspen’s smog to the “Greenest Ski Resort in North America,” which enhances abundant snow.  Aspen is a model for snow challenged ski areas across America.  Imagine converting dry states, like Arizona, with 300 courses, to green ones. 

Wal-Mart banned the widely used insecticide, Permethrin/Prelude (descendent of nerve gas), as it causes rapid brain firing, seizures and cancer.   Turner, founder of GreenSedona(.org), and Chaffee saved Sedona citizens $22,000 by turning City Hall green (Prelude-free plus green cleaning), after enlightening the town to switch from using toxic herbicides on main street (89A) to Vitamin C-cide. 

READ LABELS!
You can research products on Google (first by company, then product & ingredients), and double-check with ingredient dictionaries, or ask store clerks you trust who often have dictionaries, or e-mail or call the company, which is liable for your health.  There is also a new DNA test that may help prove if people have had their health damaged by exposure to chemicals (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6998437.stm).  Bring your reading glasses for the fine print so you are not surprised when you get home or get a rash as Suzy has!

GREEN HOUSEHOLD, GARDENING, BUILDING, AND AUTO PRODUCTS
Green everything, including bug control products can be found at http://www.ecomall.com/biz/. Green building supplies are on: http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com/home.shtml. Clay-based bioshield paints can cover toxic ones and absorb Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), dioxins and mold. 

To be water-wise, buy native plants not needing toxic maintenance see: http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/docs/water-efficient_landscaping_508.pdf. Green weed control: Vitamin C-cide and www.Waipuna.com’s steamed organic foam is used by cities and parks internationally. See New Car Smell Detox at:  http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/01/31/toxic_cars/index.html.

DE-TOXING
Consider fiber supplements, saunas/sweat lodges, showers/baths with baking soda, organic juicing, organic berries/Vitamin C, Jacuzzis (oxygenated), colon cleanses (recommended in Dead Sea Scrolls), liver and kidney cleanses, yoga (Dahn for intestinal fitness), EPFX biofeedback device, NAET (rids allergies), footbaths, chelation, clays and EMF Protectors.

Clean & Lean - “Switching to all-natural products and extensive detoxing also downloaded a few pounds since I no longer needed padding around vital organs to protect them from toxins, a solution for getting Americans clean & lean again,” says Chaffee.

TOXIC WASTE DISPOSAL
Don’t throw away products that you discover are toxic in the trash, as they end up in landfills and our aquifers/drinking water!  Store them, along with used batteries, florescent light bulbs and thermometers containing mercury until you can find a “household toxic waste disposal center,” (check google or call city hall) or create one in your town. And while everyone else should recycle, chemical companies please stop sending toxic chemicals, like DDT, Agent Orange, to other countries – some from which we buy food!

California’s National Organization for Women and NPR Radio, just featured Mark Shapiro’s book: “Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power.” Given Europe’s higher chemical standards - Wal-Mart’s and Minnesota’s higher than US Government’s- world markets may soon ban many US products equated with serious health hazards. http://www.canow.org/canoworg/2007/10/exposed-the-tox.html.