photo credit: crd!

SC Johnson, makers of Pledge and Windex has a new site that lists ingredients in their products.    I noticed that the website contains most of their products, including the Windex products shown on the home page of the site.  You no longer have to dig for MSDS documents. Clearly the green oriented brands like Seventh Generation, Method, and the like are starting to affect the mainstream brands.

SC Johnson created their own Greenlist label to indicate how green their products were. A consumer, Wayne Koh has actually sued them over this label.

“Through our Greenlist™ process, each potential ingredient receives a rating from 3 to 0. An ingredient with a 3 rating is considered “Best,” 2 is “Better,” 1 is “Acceptable” and 0-rated materials are used only on a limited, approved basis when there is not a viable alternative. Whenever possible, we work toward replacing these 0-rated materials with those that have a preferable environmental or health profile.”

A consumer who sued cited paying about 50% more and not getting a product that was very green.

This article describes the efforts and covers the controversy behind some chemicals like monoethanolamine in Mr Clean and Formula 409. 2-butoxyethanol in Simple Green is another chemical that I would just avoid.

The sun is finally out again.. I did not realize that an eco friendly or green sun screen was an important area, especially when one is on vacation.  EWG reports that UV filtering ingredients in sunscreen have been proven to cause bleaching in the algae that lives on coral, thus killing the entire structure. EWG only recommended 8% of the sunscreens they tested. Oxybenzone has been linked to hormone disruption and low-birthweight babies.

There are other issues that EWG covers with possible problems with other chemicals in sunscreen. Also: “80 percent of our water in the U.S. shows trace amounts of chemicals from personal care products, which could be sunscreens, lotions, colognes or medications.”

Look for sunblock with 7% or higher zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

Ingredients to avoid include: OXYBENZONE, OCTINOXATE, and ALUMINUM STARCH OCTENYLSUCCINATE

“66 sunscreens with SPFs from 55-100+ might tempt you to stay out longer in the sun, but they block just 1-2% more sunburn rays than an SPF 30 sunscreen.” SPF 30 protection is good enough.

EWG has some good sunscreen that meets our criteria. Some good best are:

1. Desert Essence – Age Reversal Sunscreen Mineral Daily Face Protection spf 30 – 3 oz

2. All Terrain AquaSport

See our Eco Friendly or Green Cosmetic post for details.

Eco-friendly or Green Cosmetics are starting to become mainstream. Companies are touting their products as being natural, no animal tested, organic, etc.

What should you look for in a green cosmetic, makeup, lotion, or hair care product?

A good place to start is the EWG skin deep guide to cosmetics and personal care products database. They also have a nice printable guide.

The key ingredients to avoid include the following:

Anti-aging creams with lactic, glycolic, AHA, and  BHA acids – Additive that preserves fats and oils

DMDM hydantoin and Imidazolidinyl urea
Fragrance and dyes – allergies, cancer, nervous system

phthalate or dibutyl or diethylhexyl or just “fragrance”

Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone

Parabens or “-paraben” – Hormone disrupter

“PEG” and “-eth”

Sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate

Triclosan and triclocarban

Triethanolamine (TEA)

Hair dyes  with ammonia, peroxide, p-phenylenediamine, diaminobenzene; all dark permanent hair dyes

Liquid hand soaps with triclosan

Nail polish and removers with formaldehyde

Skin lighteners with hydroquinone

Sunscreens with oxybenzone – Oxybenzone has been linked to hormone disruption and low-birthweight babies.

Migrastick contains 100% pure and natural, steam-distilled peppermint and lavender essential oils and is used on the temples to relieve headaches or migraine headaches.  We swear by it and find that it allows us to avoid taking too many pills.  Be sure to apply it at the first sign of a headache and not when the headache is raging full strength. Costs less than $6. Whole Foods also carries it.

Of course you should always check with your physician or health care provider regarding any medical condition or treatment. It would be nice to understand what side effects there are to this.

General information on Aromatherapy.

Bisphenol-a, or BPA is widely used in the making of the hard, clear and nearly unbreakable plastic called polycarbonate. Studies and tests show that small amounts of BPA are leaching from polycarbonate containers into foods and liquids and possibly causing health problems.

Avoiding the chemical BPA is much harder than we expected. Those with young children and infants need to be concerned even more.

Food and  Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a January 2010 update on Bisphenol A that says it many not be safe for children and infants.  In its report on BPA, the National Toxicology Program expressed “some concern for effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children at current human expo­sures to bisphenol A.”  It appears that young children have immature immune systems that may not detoxify BPA as well as adults.

If you are feeding an infant formula, make sure you are buying BPA-free product. Look carefully at the label and call the company to verify. Only use BPA free water bottles.

Environmental Working Group has a guide to avoiding BPA Exposure. The upshot is to eat more fresh food, use alternatives to canned items, and to use glass containers when heating food in microwaves.

Some interesting tidbits:

“FDA estimates that babies have 12.5 times more BPA exposure than adults, and EWG is concerned that FDA has seriously under-estimates exposures for many babies. Recent tests by Environmental Working Group and the Canadian government, and a 1990s test by FDA show BPA leaching from metal cans into all brands of liquid formula. Powdered formula appears to be BPA-free, therefore EWG recommends that parents choose powdered formula if your baby tolerates it.”

“Almost all canned foods sold in the United States have a BPA-based epoxy liner that leaches BPA into the food. EWG tested 97 canned foods and found detectable levels of BPA in more than half of the foods. The highest concentrations were in canned meats, pasta and soups.”

“Less BPA leaches from plastic water bottles and food containers than found in canned foods and baby formula. Nevertheless it is good to take simple precautions to reduce your exposure.”

Any product made of hard, clear plastic may be made from polycarbonate unless the manufacturer specifically states that it’s BPA-free. One way to check is to look for the recycling triangle stamp on or near the bottom on an item: polycarbonate plastics should have the numeral 7 in the triangle, sometimes with the letters PC for polycarbonate.

Unfortunately, 7 is a catchall “other” category for a variety of plastic items some of which do not contain BPA. If the plastic is soft and pliable, it is probably not made with BPA.

Plenty states that microwaving items causing BPA exposure situation is even worse. – “Some of the products would be expected to contain BPA, such as a Rubbermaid Premier container with a #7 recycling code, which includes polycarbonate plastic, known to be made with BPA. But to everyone’s surprise (including ours), BPA was also found to leach from containers with recycling #s 1, 2 and 5.”

Read more about BPA in Canned in Packaged Foods