Friday, February 15, 2008

lead in lipstick

I've written previously about how I tested high for heavy metals, and that I think this overload on my liver has not helped my fibroid situation. It was easy to figure out how I got a high mercury score -- eating lots of sushi. But the high lead score was a puzzler. Until I heard about this study that shows high levels of lead in lipstick. Extremely scary -- some lipstick has lead levels that exceed the amount that is considered ok for candy, however just like candy basically lipstick gets eaten (according to this report, several pounds per year by the average woman!)

I also found a related site, a searchable database where you can type in the ingredients from your cosmetics and find out how dangerous they are. Nothing like seeing your favorite products with a red danger sign next to it! But cosmetics and body lotions etc. are absorbed into our body through our skin, and many of them are truly chemical cocktails. I'm having trouble disengaging from my favorite products, but I have noticed that there is a better selection of "organic" and "natural" cosmetics available recently at places like Whole Foods and Elephant Pharm, so as much as possible I am switching over to those. Why spend so much energy on detox when you're putting nasty harmful things on your face?

There's also a book, Not Just a Pretty Face, published by the people who did the lipstick study, all about the various health problems lurking in cosmetics. Looks like it's worth checking out. Also catching my eye was a book called Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products.

If you want to shrink your fibroids, it's best not to burden your body with unnecessary toxins!

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