Pthalates.  Again.   Pthalates are found in everything from personal care products to packaging.  This is a hard one to rid your home of, afterall, we don't know the ingredients of packaging.  

"Pthalates have previously been linked to increased risks of cancer, diabetes and obesity. Now Dr. Grindler and other American researchers say the chemicals are disrupting women’s reproductive systems, including their ovaries, and leading to early menopause.

Women exposed to higher levels have been found to have significant hormone fluctuations that cause the early onset of Menopause, an average of 2 1/2 years before other women.

There’s a lot that we don’t know at this point, our research is still preliminary, but it’s enough to suggest it is having a detrimental impact in the long term."

Read the full article here:

http://www.drhansen.com/2014/03/09/chemical-in-cosmetics-may-cause-early-menopause-and-worse/

California has released a new website were you can search your care products for ingredients that are known or suspected of causing us harm such as cancer and reproductive harm.  You can search a type of product or product name and brand or company name.

http://www.safecosmeticsact.org/search/Default.aspx

This Thursday, Dec. 12, the Breast Cancer Fund is premiering its second season of our free, web-based discussion series Prevention Speaks with a classic: Breast Cancer and the Environment 101.

Need a primer on the basic science linking chemicals in the environment to breast cancer risk? Want to learn steps you can take in your everyday life to protect yourself, your family and your community from toxic chemicals? Then sign up for this web chat today.

In this 25-minute, live presentation you’ll get the essentials on breast cancer and the environment in a Healthy Home and Healthy World Tour led by our amazing science and education manager, Connie Engel. For example, learn how the timing of exposure can determine later life breast cancer risk, learn which endocrine-disruptors to get out of your kitchen and learn about carcinogens you can easily avoid by choosing safer personal care products

Thursday, Dec. 12, 4-5 pm PST/7-8 pm EST.

RSVP here http://prevention.breastcancerfund.org/site/Survey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ID=4340

I myself had two early births.  My first was 4 weeks early and only weighed  4 1/2 pounds, my second child two weeks early & weighed 5 1/5 pounds.  Doctors had no idea why and I was on bedrest with my first.  I was not as aware back then of the dangerous chemicals in our body products and foods.  When this article came out today it sure did make me stop and take notice.  Everyday I work to remove known dangerous chemicals from my household.  What about the ones we don't know about?  What are the unknown effects?  This is exactly why I started my little company.  Here is the entire article.  

(Reuters Health) - Chemicals called phthalates, found in plastics and cosmetics, may be linked to a raised risk of babies being born early, suggests a new study.

Researchers found that women who delivered babies before 37 weeks gestation had higher levels of phthalates in their urine, compared to women who delivered their children at full term, which is 39 weeks.

"Preterm birth is a real public health problem," said John Meeker, who led the study. "We're not really sure how to go about preventing it, but this may shed light on environmental factors that people may want to be educated in."

Meeker, from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, added, "We knew that exposure to phthalates was virtually ubiquitous here in the U.S. and possibly worldwide and preterm births increased for unknown reasons over the past several decades."

Phthalates are included in products for a variety of reasons, include to make plastic flexible.

Past studies also have found evidence that would suggest the chemicals may be tied to earlier births.

For example, previous research has linked the chemicals to shorter pregnancies and lower birth weights (see Reuters Health stories of Jun 30, 2009 here: reut.rs/17hsvO6 and Feb 4, 2008 here: reut.rs/17ht8aD).

"There are many possible routes of exposure depending on the chemical of interest and the scenario," Meeker said. Most commonly, the chemical enters the body through food and beverages. It may also be absorbed through the skin.

For the new study, the researchers used data from a study conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston between 2006 and 2008.

During the study, pregnant women were asked to fill out surveys and provide urine samples throughout their pregnancies. The researchers compared 130 mothers who delivered their babies before 37 weeks to 352 women who delivered their babies at term.

While each woman provided numerous urine samples during their pregnancies, the researchers analyzed three to measure the amount of phthalates in their bodies.

They looked for breakdown products of a phthalate chemical known as DEHP.

Overall, the two byproducts MEHP and MECPP were more abundant in women who delivered their children early, compared to women who delivered after 37 weeks. That was also true for MBP, a byproduct of Dibutyk phthalate.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, those chemicals are used to make products - such as plastic pipes, shower curtains and food packaging - soft and flexible.

Each of the phthalates examined was linked to a risk increase of anywhere from 16 percent to 65 percent increase in risk for preterm birth.

About one of every eight infants is born prematurely in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Shanna Swan, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new study in JAMA Pediatrics, said that difference may not mean much to an individual woman, but it adds up across a large population.

Swan is a professor Department of Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

"There are a lot of indications or warnings that signal that women avoid phthalates when they can," she said. "I say ‘when they can' because it's difficult."

"Most of the exposures are silent and we are not aware of them," she added. "We don't know how to avoid them."

Previous studies have suggested that people who use fresh and organic produce - such as certain religious groups - have lower phthalate levels," Swan said.

She added, however, that not many studies have examined the relationship between phthalates and preterm births.

Some studies, according to the researchers, have found no negative side effects from phthalate levels, but those only used levels from one urine sample. Phthalate levels can change during pregnancy.

Meeker said the new study can't prove higher phthalate levels caused women to deliver early or if they should stay away from the chemicals.

"Our study wasn't really geared to look at that," he said. "Women may want to limit exposure if they can, but there are so many different points of exposure which makes it difficult."

SOURCE: bit.ly/1an313a JAMA Pediatrics, online November 18, 2013.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/18/us-chemicals-cosmetics-idUSBRE9AH15620131118

EWG’s Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database is the world's largest safety reference tool for personal-care products. EWG has launched this app to provide you with easy-to-navigate safety ratings at your fingertips for a wide range of products and ingredients on the market.

Americans’ frequent exposure to cosmetics and personal-care products raises questions about the potential health risks of the myriad under-assessed ingredients they contain. These ingredients end up in the bodies of nearly every American.

When you know what chemicals are in the products you bring into your home and how they may affect your health and the environment, you can make informed purchasing decisions — and help transform the marketplace.

This Skin Deep® app has information and online safety assessments for more than 72,000 personal care products, 2,500 brands and 9,000 ingredients, culled from product labels and from the scientific and industry literature.

Get it for iphone https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skin-deep/id703155791?mt=8

Get it for Android  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skindeep.mobile

The Hazardous 100+ list was updated on September 20, 2013 to reflect the European Union's naming of additional chemicals to the "Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for Authorisation.  Follow this link for the comeplete list. http://mindthestore.saferchemicals.org/pdf/mindthestore.org-full-list-toxic-chemicals.pdf

The EWG has come out with another informative article, this time discussing the "dirty dozen", the list of 12 chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system.

What is the endocrine system?

The endocrine system is the system of glands, each of which secretes different types of hormones directly into the bloodstream (some of which are transported along nerve tracts to maintain homeostasis.  The endocrine system is in contrast to the exocrine system, which secretes its chemicals using ducts.  The endocrine system is an information signal system like the nervous system, yet its effects and mechanism are classifiably different. The endocrine system's effects are slow to initiate, and prolonged in their response, lasting from a few hours up to weeks. The nervous system sends information very quickly, and responses are generally short lived. Hormones are substances (chemical mediators) released from endocrine tissue into the bloodstream where they travel to target tissue and generate a response. Hormones regulate various human functions, including metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sleep, and mood. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_system)

What do endocrine disruptors do?

There is no end to the tricks that endocrine disruptors can play on our bodies: increasing production of certain hormones; decreasing production of others; imitating hormones; turning one hormone into another; interfering with hormone signaling; telling cells to die prematurely; competing with essential nutrients; binding to essential hormones; accumulating in organs that produce hormones.

The Dirty Dozen: 12 hormone altering chemicals.

BPA, Dioxin, Atrazine, Phthalates, Perchlorate, Fire retardants, Lead, Arsenic, Mercury, Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), Organophosphate pesticides, & Glycol Ethers.  You should avoid these chemicals in your personal care products.  For detailed information on why please check out the EWG article & don't forget to use the EWG to research your hair and skin care products to avoid these and carcinogenic chemicals.  http://www.ewg.org/research/dirty-dozen-list-endocrine-disruptors

A fresh batch of Cinnamon Oatmeal Soap for full bars.

A fresh batch of Honey Oatmeal soap for samples. There will be samples ready November 22nd for both soaps.

My oh my this stuff is CREAMY!!  We are trying a new brand of honey in our honey soaps & it is hard to not lick the spoon!