In 2010 I moved to Austin Tx, where I learned about the term "Toxic Soup" I met people with cancer, various health and breathing problems and thyroid disease, so many people with thyroid disease.through my own dealings with thyroid disease. At the time I was a hair stylist and thankfully the hair industry is always in the loop when it comes to what chemical is on the banned list. At the time parabens, and sulfates were being black listed so this heavily influenced my interest in what goes onto my skin and into my body. In my search to live a healthier life and do whatever I could to heal myself, one word always came up in conversation "phthalates". I had no clue what they were, where they were, and why I should be so scared of them. I did my research and found they were in everything I was smothering all over my body on a daily basis. The EWG became my bible along with the CDC. I learned how to avoid them and discovered some pretty amazing small brands who had lost family members from cancer and had set out to change the beauty industry, one of my favorites being Faerie Organic. This inspired me so much that I became hyperfixated on making my own products and cleansing my home of anything and everything containing these harmful chemicals. In the process I learned how to make my own detergents, stopped using so many products with scents in them and got rid of all our plastic containers and in the process my husbands asthma disappeared, I was hooked. Fast forward to 2015 when I had my first born and I absolutely wanted to make sure nothing went on their skin with any of these endocrine disrupting chemicals. Children are far more sensitive to these chemicals than we are. We asked for no plastic toys, no clothes that were washed in detergents and I made everything from soap, baby bum cream, to diaper wipes and the cutest little botanical tea baths. I felt good I could do this for my baby and it created a little bonding ritual I had each bath with my little love bugs. It has become a lifestyle and a positive change in my families lives and gave way to me starting my very own small business to join in the fight to change the beauty industry and educate others on what goes in our bodies.
I am not trying to preach to you, I only want to share my experience and knowledge in hopes I can lead everyone to a healthier way of living or at the very least a more informed one. I myself like to stay informed and just read a recent study published October 2021 in the research journal Environmental Pollution, that attributed 90,761 to 107,283 premature deaths a year of Americans ages 55 to 64 to phthalates. This group of chemicals has also been linked to heart disease and damage to liver and kidneys. “For decades, phthalates have been shown to pose a potential danger to human health because the chemicals can interfere with the function of hormones, which are signaling compounds made in glands that circulate to influence processes throughout the body. Exposure is believed to occur through buildup of these toxins as consumer products break down and are ingested, with exposure linked to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease,” according to NYU Langone Health.
NYU Langone environmental health specialist Dr. Leonardo Trasande, lead author of the latest phthalate study, says his team’s research suggests that the toll taken by phthalates is worse than had been thought.
“The evidence is undeniably clear that limiting exposure to toxic phthalates can help safeguard Americans’ physical and financial wellbeing,” Trasande says in a news release.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other organizations, phthalates help make plastics more flexible or help prolong the life of fragrances in personal care items. They’re found in hundreds of products, such as soap, body wash, deodorant, shampoo, hair spray, perfume, nail polish, lotion, children’s toys, food packaging and vinyl flooring.
So in conclusion, what can you do to avoid them? Shop small, look for products that are phthalate free, or scent free, switch to glass containers and ditch plastics, stay away from all things vinyl including children toys, and I will leave you with a documentary to check out because who doesn't love documentaries. Toxic Soup