Cosmetic Heart Attack

On the 21st of July, the Story of Cosmetics was released, with tag line “toxins in, toxins out.”

I’ve always been pretty aware of what I am putting in my body, I try my best to eat organic, I use natural shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant and always have a natural lip balm (don’t even get me started on the junk that’s in cheap lip products).

I never thought much about the other products I used, until I got the What’s Insideflyer from the David Suzuki foundation.  Then I got to thinking.

There are about 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products, and of those only about 11 percent have been reviewed for their safety (a review which is industry self-regulated), and almost 90 percent of them have not been evaluated for their safety by the FDA or other publically accountable bodies.

I’ve mentioned before there are about 80,000 some odd chemicals listed in chemical databases, only 10% of which we know their long-term effects, well guess what, 1 out of every 8 of those chemicals is in cosmetics.

What’s even more scary is according to the FDA cosmetic manufacturers can use almost any raw material as a cosmetic ingredient and market the product without FDA approval.

Say what?

So, if I understand this correctly I could use anything, test it myself (thanks for industry self-regulation), like it, and market it?

It’s no wonder then that when people are applying roughly 126 different ingredients on their skin each day that we are seeing feminization of babies, breast tumours, hormones in wildlife, cancers, endocrine disorders, and all sorts of abnormal human and environmental reactions.

This is insane!

In a quick scan of 10 “natural” products my roommates and I have in our house I found that 3 had parfum (linked to cancer and neurotoxicity), 5 had sodium laureth sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate (may cause cancer, SLS may damage liver and harmful to fish and other wildlife) and it felt like every second bottle I touched had some form of formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (DMDM hydantoin, diazolidiny urea, imidazolidinyl urea, methenamine or quarternium-15. Formaldehyde causes cancer!!).

Seriously Quarternium-15 sounds like a Bond villain, NOT something I want in my hair.

So after all this, a bit of a panic and a glass of red wine (good for the heart, and soul … but always remember too much alcohol can cause cancer) I decided to do some research into what to do with all these products.

Aware of the fact that dumping them is just as bad as using them, and donating them just seems cruel, I called the absolutely fabulous people at the BC Recycling Hotline (604-732-9253) I asked what the best thing to do with the left over products was and there were three options:

Take them to a hazardous waste materials site (about $100 a visit)

Dilute (a lot, think like litre of water to tablespoon of product)

Absorb (in sawdust or kitty-litter) and then triple bag and throw out.

So. What to do? They are currently sitting in a huge box in my cupboard that grows daily as people give me their old bottles and I search for a solution.

Taking them to a hazardous materials waste site is too much money and I feel like a total last resort for 50 some odd bottles of pantine pro-v and bonne bell.

Diluting seems like a waste of water, and still returning the chemicals to nature… although they will go through the sewage treatment so that may remove some of the nasties.

Absorbing and trashing them seems like a huge waste of whatever absorbs them and will just add them to the dump!

So, if you’re reading this and have a suggestion do let me know. In the mean time, if you have old bottles and want to add to my dilemma’d collection send me a note!

And in the mean time, if you’d like to conduct your own cosmetic audit, I suggest starting with the Suzuki foundation dirty dozen list.

cross-posted from toxicfreecanada

The legislative debate continues…

But don’t be confused by the title of this post, I don’t actually mean debate on legislation, I mean public debate about how necessary it is that we have provincial cosmetic pesticide legislation.

Yesterday morning, Andrew Gage from West Coast Environmental Law posted two fabulous blog entries (here and here) on the continued discussion about cosmetic pesticide legislation.  I encourage you to read them.

But more than that I encourage you to start getting involved. The provincial government consulted the public, and yet they aren’t actually acting to change the way that cosmetic pesticides are regulated in our province.

It’s interesting how the debate has shifted, taking into consideration these two posts, because it’s no longer about the gravity of exposure to dangerous pesticides. It’s actually about the fact that there was public consultations conducted on the question of what to do about cosmetic pesticides and that nothing has been done with them.

It’s Friday, I’ll keep this short, but if you’re reading this and wondering what you can do, send a letter to Minister Penner and your MLA.

This is what I’ve sent:

Dear Minister Penner,

I applaud the BC government for holding consultations and for initiating a greater conversation around the need for a province wide cosmetic pesticide ban, however I am asking that you please act now to continue this discussion and ban use of all cosmetic pesticides by August 2011.

Over the past few years, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia have all introduced legislation to ban dangerous pesticides, which contain active ingredients that are classified as human carcinogens, reproductive toxins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals and/or neurotoxins

I support a province wide pesticide ban, which goes farther than that current Integrated Pest Management (IPM) that currently exists in BC.  The IPM is not sufficient because under this system pesticides can still be used for cosmetic, unnecessary, purposes.

The use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes is unnecessary, as safe and effective alternatives exist.  76% of British Columbians are in favor of provincial pesticide legislation.  The health of our citizens and the environment should trump the need to use potential cancer causing chemicals – even as a last resort – simply to beautify our lawns and gardens.

Now is the time for the BC government to pass new legislation that prohibits the use and sale of chemical pesticides for lawns and gardens, allowing exceptions only to protect public health  Including IPM in cosmetic pesticide legislation creates a situation where neighbourhood lawns and gardens, town home complexes, and public parks and playgrounds could still be treated with these toxic products.

I would like the provincial government to act now to protect human and environmental health.

Yours sincerely,

Send A Letter – Stop Cosmetic Pesticide Sale

Toxic Free Canada and I spent the weekend at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival with our booth nestled in the middle of the Community Village. As people came by, I asked if they’d heard of Toxic Free Canada, if they’d heard of our PET water bottle reduction campaign, and if they’d heard of our cosmetic pesticide ban campaign. It’s the last one I found most interesting.

For some I had to clarify what cosmetic pesticides were (unnecessary pesticides used to beautify a yard, control weeds in a sidewalk etc) but for most, they couldn’t believe you could still use products like RoundUp anywhere in the province. Well, you can, and even in places where a municipal bylaw prevents you from spraying them, there are some retailers that haven’t yet taken them off their shelves. One retailer specifically, Canadian Tire.

There are two pieces of this situation I find fascinating. The first is the fact that Walmart, which many consider to be the low of the low, respects the bylaws and sells alternatives.

The second is that given all the research out there AND the municipal bylaws, Canadian Tire continues to sell these cosmetic pesticides. These are products that contain many active ingredients that are classified as human carcinogens, reproductive toxins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals or neurotoxins.  When we spray them on our lawns we are exposing people and the environment to dangerous chemicals. Chemicals which are especially threatening to small children who don’t have the same ability to process the chemicals that adults do.

And who spends their summers rolling around on the lawn and playing in everyone’s garden? Children.

But the human health impact is just a part of it, these toxins enter the groundwater and storm drains, traveling into the rivers, streams and oceans, negatively affecting the environment along the way.  Products we use always affect the environment.

Toxic Free Canada is calling on Canadian Tire to remove these products from their shelves, and are encouraging you to write to Canadian Tire to tell them what you think.

Here’s a sample of what I sent:

———-

Subject: I Oppose the Sale of Dangerous Cosmetic Pesticides

Dear Amy Cole,

I am writing to you to express my concern regarding Canadian Tire’s sale of dangerous cosmetic pesticides such as RoundUp and Killex.  I understand that in British Columbia, my home province, there is no provincial legislation banning their sale, however many municipalities have banned their use because of their threat to human and environmental health.

These pesticides, among others, contain active ingredients that are classified as human carcinogens, reproductive toxins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals and/or neurotoxins.  I understand that they are not declassified by the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency, however international bodies such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer have classified chemicals such as 2, 4-D as possibly carcinogenic to humans.

I am asking that Canadian Tire do as other retailers such as Home Depot and Rona have done and immediately remove these dangerous pesticides from your shelves in respect of the municipal bylaws and the threat these products pose to human and environmental health.

Yours Sincerely,

——–

And I’ve sent that off to:

Canadian Tire
2180 Yonge Street
P.O. Box 770, Station K
Toronto, ON M4P 2V8

Folk Fest

Stopping the Toxic Trespassers

It’s interesting how protective people can be about their property. We know the boundary of our yards; we can close our gates and lock our doors. We see tangibly what crosses into our private property and can vocalize when something or someone is trespassing. Yet with our bodies, we don’t ever really know.

We don’t know how much of a particular toxin enters our bodies as we walk past the neighbour spraying his yard. We don’t really know how much cleaner we inhale from our workplaces and schools. We do know that over time these toxins affect us, they cause disease and impact our general well-being. So shouldn’t we be given the right to know what’s in our environment?

At this point we aren’t. That right is what’s known as the “Community Right to Know” and it’s a huge part of our work here at Toxic Free Canada. We need to work together across different communities to call on local, provincial and federal leaders to develop legislation that gives us the right to know.

The European Union is already leading the way, phasing out dangerous substances that cause cancer, accumulate in our bodies and environments and have devastating impacts on our abilities to reproduce.

There are anywhere from 50,000 – 100,000 chemicals in use today, most of which we lack sufficient data on their long-term effects. Yet we do not currently have the right to know what is in them, in North America, it’s not until they are proven dangerous that they are removed from the shelves.

As the summer progresses, keep your eyes here on our website because we are ramping up the education and engagement so that everyone can have and exercise their right to know.

The quest for a pescide free province continues

As I get my feet wet with my new position as campaign coordinator here at Toxic Free Canada I am happy to say that 31 municipalities across BC have enacted some variation of a ban on pesticides.

This is great. These communities (listed below) have taken the lead in ensuring that over 50% of the population is one step closer to reducing the risk of exposure to harmful pesticides.

However it’s not enough, and the numbers are deceiving.  By my calculations, based on 2006 population statistics, 64% of British Columbians live in a community where there has been a ban on pesticides. Although companies like Home Depot and Rona have stepped up and removed the banned pesticides from their shelves, some organizations, like Canadian Tire, have not.

This means that even though only 46(ish)% of British Columbians don’t live within a ban, everyone can access those toxins.  Without proper knowledge of the harm they have on people, pets and the environmental, the municipal bylaws have little effect.

What we need is for BC to do what Ontario and Quebec have done. We NEED our province to step up and be a leader. We NEED a province wide pesticide ban and we need it NOW.

If you are interested in getting involved and helping make this happen, send me an  email.

As they say, the more the merrier

Communities with pesticide bans:

Burnaby – Comox – Courtenay – Cumberland – Delta – Esquimalt – Fernie – Gibsons – Invermere – Kamloops – Kelowna – Kimberly – Maple Ridge – Nanaimo – Nelson – New Westminster – North Vancouver (City) – North Vancouver (District) – Port Alberni – Port Moody – Richmond – Saanich – Salmon Arm – Sechelt – Surrey – Tofino – Victoria – West Vancouver (District) – Whistler – White Rock

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