Safe & effective sunscreen

I bet there were a lot of sunburns as a result of our beautiful Victoria Day weekend. Sometimes it takes a few sunny days to get back into the habit of wearing sunscreen and safely enjoying summer-like weather.  We had to dig around for last summer’s sunscreen leftovers and rummage in the basement for sun hats. In the end we had what we needed to safely enjoy the sunny weekend but this week we were back to square one researching sunscreen for this summer.

Fortunately Environmental Working Group (EWG) has just released its latest sunscreen report, making it easy to search out the safest and most effective sunscreens available this year.  

But before you run to the drugstore (or download EWG’s sunscreen app) remember there’s more to sun safety than just wearing sunscreen. The first line of defense is to cover up with wide-brimmed hats and light coloured clothing. Finding shade and staying out of the noontime sun are important too but easier said than done on sunny weekends during our too-short summers.

Sunscreen should be your last line of defense for a couple of reasons. First, it appears that there is no consensus on whether or not sunscreen actually reduces incidences of melanoma, and many sunscreens are much less effective than they claim. That’s no reason to stop using it though, just a reminder that you need to do your research before stocking up for the summer.

Based on its research EWG found that a lot of sunscreens on the shelf exaggerate claims of UV protection and many are unstable, breaking down in sunlight.

As well, there is no evidence that sunscreens with SPF ratings higher than 50 are any more effective but they do carry a higher concentration of chemicals that soak into your skin. The US FDA is considering prohibiting the sale of these products because those who use them tend to stay in the sun longer. They may not burn but their skin is damaged in other ways.

Some sunscreen ingredients react to the sun’s rays, making them more toxic. Retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A, can actually promote the development of tumours.  

Based on EWG’s research, mineral-based sunscreens offer the safest and best protection. They are stable in sunlight and don’t penetrate the skin. If you can’t find mineral-based sunscreen or prefer a formula that’s easier to apply EWG recommends choosing sunscreens with avobenzone (3 percent for the best UVA protection) and without the hormone disrupter oxybenzone. Confusing but just remember “oxy” is bad.  

A few more tips:

Avoid spray on or powder sunscreens since they coat your lungs and your skin, and don’t buy sunscreen with added insect repellant. This year we’ll be buying Green Beaver mineral-based sunscreen and Coppertone Kids Pure and Simple (if I can find it). Coppertone Sensitive Skin sunscreens get a good rating as well, but the other Coppertone products don’t.

View the full report at www.ewg.org.

Green living guides - a crash course in healthy living



This guide to safer cosmetics is one of the handy tools available to help us buy less toxic food and products.

I spend a lot of time doing green living research. I follow blogs and environmental leaders, I subscribe to healthy living newsletters and eco twitter feeds. You could say I’m up to my eyeballs in all things green.

But I still get to the grocery store and draw half a blank in the produce section, trying to remember what fruits and vegetables are on what list: the dirty dozen or the clean 15. In the personal care section I find ingredient labels confusing, mixing up the siloxanes with the glycinates (who wouldn’t?) Cleaning products are no easier, especially with all of those deceptive (unregulated) labels.

So even when you’re fairly informed, it’s tough to make the right choices. I end up with grocery store paralysis and come home empty handed or buy the wrong thing and have to return it. No wonder I’m so content using vinegar and baking soda for cleaning. The labels are easy to decipher. 

Making safe and healthy choices is hard work, but it’s getting easier thanks to a spate of printable wallet guides and mobile apps that decode labels and provide at-a-glance lists of do’s and don’ts. All the basics at your fingertips.

Here are some of my favourites:

The dirty dozen/clean15 wallet guide and mobile app. Developed by Environmental Working Group, these lists include the produce with the highest pesticide residue (that you should buy organic) and produce with the lowest (it’s okay to buy conventionally grown.) The guide keeps me sane in the produce section and helps me manage my grocery budget.

The dirty dozen of cosmetics, the David Suzuki Foundation’s shopper’s guide to personal care products. This is a great help, especially when I’m choosing products touted as “natural”, which can often be loaded with toxins along with the plant-based good stuff.  Environmental Defense has a similar guide.

The Shopper’s Guideto Cleaners is a new guide from the David Suzuki Foundation. It lists some of the most toxic (and surprisingly common) ingredients in household cleaners, and provides tips like choose fragrance-free and avoid cleaners that don’t list ingredients on the package.

Seafood Watch is a guide to choosing ocean-friendly seafood. It categorizes fish choices so you can avoid (or limit) consuming those that are fished or farmed in environmentally damaging ways. It also lists the fish that you should be wary of due to concerns about mercury or other contaminants.  Seachoice offers a similar guide.

Reading these guides is like a crash course in healthy living. It might be stressful at first (you’ll see there’s a lot to avoid) but keeping these guides handy while you shop will make it easier to make healthy choices. And there is a better chance you won’t be duped by false claims and misleading labels.

Personal care products -- be careful out there

 

Personal care products are loaded with chemicals that are known toxins. I know it sounds crazy, especially when you consider that many of the most commonly used chemicals in these products are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors. If you'd rather not be part of some company's science experiement take a look through Environmental Defense pocket guide. It targets these "Toxic 10" ingredients that we need to avoid:

BHA/BHT, coal tar-derived colors, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde-releasing agents, fragrance, parabens, petrolatum, siloxanes, sodium laureth sulfate and the closely related chemical sodium lauryl sulfate, and triclosan.

Another helpful source for information, including an extensive database that lets you test the safety of your current products, is Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database.
Get used to reading the fine print on products (even those touted as natural) and get to know safe alternatives, like Canada's own Green Beaver.

Beauty departments are dangerous places...be careful out there.

LUSH henna hair dye...today I test

A good friend with the most gorgeous hair has been telling me about LUSH, an earthy company that makes natural henna hair dye. I bought a couple of bocks when I was last in Montreal (you can buy it online too) and have set aside the morning to give it a try.

This is what it looks like:

I have a lot of grey and after reading up on some of the possible effects of henna on grey ("...the grey bits will sparkle bright red amongst the darker hairs.") I decided to be a little less caviler and do a strand test on a lock of hair than can be hidden away if there is too much sparkle.

My most exciting discovery of 2011 (so far)

Green Beaver zesty orange toothpaste. Yum!

This is the most refreshing toothpaste ever! The citrusy taste is real, with just enough zing to make your mouth feel nice and clean. It's non-toxic, natural and not artificially sweet like most toothpaste on the market.

Thanks Green Beaver for proving that, in the world of toothpaste, mint doesn't rule.

Is your deodorant safe?

The other day a friend asked me about deodorant, wondering if there is a link between deodorant and breast cancer and if aluminum in the product is still a concern. These are tough questions, mostly because there are no definitive answers.

There is no conclusive evidence that the aluminum in many deodorants contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s. And no study has conclusively linked the chemicals in deodorants to breast cancer. But studies haven’t proven otherwise either and ongoing research continues to raise questions about the safety of one of the most frequently used personal care products.

What we do know is that most deodorants contain chemicals that have been linked to a number of health problems. Here is a rundown on four very common deodorant ingredients: Propyleyne glycol (also known as antifreeze in 100% concentrations) is a chemical you’ll see in many brands, including some “natural” brands. It and related chemicals (like polyethylene glycol) are a concern because they may be contaminated with 1, 4-dioxane which may cause cancer. Parabens are preservatives suspected of interfering with hormone function. The mixture of chemicals in synthetic fragrances has been linked to allergies, cancer and nervous system disorders. And finally, triclosan is an antibacterial that may cause thyroid problems. These chemicals are environmental toxins too.

With so many unanswered questions about the safety of chemicals in deodorant I prefer to err on the side of caution. I figure, if science raises doubts and there are alternatives available, why not switch?

Yesterday I did an interesting test. I put aside my eco-friendly deodorant and used a deodorant crystal that I was given a few years ago. The crystal is an actual chunk of rock salt (alum) that you wet any apply like regular deodorant. After a full day of work, two walks back and forth to the bus stop and an evening out I’d say it worked well.

But since everyone’s body chemistry is different another option is Green Beaver deodorant. This product is made in Canada and carries the Ecocert logo, meaning that the plant ingredients are organic, production and packaging are eco-friendly and it’s free of synthetics, chemicals and aluminum. Green Beaver works well for me and is my everyday brand. (My favourite is their citrus scented deodorant but they offer three other scents and one unscented.)
On my list to try is Olivier deodorant (made in NB) As with all Olivier products, the ingredients are natural and uncomplicated. This is a spray deodorant and is on the pricey side.

A few other brands to consider are Aubrey Organics, Avalon Organics and Alba. Look for these in the natural food section of the grocery store. If you’re wondering how safe your current brand is check out Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database.

Get to know the "dirty dozen" of the cosmetic world

Ever wonder what's in your shampoo, toothpaste or face cream? David Suzuki lists the 12 worst toxic ingredients in cosmetics. Read more here:
CBC News - Consumer Life - David Suzuki targets 'dirty dozen' toxic ingredients

Choosing a better (and greener) shampoo

Have you ever felt confused trying to find your way among the hundreds of hair care products available in local stores and salons? I have trouble sifting through all of the ginseng-infused, vitamin B-added claims. I often associate hair washing with green washing since these front-of-the-label claims often mask the not-so-great ingredients in many shampoos, conditioners and styling products.


There are many ingredients common to hair care products that are best avoided. “Natural botanicals” or not, if your products contain sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate, phthalates (usually labeled “fragrance”) or parabens you should consider looking for another brand.

Sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate (SLS) is one of the most ubiquitous ingredients in shampoos. It’s the ingredient that causes that nice rich lather you see in ads, but also dries your scalp, stripping oils that are important to a healthy scalp and hair. It has also been known to cause skin and eye irritation, allergic reactions, hair loss and follicle damage.

Phthalates are the synthetic fragrances that are known to be hormone disruptors (linked to reproductive problems, allergies and skin problems) and parabens are preservatives that mimic female hormones and have been found in breast tumor samples.

Any sort of product that you spray on is best avoided as well, since you’re bound to inhale what doesn’t land on your hair.

Also, buying health store-type brands doesn’t necessarily guarantee a less toxic product.

Health Canada requires that manufacturers list all ingredients on the product label, which sounds very responsible of them but what ordinary consumer has any clue what is and isn’t a toxic ingredient? Shampoo and styling product ingredient lists are complicated. That’s why I default to the brands that list upfront what isn’t in their product. Kiss My Face, Burt’s Bees and Desert Essence are three that are helpful in this way. Others, like Olivier (New Brunswick-made) have so few ingredients that it’s no problem at all.

The Environmental Working Group Skin Deep database (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/) is a helpful tool for determining just how safe your hair care products are. They classify products into hazard ratings of low, medium and high based on the know ingredients.

Aubrey Organics score well in this database, as do Kiss My Face products. Burt’s Bees and Desert Essence have a hazard rating of low to low-moderate. Many regular drug store brands score middle of the road but a lot score in the red (high) zone. Shampoo bars score lowest of all. Not in the database but a great choice is Canadian-made Green Beaver shampoo.

One note about SLS-free shampoos, they often get a bad rap because they’re not as sudsy as regular drug store brands but you don’t need a thick lather to end up with clean, manageable hair.

Since all of these products get washed down the drain and into our waterways, be sure to use as little as possible. Chances are you don’t need to “apply generously” to get the job done.

More info on safe sunscreen

I have continued my search for safe, effective and easy to find sunscreen lotions. My last recommendation, I was disappointed to learn, wasn’t that easy to find after all. (It had almost identical packaging with two readily available Coppertone products so I was initially duped). I have now replaced our family sunscreen with the following brands that are very easy to find locally:

Coppertone Water Babies (the pink bottle) offers excellent UVB protection, good UVA protection, excellent stability (doesn’t breakdown in the sun) and has a low/moderate toxicity rating of 3. Be sure to buy the cream, not the aerosol. This is by far the easiest sunscreen to find and is great for people of all ages (not just kids).

My best find yet is the Badger Sunscreen Face Stick. It offers good UVB coverage, excellent UVA protection, excellent stability and a low toxicity rating of 1. Look for this at your local eco or health food store.

Another I researched but haven’t tried is La Roche-Posay Anthelios 45 (not the 60). It also has a toxicity rating of 3, excellent UVB & UVA protection and excellent stability. Be forewarned - it's pricey (over $20 for a small tube)/ Look for this at Shoppers Drug Mart.

Finding a better sunscreen

One of the more complicated green living decisions in our household each year is choosing sunscreen. That might sound a bit ridiculous but based on a lot of recent research, making a choice can get quite complicated. Here’s why: Sunscreen contains toxins that can be harmful when absorbed through your skin; your sunscreen is likely to be much less effective than the SPF rating leads you to believe; chances are it won’t protect you from harmful UVA rays; and the higher the SPF you choose the more time you’re probably going to spend in the sun slathered in a false sense of security.

These are the findings of Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) fourth annual review of sunscreen. For this year’s report they analyzed 500 sunscreens, including all of the major brands, and rated them according to their safety and effectiveness.

EWG isn’t trying to scare us away from sunscreen (although that might be your first reaction) their goal is to help us choose our sunscreen very carefully.

Potentially hazardous oxybenzone is an ingredient in about 60% of the sunscreens tested. It’s a hormone-disruptor that gets absorbed into your body through your skin. About 41% of sunscreens tested also contain a form of vitamin A called retinyl palmitate (a compound that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found could promote the development of skin cancer because of the way it reacts with sunlight.)

Studies show that on average we only apply about a quarter of the amount we should to get the SPF protection promised and we don’t reapply often enough to sustain protection.

Even if you apply and reapply as directed your brand still may not protect you against UVA radiation, the sunlight that doesn’t cause burns but still damages your skin.

And finally, studies have also shown that those who choose sunscreen with a really high SPF rating spend a lot longer in the sun than those who sport products with a lower SPF.

Before you stress out over what to slather on this summer remember that there are plenty of ways to stay safe in the sun, with and without sunscreen.
Cover up with clothing and a hat to protect your skin from the sun. (Sunscreen should never be your first or only line of defense against the sun.)
Search EWG’s database of sunscreens to find a safe and effective brand of sunscreen . EWG has slotted brands into three categories: green for recommend, yellow for caution and red for avoid. The database also provides a UVA and UVB protection rating and rates how well the sunscreen lasts. On the site you’ll find the list of what they consider to be the base (none of which have I seen around here).

I searched some of the most common brands around and found that Coppertone Pure & Simple and Sensitive Skin lines have a moderate rating of 3, just one point out of the “recommend “zone. Beware of other popular brands like Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic and Aveeno. Most of these brands fall to the “avoid” zone, even the lines for babies and kids.

Benefits of eco-friendly shaving

My top pick for a non-toxic eco-friendly
shave is shaving soap

I recently read that the average adult uses nine personal care products each day which combined contain about 120 chemicals. If you’d like to reduce the number of chemicals in your life choosing more natural versions of these everyday products is your best route.

A case in point is shaving. It’s something that most men do on a daily basis and hardly give a second thought. But it is worth thinking about if you’re using conventional shaving products because the toxins found in women’s cosmetics and personal care products are found in men’s products too.

Conventional shaving creams usually contain synthetic chemicals that could be carcinogenic, hormone disrupting and at the very least irritating. The synthetic fragrance alone could cause reproductive problems, as do the preservatives (called parabens). Some studies have also linked them to liver and kidney tumours. Using warm water to prepare your skin for shaving opens your pores, making it easier for these toxins to penetrate your skin and build up in your body over time.

My top pick for a non-toxic eco-friendly shave is shaving soap, along with a shaving brush. Forget the perception that using old fashioned shaving soap takes more time. It takes all of ten seconds to create a thick creamy lather in the soap dish and it’s quick and easy to apply. The rest is the same: Shave. Rinse. Go about your day. I have also read that many dermatologists recommend using a shaving brush and shaving soap since the brush works the soap into the hair bristles, making the shave closer and less irritating.

Olivier shaving soap is your best choice. It’s truly natural (made with olive oil, cocoa butter, beeswax and fragrant oil), costs $9.95 and lasts practically forever. The brush costs $11.95 and you can buy both at their shop in the Saint John City Market or order online at http://www.oliviersoaps.com/. Their soaps are hand-made in small batches at their soapery in Ste. Anne de Kent, New Brunswick.
The chemicals in conventional shaving products aren’t the only un-green aspect of the daily ritual. Half a billion razors and all that packaging get tossed out by Canadians each year. Here are a few things you can do to ensure you’re not adding to the pile:

Choose reusable razors instead of disposable razors and buy good quality blades so they last longer. To extend the life of your blade consider buying an EverBlade, a razor blade stand designed to repel rust and corrosion from the blade. According to many enthusiastic reviews I found online a single blade can easily last four to eight months thanks to this stand and at a cost of $30 it will likely pay for itself in a month (http://www.greeneverblade.com/).

With Father’s Day just around the corner consider giving one of these eco options as a gift this year.

Be choosey about the toothpaste you use

Have you ever read the warning label on a tube of toothpaste? Are you alarmed that toothpaste even has a warning label? I’ll guess that few people have bothered to read the safe use instructions on the package, including not swallowing the toothpaste and, on some popular brands, “Recommended for adults and children over 12 years.”

Why should we all be concerned about this? Because most people haven’t a clue what’s in toothpaste and digging up a list of ingredients takes more than a little effort.

You might be surprised to discover that conventional toothpaste contains the artificial sweetener Saccharin. Health Canada banned the use of Saccharin in food 30 years ago due to animal studies that linked consumption to an increased risk of bladder cancer. (They are currently rethinking that ban, due to heavy lobbying from the diet-food industry, but many scientists continue to recommend against lifting the ban.)

Most brands also contain Triclosan as an antibacterial agent. The EPA considers Triclosan a pesticide and part of a class of chemicals that is thought to cause cancer in humans. Most whitening toothpaste also contains lye, considered a poison by the FDA

Then there is the controversy around fluoride. It’s not that fluoride is bad it’s just that we may be getting too much of it. When you combine toothpaste, fluoridated drinking water in some communities (not Rothesay or Quispamsis) and the consumption of all sorts of processed foods that are made with municipal water that is fluoridated, some health experts are worried that we’re ingesting too much fluoride. It builds up in our bones and among other things is linked to increasing rates of bone cancer in young boys.

Children under the age of two shouldn’t use toothpaste with fluoride and all children should be supervised while brushing to prevent swallowing. Not that it helps. The commercial brands for kids are formulated to taste just like candy and putting a toothbrush spread with children’s toothpaste in a child’s mouth is like giving them a lollypop and telling them not to swallow.

Now that you know some ingredients you might like to avoid, there are several alternatives to conventional drug store toothpaste, including options for children.

Tom’s of Maine gets a good rating since it’s saccharin-free, Triclosan-free and offers several options without fluoride, as do Natures Gate, Jason and Green Beaver (made in Canada). All carry a great variety of flavours. My children won’t budge from Tom’s of Maine Apricot and I prefer Nature’s Gate Fennel.

These brands are more expensive than convention brands but keep in mind you only need a small amount to do the job. For a little extra whitening power (minus the lye) keep a little pot of baking soda by the sink and brush with that a few times a week. Combined with proper flossing you won’t be compromising your dental health for the sake of overall wellness.

Do you colour your hair? Switch to eco-friendly (and less toxic) alternatives

In my life, the last thing to go green was my hair. Chemically-speaking I was taking much better care of my lawn than I was my own hair…which probably sounds ridiculous but the truth is that for the longest time I ignored the fact that covering up my grey hair was a toxic habit.

I doubt anyone would be truly surprised that hair colour is toxic, considering the eye-watering smell. Almost all hair colourant (temporary, semi-permanent, and permanent), contains a laundry list of petrochemicals and other toxins. In particular hair dye contains ammonia and p-Phenylenediamine (PPD for short) and although there are concerns associated with both of these chemicals it appears that PPD is the most worrisome. PPD is on Health Canada’s “Hot List” (Health Canada’s term, not mine) a list of prohibited and restricted cosmetic ingredients and as such manufacturers are required to list warnings on both the inside and the outside of the packaging.

There is a lot of research to back up worries about hair dye. A number of studies link higher instances of multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to prolonged use of hair dye, particularly deeper colours. According to another study, those who use permanent hair dye are twice as likely to develop bladder cancer as those who don’t and yet another study links long-term use of hair dye with ovarian cancer. Allergic reactions to PPD are also well documented.

Permanent dye is more toxic than semi-permanent and darker tints are more toxic than lighter tints. If you’re someone who lightens their hair you still need to worry, just not as much.

The truly green thing to do would be to let my hair go grey at its own pace. But since I’m not ready for that I went looking for a less toxic dye that wouldn’t keep me up at night with worry and would keep my hair its previously natural colour.

I have found two salon brands that are ammonia-free with lower concentrations of PPD. So far I have tried a Schwarkopf product called Essensity that has no odor and covers my grey just fine. Next I’ll try Aveda hair colour. They offer a range of products that are 93% to 99% plant-based.

If you prefer the do-it-yourself kits, experiment with some alternatives to mainstream brands that contain lower concentration of the worst chemicals. Try a less-toxic brand like Herbatint permanent or semi-permanent hair dye. Both are ammonia-free, the permanent has low concentrations of PPD and the semi-permanent is PPD-free. Naturcolor is another brand to look for.

Then there is always henna. Made from the leaves of a desert shrub you can’t get more natural and non-toxic than that.

If you’re going to stick with your regular brand be sure to heed the warning label, including the safe-use instructions, don’t leave the hair dye on any longer than directed by the package, always wear gloves when you apply hair dye, rinse your scalp well (and cross your fingers).

My Christmas wish list - #1

I love Olivier's Femme line of face cream and facial soap. Now I'm waiting for a pot of their body scrub. (After an in-store demo I was hooked.)

The oils are creamy not greasy so it's easy to use and leaves your skin feeling smooth and moisture drenched, not slippery.

Take a look at the ingredient list. All pure and natural: Olive oil, virgin coconut oil, sea salt, oat flakes, essential oils of neroli, of rosemary, of tea tree, of sage, sweet almond oil, essential oil of benzoin, tocopherol (vitamin E), essential oils of rosewood, of palmarosa, of carrot seed.

You can visit their shop in the Saint John City Market or shop on line: http://www.oliviersoaps.com/

Safer polish for bright summer toes

I have been noticing my toes a lot lately. It’s hard not to since summer is really the season of toes. Mine stand out because they aren’t painted and it seems that summer toes without nail polish are a bit like a yard without flowers. As much as I’d love to have them painted bright pink, just knowing what nail polish can do to a body has kept me polish-free for several years now.

There are a couple of reasons why I stopped using nail polish. First, I can’t stand the smell of it (inhalation is one of the ways toxins enter out bodies). Even women who won’t go a day without polish can’t deny that the stuff smells toxic. As is often the case, something that smells toxic… is toxic, which brings me to the other reason why I stopped using polish: When you paint your nails a mixture of toluene, formaldehyde and a chemical plasticizer called dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is absorbed into your tissue. These chemicals have the worst profile in the beauty industry

• Toluene can cause headaches, eye & nose irritation, nervous system disorders, liver and kidney damage.
• Formaldehyde is known to cause cancer and reproductive problems.
• DBP is linked to reproductive damage. It is known to cause birth defects in animals and is banned in the European Union. Tests have found high levels of the substance in teenage girls, which researchers have attributed to nail polish.

It’s a wonder that the stuff is even legal!
While many brands are now formaldehyde and toluene-free, the chemicals used to replace these substances are hardly any better. Plus, regular polish still contains DBP.

A few years ago a friend put me onto the Canadian brand, Suncoat, www.suncoatproducts.com. They have formulated water-based polish that is free of the toxic chemicals I mentioned above and have also expanded their range of colours to now carry the shade of pink I love. So this week I had no qualms about caving into my six-year-old’s zillionth request for polish (and my own craving for pink toes).

Another problem with regular polish is that the chemicals used to remove it are as bad as the polish itself. Nail polish remover is a solvent, just like paint remover. Don’t let the packaging lull you into believing that it’s any different than the paint remover your dad stored in the basement when you were little.

Suncoat makes a natural, corn-based remover that works on its own products as well as regular nail polish. Or you can avoid remover altogether and do as Suncoat suggests (for their polish): soak your nails in hot water for a few minutes and gently scrape the polish off with your nails.

If you love to paint your nails do yourself a favour and give water-based polish a try.

Is sunscreen safe?

I would guess that few of us have used much sunscreen so far this summer. All of these rainy weekends are probably good for our skin. But when I do use sunscreen I constantly wonder about how safe it is. I know that ultimately it’s better to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun but that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable slathering on creams containing known toxins that seep through my skin and into my body.

I’m feeling much better about sunscreens these days since I came across a new report that rates a lot of familiar brands. It was release in early July by Environmental Working Group (a non-profit environmental watchdog based in the US). The report identifies sunscreen brands that work the best (or at least live up to their SPF claims). But it also rates brands according to their toxicity, something that’s important to consider since we normally wear a lot of sunscreen during the summer months and put even more of it on our kids. As well the report provides some info on basic sun safety – which is always good to be reminded of.

According to Environmental Working Group 60% of brand-name sunscreens either don’t protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals — or both. Here are a few guidelines to help you find sunscreen that is both safe and effective.

• If you’re shopping for sunscreen or want to check what you already have, take a look at the active ingredients list on the back of the bottle. It is usually quite short so easy to read. Avoid brands with Oxybenzone or benzophenone-3. These active ingredients are known to cause allergies and hormone problems.

• Avoid spray and powder sunscreens since inhaling sunscreens can pose extra risks.
• Buy fragrance-free brands. Chemicals used in fragrances have been linked to allergies & reproductive problems.
• Avoid sunscreen with added bug repellent since you can get too much of the pesticide in your body.
• Don’t use last year’s sunscreen. The active ingredients can lose their effectiveness over time.
• Buy brands that offer both UVA and UVB protection.

I went looking for what the report called the “Best easy-to-find brands” and found that they aren’t very easy to find after all. I searched Shoppers Drug Mart, Super Store pharmacy and the natural foods section and was only able to find two of the recommended brands: Neutrogena “Pure and Free” and Neutrogena “Sensitive Skin”. But in my search I found another excellent brand that wasn’t reviewed. Heiko, SPF 40. It’s fragrance free and the only active ingredient is zinc oxide. It’s pricey but I’m learning that good sunscreen never comes cheap.

Visit www.ewg.org for more details, including a link to a database that lets you search different brands for a safety rating.

How beautiful are beauty products?

Have you ever tried to read the ingredients list on the back of a jar of face cream or a bottle of shampoo? Even if I had a biochemistry degree I’m not sure I’d be able to decipher what ingredients are harmful and which are helpful.

If you had to narrow it down there are about 17 extremely toxic chemicals found in common personal care products. Of these a few are always on my radar: parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate & propylene glycol. These and their jar mates are known to cause asthma, skin irritation, liver and kidney damage. They are known hormone disruptors, carcinogens and neurotoxins. They seep in through our skin and we inhale them (nail polish is at the top of every toxic cosmetic list I have ever seen).

I worry less about all of this since I stumbled upon a couple of great websites that help guide me to products that my family and I are comfortable using.

Guide to Less Toxic Products (http://www.lesstoxicguide.ca/), is run buy the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia. They offer a “Best” and “Good” rating system for a great variety of personal care products. They also explain what is so worrisome about the most dangerous chemicals commonly found in personal care products.

Skin Deep is a cosmetic safety database that is maintained by the Environmental Working Group out of the U.S. (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/). This database rates the toxicity of thousands of cosmetics using an easy-to-follow, colour-coded system: green, yellow and red. You can search on cosmetics you already have (to decide if you need to toss them) and use it to help decide what products fit within your comfort zone.

Fortunately more and more cosmetics companies are making their products (or at least some of their products) safer. Avalon Organics, Burt’s Bees and Kiss My Face are a few brands to look for in local stores. Superstore carries a selection of these in their natural food section and Healthy Start carries many of the same products.

Green Beaver is a line of healthy, Canadian-made personal care products. You can find these at The Feel Good Store on Germain Street.

If you’re looking for something higher end, New Brunswick-based Olivier in the City Market sells natural soaps, shampoos, face and body creams, scrubs and deodorant. Their products are made with pure, natural ingredients.

Arbonne is another high-end skincare line that uses natural ingredients and is committed to making their products as safe as possible. Tracey Bujold (http://www.tbujold.myarbonne.com/) sells the products locally through in-home sales and they are also available at the new Salon Soleil.

Whether it’s toothpaste, shampoo, face cream or lipstick, making healthy choices for you and your family can be complicated. But it’s important. (Ignorance really isn’t bliss.) If you take a bit of time to read labels and tap into helpful resources you’ll feel better about everything that’s in your bathroom cupboard.

This article was previously published in KV Style (www.kvstyle.com)