deodorants & chemicals

There are so many chemicals in our everyday lives. And if you avoid a few of the most toxic ones - that bio-cumulate - you'll be miles ahead on many different fronts.  Smelling like a rose may be harmful to your health.

 Let's start with the fact that we don't know anything about the non-commercial characteristics of 95% of the chemicals used.  There are over 300,000 chemicals used in commercial processes, 85,000 chemicals are currently in the EPA database, and we know almost nothing about 75,000 of them.  
The EPA requires detailed information about a chemical only if one site produces more than 11,340kg of one chemical - wow!  and it's even bigger than that: 
  
54,973,018. That’s how many registered organic and inorganic substances there were in the world when I wrote this sentence (in 2002) , according to the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS). The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) gives the EPA in the United States the authority to maintain an inventory of all chemicals used in commerce (excluding chemicals used in foods and food additives, pesticides, drugs, cosmetics, tobacco, nuclear material, or munitions). To date, their inventory contains 84,000 such chemicals. Over 1670 of these are considered hazardous substances which your employer is required to inform you when you are working with them. You’ve probably seen products which state “This product contains a chemical known to the state of California…” There are somewhere in the neighborhood of  750 chemicals listed under California’s Proposition 65 which are known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.... testing for carcinogenic properties. “High Volume”  included a mere 2971 chemicals... around 653 chemicals have been tested for their toxicity.  
I don't which of these numbers to believe.  Some would say 'fake news' BUT - this much I know:  the chemical industry is getting a free ride.  We are after oil, fracking, GMO++  companies and only when there's a big toxic spill are we aware of these chemicals.  Anyone remember Bopal?  

 Some of the most toxic chemicals in everyday use are solvents.  There are numerous accounts of people succumbing (aka dying) to solvents in unventilated areas - like a garage. 

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many events i go to request that everyone be 'odor neutral'. 
What does that even mean?  Do i need to neutralize my body odor, or is my (and everyone's) body odor considered to be neutral?   Anyone who's traveled to Asia or Europe in the <80's are well aware of the lack of neutral human odors :-).  

 What if i just took a shower with a fragrant soap, or washed my clothes with a fragrant conditioner, or used a fragrant conditioner on my hair... will i offend somebody?  Will the odor police smell me out?
  Denver police officer sniffing out pot smokers 
I can see the future now, with an odor sniffing AI robot at the entry gate assessing each person's fragrance scale.  Fast forward to possible solutions: those exceeding the odor scale are shuffled off to baking soda odor neutralizing station and re-evaluated. 
         
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 Now we have such a wide array of camouflaging the human body smell.  From daily showering  (  https://fredeco.blogspot.com/2018/12/showering-and-chlorine.html   blog on chlorine showers)  to odor killing clothes which pose all kinds of hazards to your largest organ (your skin) 

 I remember Dr. Braungart's answer to why he was focusing on body lotions and clothing as EPEA's first foray into C2C product research:  they penetrate the body's defense first and foremost and are bio-cumulative weapons of 'mass' destruction.

 And then there's the chemicals in the deodorant itself.  I prefer European deoderants because of their precautionary principles and their REACH chemistry laws.  

 Take a look at the labeling on your deodorants and body lotions... lauryl sulfate is probably the first ingredient.  it's also used in dish soaps...  Know anything about that most common chemical?  It's a carcinogen! 

 solutions

1) Like Mike Pollan said about food, holds true with chemicals also:  use what your grandmother would recognize (well, that could have other issues!) and avoid products that have more than five ingredients.  So soap, vinegar, baking soda are good bets!    Formula 409 may cut grease faster and with less effort then soap and a scrubber, but soap will not be absorbed through your skin and cause reproductive harm.

 2) buy baby and colorless  products - they'll have more benign chemicals, concentration ratios, etc.

3) educate yourself on products you use frequently... try goodguide.com

4) focus on the most neutral, least ingredients, vetted products. 
go european with their DIN and TUV standards.  Stay away from products made in 3rd world countries if they are next to your skin. 

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