Chemical Free Living
6 Toxic Preservatives Every Family Needs to Avoid
As a safety-conscious parent, you are probably careful to avoid toxic ingredients like phthalates (please skip those fragrances!) and triclosan. What you might not know is that besides toxic fragrances & antibacterials, there is a whole other class of harmful chemicals that you should avoid. They could be in just about every liquid, cream or lotion that you and your family use. Even the so-called natural or chemical free products you think are safer. Baby wash? Check. Natural laundry detergent? Check. Hand soap? Check. Moisturizer? Check. Natural cleaners? Check. And what are they? Ominous drumroll please…PRESERVATIVES. They are in so many products because anything with water in it will start to grow bacteria unless there is a preservative added. You can’t avoid all preservatives, but we are here to arm you with your hitlist of the most harmful preservatives so that you can shift to safer alternatives.
First, why should you be concerned? Because the preservatives below are among the most common irritants, skin sensitizers & contact allergens, and some are associated with endocrine disruption, reproductive, neuro and lung toxicity. Even worse, some of them are rampant in products labeled as “natural”, including cleaning products, hand soaps, laundry detergent and kids’ personal care products. That’s because there are no federal standards dictating criteria for what cleaning or personal care products can be labeled as “natural”. One thing to keep in mind is that you won’t always see these listed, because in some product categories, manufacturers aren’t required to disclose their full ingredient lists. Cleaning products are an example. If you see a product that doesn’t list its ingredients, assume the manufacturer is hiding something harmful and make a different choice.