Chemicals in Personal Care Products

People have been aware of the importance of personal health and hygiene for many years. Everybody always wants to look and feel their very best and to be able to maintain a clean and healthy lifestyle. In order to maintain and achieve that healthy looking appearance, many people look towards personal care products to help them. There are many varieties of personal care products but the main ones include soaps, toothpastes, shampoos and conditioners, skin care, and deodorants.

In soaps, the common compounds used are sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide. Soaps are not harmful to us unless it is ingested or comes into contact with our eyes. Sodium fluoride (NaF), stannous(II) fluoride (SnF2) and sodium monofluorophosphate (Na2PO3F) are all fluorine compounds added to toothpaste. These compounds have a positive effect because it helps prevent tooth decay. However, in many shampoos and conditioners there is a very harmful chemical compound contained, called Sodium Laurel Sulfate(SLS). It is found that exposure to SLS can cause eye damage, depression, diarrhea, and many other ailments. A highly recommended solution to this issue would be to start using organic hair products instead since it does not contain any chemicals at all. Just like in shampoos and conditioners there are harmful chemicals in deodorants and antiperspirants as well. The two main harmful chemicals found are Aluminum-based compounds and Parabens which are both said to be linked to breast cancer by scientists. Propylene glycol, pthalates and triclosan are also very harmful chemicals found in deodorants and antiperspirants that should be avoided. A solution to this would be to find a deodorant made from natural ingredients such as baking soda and organic essential oils.