Who knew? Pollution from shampoo

In light of Epigram’s green week, Online Style Editor Hannah Worthington exposes how our favourite perfumes or beauty products such as shampoo, really ‘could be creating as much harmful air pollution as the traffic outside’ according to new study from peer reviewed academic journal Science.

For years we have been trying to cut out harmful co2 or greenhouse gas emissions by driving less, recycling with more efficiency, and by turning all electricals off when we don’t use them. However as of Science Magazine’s latest issue (6337, volume 359 to be exact), scientists have revealed that volatile chemical products, such as our every day shampoo, cleaning agents, adhesives and other simple personal care products like aerosols are producing excessive ‘anthropogenic VOC emissions’.

So what exactly does this scientific jargon mean? Anthropogenic VOC emissions are ‘volatile organic compounds’ responsible for environmental pollution - and these carbon chemicals can really be found in all living things. Where many volatile organic compounds are ‘commonly used in paint thinners and automative products like gasoline’, now, our everyday must haves are being targeted. So, when you spray your deodorant or give your hair a wash, we are all effectively releasing these emissions. For more information on this, cross over to Tox Town.

According to the above tables as posted in the study, personal care and cleaning products are filling up large margins of our chemical fingerprint use. Admittedly, diesel and petroleum are still very high in terms of emission factors, however volatile chemical products, that we, as students, use every single day, are really on the rise.

What can we do if our everyday reusables are really quite damaging to our health? Does an ‘organic’ symbol, or vegan friendly sign really mean anything on our products anymore? Robin Whyatt, professor of environmental sciences at the Columbia Centre proposes that while moving away from certain harmful chemicals will reduce elements of exposure, ‘we don’t know what it needs to be reduced to’. Looking for exact ingredients is not going to give us a definitive answer, as many consumer products are only ‘loosely regulated’, comments health reporter Amy Westervelt.

With most students on average washing their hair 3-4 times a week, and most likely using cleaning detergents like vanish when we need to get rid of a fake tan stain, or Cif for grubby work surfaces, there seems to be cause for concern.

The simple step is to take a quick read on the back of shampoo packaging or other beauty products, as this in theory could save ourselves from unnecessary pollutant exposure by simply opting for safer bottles on the shelves. The fact that there are camouflage names, and products not always listed will limit how much we can change, but, we can try to opt for safer ones by avoiding these ingredients:

Ethanol amines
Parabens
Octinoxate
Oxybenxone
Formaldehyde releasing preservatives
Sodium Sulfates
Preservatives
Fragrances

Fragrances are perhaps the most shocking on this list, for I naturally go to products with vanilla or coconut aromas that I was led to believe were just adding a nice scent to my hair. Really, I’m now questioning as to whether scents in products are simply designed to mask the real harsh chemical odours, as Mamavation have revealed the term ‘fragrance’ is used as an umbrella term for over 100 products that could be causing harm to you, and the environment. Similarly, preservatives could be damaging as cosmetics have an expiration date not to signify when products ‘go off’ but rather to limit toxicity.

Scariest of all, synthetic musks, (fragrant) are linked to ‘hormone disruption and build-up in our bodies’. We all conclude, for example, that the pill is naturally disrupting our hormone system, well what if it’s our beauty products too?
Maybe it’s time to take a proper look at our cosmetic and everyday reusables.

Featured Image: Epigram / Hannah Worthington