The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

Some personal care products contain potentially harmful toxins and should be used in moderation according to anaesthesiologist Dr Sy Pierre. He signalled out hair glue, used widely by Bahamian women to adhere hair extensions, as “probably one of the most toxic things known to man”.

If a woman’s natural hair is too short for braid weaving, glue is often used as an alternative to apply hair extensions. Glue is also used for quick hairstyles, or as an inexpensive alternative to braid weaving.

“The glue seeps into your body and it is basically like shooting oil in your veins. Women basically shouldn’t use hair weave glue at all. I was speaking with some of the young ladies at work and they said when they put this stuff in, they can’t get wet in the rain or anything like that. I am saying if you cannot get it wet, then how often do you wash your hair, and that is a whole other problem,” said Dr Pierre.

“The problem of the toxicity from personal care products is long term, where a person can slowly absorb small amounts of what is called fat soluble toxins. These are basically the products of petroleum distillation, basically like oil, gases and things like that,” said Dr Pierre.

Other personal care products, from soap, mouthwash and various creams contain chemicals which are known and probable human carcinogens. When used in excess, they can be harmful, according to medical experts. A six-month investigation into more than 10,000 personal care product was conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an American environmental organisation that specialises in research and advocacy in the areas of toxic chemicals, agricultural subsidies, public lands, and corporate accountability.

The study revealed that 99.6 percent of the products contain one or more ingredients that have never been safety tested by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and one-third of all products contain one or more ingredients classified as possible human carcinogens. The FDA has banned or restricted only nine personal care product ingredients, where the European Union, by comparison, has banned 450.

“Young women are using mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, gloss, facial creams, lotions, perfume, shaving cream, mouth wash, soaps. All of these things are very toxic. When you have all of these substances going into your breast tissue, it is no wonder that breast cancer is so high. Any of these substances by themselves, are probably not that bad because our body can take quite a bit of abuse, but once you start adding 5 to 20 substances for 20 years of your life, your diet is poor, you don’t exercise, you don’t sweat, I am surprised that the rate of breast cancer isn’t higher. And it will go higher if we don’t stop,” said Dr Pierre.

Dr Pierre said toxins do not affect all people equally. 
“My immune system is different from another person’s. We may be exposed to the same thing, and I may have inflammation around my joints, another person may have inflammation in their pelvis. It is a different response to the same thing,” said Dr Pierre.
There are simple changes people can make to reduce the toxins in their bodies. On weekends, for example, Dr Pierre said perfumes and creams and other personal care products should be used minimally.

“Sometimes I see people exercising and you can smell the cologne a mile away, and why is that necessary. The purpose of sweating is to get rid of these products. Being in the sun sweating, without all of these things on, is actually a good idea,” said Dr Pierre.

He said it is good to use substances like baking soda. “It is a very good deodorant and antiperspirant. It is a very good toothpaste and it is also a very good foot power,” said Dr Pierre.
Patricia Fox told Tribune Health, she has heard similar warnings before and as a result, she is a more conscientious consumer: “This is not the first time I am learning about how dangerous these things are. Well years ago I stopped using scented products, and leaned more towards natural products. I have to still be more mindful of what I am putting on my body though, especially my hair.”

Jessica Forbes said: “I never knew that these products were so poisonous. While I would like to use some of the non toxic personal care products, some of them are very difficult to find in stores or very expensive when you do find them. But now knowing the negative effect that personal care products can have, I will try my best to limit my use of them. I won’t cut them out entirely because these are things I use to take care of myself.”

However, Tribune Health spoke to some Bahamian consumers who said they were not sold on the warnings.

In complete disagreement, Linda Dean said: “I don’t agree with it because to my knowledge, breast cancer is genetic, and cancer has been around long before hair glue and these other things.”