Petrochemical Heartbreak

Theme song: Killing Me Softly

As those of you who know me know, I volunteer at the San Francisco Green Film Festival. For the past two years I have filmed, edited and uploaded "festival goer in the street" videos. These videos are used to tell the story of what people experience at the Festival.

My Story

Last year, on my ANNACOLIBRI website, I blogged about the film Blood in the Mobile. Blood in the Mobile documents the use of trace minerals in our electronics. The tragic fact is that virtually all of the electronics we use are made possible by the slave labor of children and young people in Congo.

As someone who makes a career from the use of electronics, I instantly committed to organizations like Raise Hope For Congo in order to put an end to the vile use of slaves to make our cellphones, laptops, desktops, iPads and iPods (Don't get me wrong: Apple isn't the only one using these minerals but Apple manufactures most of the products I use).

Closer to Home

This year the bad news brings us closer to home in the form of unregulated toxic chemicals. I learned all about it in the film Unacceptable Levels.

The sad truth is that, as US citizens, we are subjected to more than 82,000 chemicals -- many of which are toxic, most of which have never been tested for human use.

Of these chemicals, about 12,500 are used in the cosmetics industry.

Toxic chemicals that enter the body through the skin are actually more dangerous then toxic chemicals we eat. This is because chemicals absorbed through the skin go directly into our blood streams, whereas chemicals that we eat are processed via digestive enzymes before entering our blood.

The European Union has banned over 1,300 of these chemicals from cosmetics. Our government has banned the use of 11.

Here are some examples of what you will find in US beauty products:

• Lead in lipstick
• Formaldehyde in baby shampoo and
• Parabens even in products that say "No Parabens" because of the "Not intentionally added" clause

Laws pertaining to the US cosmetics industry have not been updated since 1938.

How Did This Happen?

After World War II, our nation was faced with a problem: A surplus of war chemicals and a returning population of men who needed jobs. The solution: Repurpose war chemicals into drinking water additives (fluoride), fertilizers and -- yes -- cosmetics.

What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

Chemicals used in almost every cosmetic brand you can think of as well as fertilizers and other agricultural products are known carcinogens (cause cancer), mutagens (cause cell mutation) and endocrine disruptors (adversely effecting primarily the reproductive system).

You may be aware that, within the past 40 years:

• Breast cancer rates have gone from 1 in 20 women to 1 in 8
• Children born after 2000 have a 1 in 3 chance of diabetes
• The autism rate has grown 1,148% and
• 1 in 4 people die of cancer

Some of this growth is attributable to better diagnoses and longer life spans. But guess what? Children born today are the first generation that is predicted to have a shorter life span than their parents.

Why?

Better living through chemistry (ask Dupont).

Please Don't Believe Me

I'm not asking you to believe me. If you don't, you can Google every single fact here. You can also check references such as:

• www.safecosmetics.org
• www.ewg.org
• www.ceh.org
• www.unacceptablelevels.com

If you are inspired, look at these resources and decide for yourself.

Hope in a Bottle

I just delivered a ton of bad news -- and, sadly, it was really just the tip of the iceberg.

Here's what you should know: People like you are on the case and positive change is happening.

If you get excited about making a difference, you can:

• Go to the Skin Deep database and find out what's in your products
• Choose organic whole foods (hint: they don't come in packages unless they are liquid) and
• Use fewer plastics -- especially to store food

I have myself joined the Beautycounter movement, a socially conscious enterprise that is:

• Innovating safer beauty products
• Providing jobs for women
• Donating to activist nonprofits ($15,000 dollars since the company's March launch) and
• Directly supporting the Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013 (H.R. 1385)

At the end of the day it's sad and disturbing to think that our government is not protecting us from these ubiquitous substances. On the other hand, I feel hopeful because I am actively supporting causes like the San Francisco Green Film Festival and Beautycounter.

Your Turn

What do you think? Is it all just another conspiracy theory or are toxic chemicals effecting our health and the health of the planet? If it's true, what do you think should be done? Let us know in the comments. Let the debate begin!