CHEMICAL HAZARDS &

HUMAN HEALTH

I’m back! And the second topic that needs to be discussed for Wednesday night’s environmental science blog is chemical hazards and their possible effects on human health. One thing that a lot of people do not realize, and that I didn’t even realize myself prior to taking an environmental science class, is that harmful chemicals are everywhere. Something that people are even less aware of is that a lot of the household products that we know and trust contain these harmful chemicals, and could, in turn, be affecting us negatively. Whether these chemicals are found in the products themselves, or in the packaging that they come in, it is important to be knowledgeable about these chemicals and their possible harmful effects on humans. There’s been extensive research on chemicals found in common products, but it is hard to say exactly how extreme the consequences of using these products are. Some chemicals have been found to have relation to cancer or nervous system damage, both of which are incredibly serious side effects. However, as we talked about in last week’s lecture, the products that you find in the store are innocent until proven guilty—meaning, a product is assumed to be safe until something horrible results from using it, and only then will it be removed from the shelves.

There are two common chemicals that I have decided to do a little more research on: BPA and parabens. Bisphenol A (also known as BPA) is a chemical that is found in many items, ranging from water bottles, to DVDs, to artificial teeth. On a BPA fact sheet found on the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ website, I discovered that the chemical may have negative effects “on the brain, behavior, and prostate glands of fetuses, infants, and children.” Evidence for these claims have been found in experiments on laboratory animals. 

Another chemical that could be harmful to human health is parabens. I learned about parabens in my previous environmental science class and was surprised to learn of all the products that they could be found in that I use everyday, ranging from lotions to shampoos and conditioners. Some of the negative effects that I discovered on the Scientific American website included disruption in hormone function and links to an increased risk of breast cancer. Evidence for this link to breast cancer is shown in a British study that found traces of parabens “in the breast tumors of 19 out of 20 women studied.” Although this study does not prove that a relationship exists between parabens and breast cancer, it is still good information to know, in order to be aware of how parabens are able to “penetrate skin and remain in breast tissue.”

I use lotion and beauty products just about everyday, so I wanted to find out if anything that I use on a daily basis contains parabens.  I looked up the face lotion that I use everyday and I found that years ago it did contain at least two different parabens, but I was pleasantly surprised to found out that today, the same lotion is no longer made with parabens. However, I rummaged around a little more and discovered that my shaving cream does contain the chemical, methylparaben, which is classified as a paraben. Because of this discovery, I will probably throw the shaving cream away and switch to a new one or none at all. It also works just to use lathered up soap as a shaving cream. I think that as the awareness of the possible dangers of parabens is growing, there are a lot of safer products on the market that are paraben free. And while they used to be more expensive because of this factor, it is now becoming more mainstream to ditch the parabens, which keeps prices generally the same as products that do contain parabens. I did find that there are also a ton of homemade shaving cream recipes that are easy and I’m looking forward to trying them out!

sources:

shaving cream recipes: https://wellnessmama.com/2628/shaving-soap-recipes/

water bottle picture: https://www.quora.com/Why-should-we-not-drink-water-in-plastic-bottle

parabens picture: http://yaletownnaturopathic.com/blog/

BPA fact sheet: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/bisphenol_a_bpa_508.pdf

parabens:https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/should-people-be-concerned-about-parabens-in-beauty-products/

other sources:

lecture: http://faculty.rcc.edu/huff/Fall%202017/Eviromental%20Science/Powerpoints/Lecture_2_Sci_Literacy_and_Process_Info_Literacy.pdf

book: Environmental Science for a Changing World by Susan Karr, Jeneen Interlandi, Anne Houtman