David Suzuki's "Dirty Dozen" Is Old News at Zoe Blais

Online, October 20, 2010 (Newswire.com) - David Suzuki's "Dirty Dozen" has recently been reported as a list of the 12 most commonly used chemicals in our skin and body care products that we should be avoiding.

One in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors. One in eight of 82,000 is a scary number.

In doing research for the creation of the Vancouver based Zoe Blais line of organic skin care products, company Founder and CEO Debbie Burgin says, "I was doing research for an organic preservative, and one ingredient caught my eye. When I read the words, "releases formaldehyde" (#5 on the Suzuki list), I knew that this could not be included in any of our products."

As Canadians, 80% of us are using products that contain at least one ingredient from the "Dirty Dozen" list. Burgin says that, " We should be watching for ingredients like Lauryl sulfate (SLS), Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), Paraben preservatives or alkyl-p-hydroxybenzoates (anything containing "methyl", "propyl", "butyl", and "ethyl"), anything in the Formaldehyde family or Diazolidinyl urea, 3-diol Imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM Hydantoin, Quaternium-15, Nitropropane-1, Formalin, Methanal , Methyl aldehyde, Methylene oxide, Morbicid acid, and Oxymethylene."

Many of these ingredients can result in hormone disruption, some are estrogenic (mimics natural estrogens that lead to cancer); are linked to breast cancer, cause skin rashes, kidney and liver damage, nervous system disruption, damage to eyes leading to cataracts, eczema and dermatitis, or are known to inflame skin layers to name just a few.

A high percentage of these ingredients have been banned in other countries. So why are we okay with using products that contain them in Canada?

How can consumers avoid purchasing products that contain what's become known as the "Dirty Dozen"?

"I could say that one should read the label, but given the list above, is the average 'Jane' going to remember which of those ingredients she should be avoiding?"

"The only way that we as consumers can completely avoid these ingredients in our skin and body care products, is to switch to a line that is "organic" or "natural"."

"When we use the term 'Organic' at Zoe Blais, we mean that none of the ingredients in any of our products contain chemicals, or come from anything that had a mother.'"