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Thirsty Thursday for Knowledge Did you Know? According to the campaign for safe cosmetics, heavy metals like lead, arsenic, mercury, aluminum, zinc, chromium and iron are found in a wide variety of personal care products including lipstick, whitening toothpaste, eyeliner, bronzer, and nail color. Some metals are intentionally added as ingredients, while others are contaminants. The problem is that they do not need to be listed on a label either way. 🤢 ☝️☝️I'm gonna bet your didnt know this...☝️☝️ ‼️ Now, keep in mind that some metals play important roles in normal functions of the body. For instance, iron is necessary for blood oxygenation. However, when these metals accumulate they may have serious negative effects. Other metals, such as lead and mercury, do not have normal physical functions in the body. Exposure to metals has been linked to health concerns including: 🙅‍♀️reproductive toxicity 🙅‍♀️immune toxicity 🙅‍♀️nervous system toxicity 🙅‍♀️various cancers 🙅‍♀️organ system toxicity 🙅‍♀️developmental delay Easiest way to avoid: ✅ Choose products that do NOT contain FD&C pigments (synthetic dyes) and put products back on the shelf if they have a color word on the label like “red” or “blue” ✅ Ensure mineral SPF is utilizing the non-nano form of titanium dioxide and zinc ✅ Avoid loose powder mineral cosmetics and spray SPF which increase risk of inhalation ✅ Choose cosmetics that utilize mineral pigments that are EcoCert-certified and are NOT sourced from China. The background levels of environmental pollution in China are so high, and the laws over there are so lenient, that a lot of products that come from there are suspect. EcoCert is a European standard that guarantees that the ingredients are free of synthetic components/additives, and they require documentation on heavy metals presented to them before they issue a certification. Hope this can be helpful!