Fresh scent may hide toxic secret
Innocuous-sounding 'perfume' in detergents, air fresheners made with dangerous chemicals

The scented fabric sheet makes your shirts and socks smell flowery fresh and clean. That plug-in air freshener fills your home with inviting fragrances of apple and cinnamon or a country garden.
But those common household items are potentially exposing your family and friends to dangerous chemicals, a University of Washington study has found.
Trouble is, you have no way of knowing it. Manufacturers of detergents, laundry sheets and air fresheners aren't required to list all of their ingredients on their labels -- or anywhere else. Laws protecting people from indoor air pollution from consumer products are limited.

The tiny, useful particle that could also be a health problem

For as long as there have been socks, there have been smelly socks, and attempts to try to solve that eternal, noxious problem.

For the last few years, a type of sock has become very popular because it has the solution built right in: infinitesimal particles of silver, naturally anti-bacterial and, thus, anti-odiferous.

The silver, known since ancient times to have disinfectant properties, works so well because particles so small can be vastly more powerful than the same substance at normal size.

It's hard to overstate just how small. "Nano" means one-billionth of a metre. In many cases, this refers to the scale of atoms, which are the smallest units of all matter.

A human hair, by comparison, is 80,000 nanometres wide.

But what happens to the particles in the socks? In an experiment reported at the American Chemical Society meeting last month, two Arizona State University scientists, Troy Benn and Paul Westerhoff, washed seven brands of nanosilver socks and then tested the wastewater. All but one pair leaked silver.

That silver, of course, ends up in our sewers, rivers and lakes.

Via The Toronto Star

How Toxic is Your 'Natural' Spa?From the Telegraph.

And... perhaps because we are getting more health conscious and perfumes can be poisonous!!!

Like red roses and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, perfume has traditionally been one of the fail-safe offerings of Valentine’s Day. But this year, as couples sit down to romantic dinners, a small but growing cohort of American women will emit scents that are more corporal and less Chanel. At a time when the number of perfumes on shelves has dramatically increased, consumption of fragrances is declining, industry analysts said. Last year, department stores carried 1,160 different fragrances for women compared with 756 in 2002, according to NPD Group, a market research firm that tracks consumer product sales.

Study raises alarm about baby shampoo, lotion
Chemicals linked to health problems

Feb 05, 2008 04:30 AM

CHICAGO–Baby shampoos, lotions and powders may expose infants to chemicals that have been linked to possible reproductive problems, a small study suggests.

The chemicals, called phthalates, are found in many ordinary products, including cosmetics, toys, vinyl flooring and medical supplies. They are used to stabilize fragrances and make plastics flexible.

They were found in elevated levels in the urine of babies who'd been recently shampooed, powdered or lotioned with baby products.

Phthalates (pronounced thowl-ates) are under attack by some environmental advocacy groups, but experts are uncertain what dangers, if any, they might pose. The U.S. government doesn't limit their use, although California and some countries have restricted it.

Animal studies have suggested that phthalates can cause reproductive birth defects and some activists believe they may cause reproductive problems in boys and early puberty in girls.

Rigorous scientific evidence in human studies is lacking. The current study offers no direct evidence that products the infants used contained phthalates, and no evidence that the chemicals in the babies' urine caused any harm. Still, the results worried environmental groups that support restrictions on these chemicals.

Associated Press

Here's an article from today's Daily Mail re: the outrageously unscientific claims being made by cosmetics companies. It also goes to show people's outrageous gullibility to actually believe this stuff in the first place!!!

Check out this article from The Nation on Nail Polish and the hazards of working with it day in and day out.