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They Say You Are What You Eat, but…
New Research Demonstrates How Salon Products Are More Dangerous Than People Think. This new information, highlighting the dangers of salon products, has been redefining how we think about our health.
The growing movement to eat more natural, organic, and healthy food has swept the world and inspired a new generation of more physically fit, mentally aware, and healthier human beings whose longevity is far more sustainable than previous generations. This is absolutely a profound development for humanity and our global collective community as the sustainable healthy condition of this generation will meant that they will require less expensive health care, have an extended mentally productive lifespan, and enhance the richness of the human experience overall.
Dangers of Salon Products
However, new research has clearly demonstrated that the importance of what actually enters our blood systems and organs has been too focused on what we eat. Dr. Stephen Mazur, a physician who has been practicing medicine for over 40 years, says “The body’s digestive system has an extraordinary ability to filter out chemicals and toxins that other systems in the body simply do not have. Most notably, toxins most commonly entered through the integumentary (skin) system of the body pose a much more direct and therefore higher risk. Any product that is applied to our skin is soaked directly into our bloodstream. Skin, the bodies largest organ and the bodies largest and most direct path to our bloodstream, simply does not have the gastric acids of the stomach, the pancreatic enzymes of the small intestines, or the microbes of the large intestines that filter out chemicals, sodiums or any other dangerous waste.”
Dr. Mazur’s position on this has been well supported by new and emerging research debunking the once believed premise that the skin is an adequate barrier to keep chemicals out of the body. In fact, topical medication application has been proven to be a highly effective and direct way to administer medicine into the blood system by simply applying a cream to your skin. This has been particularly useful for medicines that have a need to bypass the digestive system and enter directly into the blood stream to avoid being filtered out by the stomach and intestines.
The Significance of the Scalp
Ongoing research has found that the scalp is the single best place on the body to administer topical medication because it presents the area where the skin has the most dense amount of follicles and pores, which is the means by which the medication enters our bloodstream from the skin.
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled “Keratinous Fiber Wicking and Follicular Penetration” examines how 25 common hair care chemicals are absorbed by hair fibers like “microscopic straws” that draw the chemicals into the follicle where they can be dissolved in the bloodstream. Chemicals that were historically thought to be harmless because they are unable to penetrate skin have a much higher degree of bio-availablity when “sucked” into the scalp through porous hair fibers. The dangers of salon products are only compounded by their ease of access into the blood stream.
According to the lead researcher, M. Weghosh, “…the medulla of the hair has an amplifying effect on the the potency of these chemicals. This study changes our entire world view on hair toxicology.”
Emerging Research Linking Salon Product Ingredients to Cancer
Since 2004, leading researchers like Dr. Philippa Darbre have been proving a link between common ingredients in most shampoos and conditioners like parabens to breast cancer and other cancers. Recent research released this week from the Journal of Applied Toxicology indicated that medical researchers discovered that nearly all women with breast cancer have parabens in their breast tissue. The link between other chemical toxins commonly found in shampoos and conditioners such as sodium laurel sulfates used a “sudsing” agent has also been closely linked to cancer.
However, despite the incredible dangers of salon products in the mild products like shampoos and conditioners, the chemical treatments commonly performed in salons are even more egregious. Chemicals like formaldehyde, toluene-2,5-diamine sulfate, thioglycolates, ammonia, and resorcinol which are usually active ingredients or pigments in hair color, straightening systems, and other products are even more carcinogenic, toxic, and dangerous to our overall health. With many of these toxins, even breathing them in can cause long term health concerns which puts salon professionals, who are exposed to fumes from these toxins everyday, at particular danger.
Complete Lack of Regulation
Many people are under the false perception that the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) regulates the ingredients of cosmetics and guard consumers against the dangers of salon products. This is completely untrue. In fact, unlike most other countries, there is no government body at all that regulates the ingredients of cosmetics in the United States! The FDA only regulates foods and drugs, of which hair care products and cosmetics are not. While the DFA does have rules requiring cosmetics and hair care products be safe and properly labeled, the rules are passive and to some extent relies on self-regulation as products are neither pre-approved or regularly reviewed.
What You Can Do
A truly professional licensed salon professional understands that their clients are relying on them to provide them with safe, high quality, well informed, and creative salon services to help you realize the closest approximation to your ideal image. They understand that mere fact that the products in the salon industry are not regulated by a government authority does not exonerate their professional duty to service their clients and maximize their overall beauty without sacrificing their client’s health, safety or wellbeing.
Organic Salon Systems professionals have demonstrated an ongoing emphasis on health, safety, environmental stewardship, the use of more natural and organic ingredients, and commitment against using animals for testing. These salon professionals, specialized in organic alternatives to the dangers of salon products, have a heightened knowledge of ingredients and how they effect our health and wellness. To find an Organic Salon Systems’ salon near you, please call us at (888) 213-4744.
