Standards for Natural and Organic Cosmetics Written by Lori Stryker
Standards for Natural and Organic Cosmetics If you are concerned about what you eat, and levels of synthetic chemicals present in your food, next logical step is to focus attention on what you put on your skin every day. Up to 60 percent of what is applied to skin soaks through to blood vessels where it is processed by liver. The rest of cosmetic is absorbed by skin or evaporates away. For those who approach their health holistically, cosmetics warrant a closer view as to what current standards are regarding natural and organic cosmetics. A natural cosmetic denotes a product made with natural ingredients and simple methods of preparation. Natural cosmetics should also be free from chemical ingredients, which are agents that have undergone extreme heat or pressure to drastically alter chemical profile of original substance. Many synthetic chemicals, although chemically identical to their natural parallels, have a history of causing allergies, contact dermatitis and other adverse reactions when they are used in cosmetics. Petroleum-derived substances likewise have a dubious history, causing damage to environment and skin. If in manufacture of a cosmetic ingredient or whole cosmetic ecology and biodiversity of flora and fauna of earth has been irreparably damaged, then cosmetic cannot claim to be natural or organic. Likewise, genetically modified, bio-engineered or irradiated ingredients appear contrary to concept of a natural cosmetic. Natural ingredients must be limited to substances which are derived directly and simply from plant sources, minerals and rarely animal sources, and use methods such as cold-pressing, distillation, collecting, such as with beeswax or honey, which imposes no harm to bee or its hive, harvesting plants and seeds, etc. In addition, it is responsibility of manufacturer to examine safety data for each ingredient used to ensure minimal or no toxicity to consumer. In Canada, there are no current standards for natural or organic cosmetics, and organic food labeling is voluntary. In U.S., many are lobbying for stringent standards in cosmetic industry, to regulate how terms “natural” and “organic” can be used. There are no standards for personal care products, and some manufacturers have procured certifications by independent organizations from various parts of world. Ingredients which are used in manufacture of cosmetics which are certified agriculturally by USDA can be identified on labels. For food, a product is 95-100 percent organic if it contains mostly or only organically produced ingredients. The California Organic Products Act of 2003 states that a personal care product is certified organic if it contains 70 percent minimum weight organic ingredients which are non-water and non-salt, but rest can be synthetic or petroleum derived as long as these substances are on National Organic Program’s approved list. Controversy has arisen from use of hydrosols, or floral waters to constitute bulk of 70 percent, in order to gain certification. Clearly, focus on organic status in necessary, but more pressing is issue of whether a cosmetic is truly natural or not. It is not possible at present time to have a full range of cosmetic products which are made from all certified organic ingredients, since cost is prohibitive, but more importantly availability of ingredients which would qualify as truly organic are not available.
| | All About Salt and SodiumWritten by Donald Gazzaniga
First in a series: Salt is not only source of sodium you should be concerned about. When USDA minimum daily requirement for sodium was listed between 1,110 mg and 3,300 mg, many people thought USDA was referring to only salt. The USDA's reference was to all forms of sodium. Unfortunately, there are a great number of hidden sources of sodium in packaged, canned, frozen and prepared foods as well as in dairy products. (NOTE: Your vitamins and some medications may also have sodium. A Centrum Senior or comparable vitamin contains nearly 61 mg of sodium. In our low sodium lifestyle, that can be more than 10% of a desirable daily intake.) Following are most prevalent sources of sodium. Salt (Iodized) Commercially produced salt is 99.9% pure sodium chloride (NaCL), with 2,350 mg of sodium per level teaspoon. The old "salt mines" still provide us some of our table salt while some is also chemically produced. Sea salt is mined from sea, but sodium count is as high with 2,132 mg to 2,350 mg per teaspoon. Sea salt does not contain iodine. When cutting salt out of your diet, you might want to replace iodine by taking a multi-vitamin that contains iodine or by adding a serving or two of fish to your diet each week. Check labels of multi-vitamins to make sure enough iodine is available. The history of salt is interesting. Some theorize that salt was as important to our history lessons as were all of man's other achievements. Napoleon for instance is credited with creating first "canned" foods for his army, in order to keep them alive while marching on Russia, which contained a lot of salt for preservation of food. Salt has been used for centuries to cure meat, but is no longer used for that since refrigeration replaced need. Some religions still use salt in ceremonies as a token or recognition of past rituals. With introduction of refrigeration, salt was no longer necessary to preserve meat.
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