harsh chemicals Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Hand Sanitizer & Skincare Products May Increase BPA Absorption Through the Skin

The AHA! Team — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 05:12:49 +0000

Sara Middleton via NaturalHealth365 – Your handy hand sanitizer could increase the amount of BPA absorbed through your skin. How many of you have ever taken advantage of the free hand sanitizer that cashiers leave at the checkout counter? How many of you keep a bottle in your car or purse for a quick squirt before sitting down to a meal? While your intent may be in the right place – to kill harmful bacteria and viruses that you may come in contact with in your day-to-day life – you could suffer an unintended consequence, according to a scientific paper. Specifically, your handy hand sanitizer could increase the amount of BPA absorbed through your skin. Recent research highlights even more concerns, particularly for children. Their study reveals that chemical-based hand sanitizers pose risks such as skin irritation, hypoglycemia, and acidosis and may also contain harmful contaminants such as methanol, benzene, and acetaldehyde. These contaminants can have toxic effects through ingestion, inhalation, or dermal absorption. Using hand sanitizer makes it easier for a harmful chemical to get into your bloodstream, research shows Conventional hand sanitizer usually contains about 65-90% alcohol along with other chemicals, many of which are potentially harmful in their own right. In a paper published in PLOS One, the researchers discovered that people who used hand sanitizer and then touched receipts had significantly higher blood serum and urine levels of another harmful chemical, BPA. Specifically, hand sanitizer use was associated with a 100-fold increase in BPA absorption. Why is this so? It turns out that skin care products like hand sanitizers are explicitly designed to make the skin more permeable. So every time you pump a bit of the product into your palm, you’re potentially opening the gates to toxic chemicals … even if most (though never all) of the germs on you will be killed. Sounds like a tough trade-off. The serious problem with BPA and a few tips for keeping your hands clean without the need for hand sanitizers In case you don’t remember, BPA (bisphenol A) is a chemical found in plastics and can easily leech into the products they contain – water, food, infant formula, etc. Here’s why we don’t want BPA in our bodies: Endocrine disruptors The chemical is a known endocrine disruptor, which means it mimics and/or disrupts the function of key chemical messengers in the body, including estrogen. This can lead to everything from reproductive health issues to bone health issues. In fact, animal and human research has linked BPA exposure to issues like cognitive impairments, male and female infertility, and impotence. Of course, communicable bacteria and viruses can also harm your health, and it’s well-established that healthier hands mean healthier bodies. So, what’s a health-conscious consumer to do? First, wash your hands with soap and water whenever possible, especially if your hands are visibly dirty. This tried-and-true practice is still deemed the best way to reduce the spread of germs. If you can, opt for natural soaps and skin care products that are gentle on your skin, effective, and free of harmful additives like parabens and phthalates. These additives can also disrupt hormone function or even increase the risk of cancer. And if you’re out shopping, consider asking for an emailed-only receipt. Editor’s note: The best way to remove phthalates is to sweat. Discover a way to own your own at-home personal sauna to remove unwanted toxins safely and effectively. Sources for this article include: NIH.gov Newsweek.com PLOS.org NIH.gov CDC.gov To read the original article click here.

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Microneedling Beats Chemical Peels for Acne Scar Treatment

AHA Publisher — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 07:00:48 +0000

Rutgers University-New Brunswick via Newswise – Chemical peels are a common treatment for acne scars, but a Rutgers study finds that microneedling is significantly more effective for patients with dark skin. Babar Rao, a professor of dermatology and pathology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and fellow researchers randomly assigned 60 patients with acne scars and dark skin — Fitzpatrick Skin Phototype IV to VI — to treatment with either 35 percent glycolic acid chemical peels or microneedling, both administered every two weeks for 12 weeks. Microneedling is a cosmetic procedure involving tiny, sterilized needles that pierce the skin to stimulate collagen production and reduce scarring. Chemical peels involve applying a solution to the skin that removes the top layers. Treatment produced an improvement of two points or more on the Goodman and Baron Scarring Grading System in 33 percent of patients who received chemical peels and 73 percent of patients who underwent microneedling. “Based on the results of this study, patients whose darker skin precludes the use of stronger chemical peels, which can permanently discolor darker skin, should treat acne scars with microneedling,” said Rao, the senior author of the study. “For patients with lighter skin who can use stronger peels without risk of discoloration, chemical peels might still be the best option for some.” To read the original article click here.

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It’s Time to Get Off the “Pesticide Treadmill” and Here Is Why

AHA Publisher — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 08:00:20 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – For decades we’ve known that pesticides and agriculture are a deadly combination. Over the years, the government has passed regulations that make it look like they are making an earnest effort to “clean up” our food when, in fact, they are simply exchanging one pesticide that has come onto our radar and garnered a lot of attention for another that is more obscure. The less you know, the more you will accept. Your government is riding on the hope, the assumption, that the people are largely uninformed – and they’re absolutely correct. The truth is, pesticides have made their way into not only the crops but also the animal herds. And the effects are long-lasting as well as devastating. The pesticide treadmill is real, and it is detrimental to your health. What Is the “Pesticide Treadmill” and Why Is it Detrimental to Your Health? The pesticide treadmill is a trap that gets farmers caught up in a vicious cycle of pesticide use. They begin innocently enough with minimal product. That doesn’t last long, though. As weeds and insects develop resistance to pesticides, the farmers must use a higher quantity and more toxic chemicals to maintain control. The resistance that insects and weeds develop due to pesticide use breeds superbugs and superweeds which do not respond to the chemicals being used. When this happens, and farmers begin seeing it in their crops, they use more potent chemicals like 2,4-D, linked to reproductive problems, brain damage, and several types of cancer. To put this into perspective, farmers in the United States in the 1940s lost 7% of their crops to pests. Today, that number has increased to 13% despite the increased use of pesticides. It is estimated that since 1945 as many as 1,000 weed and insect species have developed a resistance to pesticides. The sad truth is that this is entirely unnecessary. There are several alternatives available for managing garden, lawn, and home pests without harmful, toxic pesticides. But Wait, the Damage Does Not Stop There! Pesticide Use Leads to MANY Serious Problems Several serious problems can emerge from this pesticide use. As the farmer must use stronger and more toxic chemicals, those chemicals are transferred to the people who eat the crops. But they are also transferred to the animals that graze on the lands and are fed either from food grown on the farm or stored in close proximity to the pesticide use or storage. These chemicals have been linked to a number of health problems, an increased risk of death, and birth defects. These chemicals are seeping into our water, soil, and food chain. There isn’t much that pesticides haven’t touched. And that’s a problem. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted tests on rural waterways and found that pesticides contaminated more than 61% at high enough levels that it was harmful to the aquatic life there. In the soil, pesticides decrease microbial diversity, which destroys the organic matter that holds water in the soil, increasing the farmland’s resiliency to drought. And if that isn’t enough, this pesticide problem is not only confined to the farms using the chemicals. The chemicals can also find their way onto other farms via water runoff and other ways. So even farms that are not caught up in the pesticide treadmill are still affected. Here Is how to Reduce Your Exposure to Toxic Chemicals in Your Food One of the best ways to escape the effects of the pesticide treadmill is to turn to small, local farms instead of massive commercial farms. These farms use cottage gardening, a small-scale plan that uses smaller plots of land for farming. As a result, it is easier to manage, and pesticide use, if any, is on a much smaller scale. While there are companies out there developing alternatives and products that may help break that cycle, they still have a way to go. Today, your best bet is to look to the small, local farmers to get your food. You have a better chance of staying pesticide-free that way. Sources for this article include: Panna.org ChildrensHealthDefense.org Panna.org Enviropaedia.com To read the original article click here.

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