A handful of recent studies continue to find high levels of toxic materials in shoes. Here are the four major offenders to be aware of.

No ingredient labels come attached your new shoes, and yet, it is still as important for your health to understand what they are made with. Shoe manufacturing is a complicated process with many steps to assemble, and pieces that come together are often filled with toxic materials that pose serious health risks for workers and wearers alike.

A handful of recent studies, detailed below, continue to find high levels of chemicals in shoes. The series of toxins used in making shoes lends to the fact that Greenpeace’s Detox campaign to encourage brands to eliminate toxic chemicals from their products, is extremely timely. Eighteen major global brands have already committed to Detox, including Nike, Adidas, Puma, H&M, Zara, Levi’s, Uniqlo, and Victoria’s Secret. As a customer, you can show your support for the campaign by signing the Fashion Manifesto.

Below are four toxic ingredients to be aware of that are found in shoes.

Chromium

Chromium tanning is present in 80-85 percent of all globally tanned leather. Chromium, a naturally occurring metal and known carcinogen, is extremely toxic to workers and still can be present even for the wearer. The element is also soluble in water, entering waterways and commonly accumulating in fish.

Plasticiser Phthalates

A recent study by the Consumer Council tested 28 pairs of shoes, in which 15 were found to have higher than regulated traces of phthalates. Phthalates are used to soften plastics, and the chemical was found in shoes that were made with plastic. Although this substance is not easily absorbed by the body, off-gases can be inhaled and increase risk of asthma, and even cause hormonal unbalance.

Nonylphenol Ethoxylates (NPEs)

Added to rubber and plastic products during the manufacturing process, companies like GAP, Disney, Adidas, American Apparel and Burberry were found to have detectable levels of NPEs in their products. Although stable and unreactive, NPEs can accumulate in the body and work as a hormone disruptor.

Dimethyl Fumarate (DMF)

Banned in Europe in 2009, DMF is still found in leather shoes, as well as handbags, and other leather products. Used as an anti-molding agent in leather, DMF can cause skin burns and rashes when the substance comes in contact with body heat. A recent three-month study by the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries revealed 25 percent of the shoes tested were contained with the toxic chemical.

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image: Luz Adriana Villa A

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Are dangerous chemical toxins hiding in your personal care products? Thanks to a new cosmetics database released by The California Safe Cosmetics Program, it only takes a few clicks to find out.

Crazy as it might seem, a large portion of the personal care products sold in America contain ingredients known or suspected to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. These toxins have nearly unpronounceable names and are hidden inside shampoos, lotions, make-up and other products we slather all over our bodies on a daily basis.

To help consumers become more informed about what they’re being exposed to, The California Safe Cosmetics Program (CSCP) has created an online cosmetics database that makes it simple to find out if your favorite lipstick is putting you at risk for a life threatening disease.

“Searches can be done on a type of product, a specific product name, or a brand, chemical or company name. About 475 companies have submitted information for about 30,000 products so far, and the chemicals in the database include phthalates, mercury and mercury compounds, toluene and formaldehyde, among other known toxicants,” reports SF Gate.

Creators of the cosmetics database point out that just because a product contains a potentially harmful ingredient, it’s not necessarily a risk. Manufacturers are required to report the presence of a chemical, even if it’s only trace amounts.  Some chemicals are considered safe at certain levels of exposure. Although amount of ingredient is not listed on the website, it’s important to consider not just the levels of a single exposure, but cumulative exposure over a lifetime.

Encouragingly, the cosmetics database also contains information about about each of the chemical ingredients, and how chemical exposure can affects consumer health. Some health advocates say this website is an important tool for consumers that will continue the fight for safer cosmetics.

“The database reveals a snapshot of a Wild West industry where cosmetics companies can and are using a shocking array of unsafe and cancer-causing chemicals in seemingly innocent products,”  Janet Nudelman, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is part of the Breast Cancer Fund, told SF Gate. “It will also keep the pressure on companies to reformulate products to remove chemicals linked to adverse health effects.”

Learn more about what’s in your cosmetics and personal care products at: www.safecosmeticsact.org

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Image: luc_viatour

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Retail giant Walmart announced that it is eliminating a list of 10 toxic chemicals from beauty, personal care, and cleaning products. Suppliers will need to provide the retailer with a list of their ingredients to ensure that none of the chemicals make it to the shelves.

This move follows a surprising announcement last month by Proctor & Gamble Co., the world’s largest producer of  personal care and cleaning products, that it will ban phthalates, triclosan, formaldehydes, and parabens from its products.

“Walmart’s decision to banish cosmetics and cleaners made with toxic chemicals will revolutionize the marketplace and help all of us live better by making safer products the new normal,” said Janet Nudelman, Director of Program and Policy for the Breast Cancer Fund and co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, in a press release.

“Kudos to Walmart for responding to growing consumer demand for cosmetics, shampoos, lotions, make-up and cleaners that don’t contain chemicals that are harmful to our health,” said Nudelman. “Eliminating as many as ten toxic chemicals from Walmart’s inventory is a big step forward, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. We know there are many more dangerous chemicals linked to breast cancer and reproductive harm that should be removed from products, and both the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Breast Cancer Fund look forward to working with Walmart to ensure all of the cosmetics and personal care products they sell are safe for everyone.”

Walmart will be developing an overall policy regarding toxic chemicals which may involve additional chemicals to those that are already set for removal. Although Walmart hasn’t yet commented on what 10 chemicals will be banned, experts say that triclosan will likely be on the list. The list will be based on environmental sustainability and chemicals that have safer alternatives easily available.

“Wal-Mart’s policy signals a new era of going beyond regulatory compliance to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals,” said Mark Rossi, co-director of Clean Production Action, a nonprofit organization that designs tools to help companies make their products chemically greener on Huffington Post. “Companies like Wal-Mart are realizing they need to be proactive instead of reactive to the rapidly increasing consumer demand for safer products.”

The announcement was made at Walmart’s annual meeting on sustainability.

Related on EcoSalon:
Beautycounter Empowers Women With Safe Cosmetics
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Ecosalon’s 2013 Eco-Beauty Approved Guide Part 4: Makeup & Color Products

Image: Walmart Corporate 

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Boeing must think radioactive waste is mighty tasty. After all, they’ve allowed plenty of it to sit at one of their research facilities and seep into the surrounding community. So naturally, some students who want the company to clean up its toxic mess at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory thought that offering a bribe of “˜meltdown morsels’ and other radioactive sweets might do the trick.

But the “Teens Against Toxins”, a group of tenth-graders at Oak Park High School in Southern California, must have realized that what Boeing wants above all is money, since the company recently filed a civil lawsuit in an attempt to get out of paying for cleanup of the site. They held a “bake sale meltdown” and presented the company, which made over $68 billion last year, with a gigantic check for the proceeds. The grand total? $99.31.

Shocker: Boeing didn’t show up to accept the money. After 30 minutes of waiting around outside the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, the students, some parents and community members were informed that a Boeing spokesperson was camera-shy and that as a private company, Boeing can’t accept donations.

The 2,859-acre Santa Susana Field Laboratory was once home to 10 nuclear reactors, which experienced a partial meltdown in 1959 when it was run by Rocketdyne. Thirty years later, an environmental survey revealed shocking toxic and radioactive contamination. Boeing bought the site in 1996 and shut it down in 2006.

A state senate bill passed in 2007 set strict cleanup standards for the site, which is set to eventually become state parkland. But a Boeing spokesperson told MichaelMoore.com that the law “singles out the site to meet cleanup requirements that go far beyond what is required to protect citizens elsewhere in California under generally applicable state law.”

Apparently those delicious Uranium Cakes and Peanut Butter Plutonium Treats were just too bitter for Boeing to swallow – but it’s okay if everyone else eats them.

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Watch out Washington, Erin Brockovich is coming your way. And it’s not a social visit. She’s on a mission to shake, rattle and overhaul the nation’s toxic chemical laws, in particular the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The TSCA, which was passed in 1976, is seriously outdated and  offers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) no real authority to obtain information needed to evaluate whether a chemical used in home products is or isn’t a health and safety risk.

A reformed TSCA, drafted by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ) and Representatives Holida Solis (US Secretary of Labor) and Henry Waxman (CA), will be going through Congress this fall. A main component of this draft is the requirement that chemical manufacturers conduct safety testing before a chemical is used in products. The new Act would further require that the safety testing information be made available to the public.

These are actions that you would think happen automatically. Sadly, that isn’t the case. In fact, in the past 33 years, the EPA, due to its limited authority under the TSCA law, has required testing on just 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds developed for products used in the home.

And that’s where Brockovich comes in. She has teamed up with the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF) coalition, Autism Society of America, Breast Cancer Fund, the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Seventh Generation (a  leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally safe household and personal care products).

Together, they have organized a Million Baby Crawl on Washington in support of the reformed TSCA or Kids Safe Chemical Act. The Million Baby Crawl, while symbolic in nature, aims to first of all create awareness amongst parents about the need for and the importance of the Toxic Chemical legislative reform, and second, to collect a million signatures to present to Washington in January 2010 when the voting on the toxic reform legislation occurs.

Further reading: Seventh Generation for EcoSalon

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