Posted on February 20, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Teens and Personal Care: A Cautionary Tale

The average woman uses 12 personal care products a day…and the ever-enthusiastic teenage girl? More like 17.

As we’ve shared with you, many conventional personal care products carry a heavy chemical load for all of us.  But teenagers are especially at risk: they’re at a period of accelerated development, physically, that makes them particularly vulnerable.

A 2008 Environmental Research Group study backed up these concerns.

The study took samples from 20 teen girls, age 14-19. Harrowing highlights include:

• They found 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families – phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks – in blood and urine samples in the 20 girls tested.

• Studies link these chemicals to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption.

• These tests feature first-ever exposure data for parabens, a common cosmetic preservative.  It indicated that young women are widely exposed to parabens, with 2 parabens – methylparaben and propylparaben – detected in every single girl tested.

Purchasing non-toxic personal care products is step one to a lower chemical count for teens. Turning teens on to what their peers are doing to make healthier, greener choices is another step.  Check out Teens Turning Green, a national program of engaged kids working towards a more non-toxic world, from personal care to school to lobbying Washington.  Yucky pink hand soap loaded with suspected carcinogen Cocamide DEA, a suspected carcinogen? Not in a Teens Turning Green School!

You can also turn your teen on to Skin Deep, the Environmental Working Group’s amazing database of thousands of personal care products, and help them take control of the buying choices they make as they grow.

Last but not least, why not surprise them with a treat from Napa Valley Bath: all of our products are non-toxic, all-natural, pure and mostly organic.