What Everybody Ought to Know About All Natural Toothpaste

It amazes me what we are expected to use on a daily basis. From food and personal hygiene to household cleaners and lawn care, the products with dangerous and harmful ingredients are all over the place. Once you know what they are, and what they can do to you, you may find yourself looking for more natural products, too.

I've been looking into natural products as an alternative to what is normally available for most of the past 20 years. While I may not have been able to track down every article I've seen related to the less savory contents of toothpaste over the years, most of the following contains information that has been available for years mixed with newer articles that shed new light, or reinforce older research:

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is commonly found in toothpastes, bubble bath, shampoos and soaps. Its used as a thickener and foaming agent, but has also been found to be a skin irritant.

Shampooing your hair with a shampoo containg SLS can put as many nitrates into your body as if you ate a pound of bacon! Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is also used as a wetting agent in garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers.

Sodium Laureth Sulphate is a higher foaming version of SLS and may be less irritating, however it may cause drying. Like Sodium Lauryl Sulphate it may cause the potentially carciogenic formation of nitrates on reacting with other product ingredients.
- This Article Will Shock You If You Use Toothpaste

But it is not just in bubble bath that one finds chemicals harmful to the skin. They are also in toothpaste, shampoo, shaving creme and cleansers. In trying to find products that do not contain these harmful chemicals I visited supermarkets, chemists and health food shops. Surprisingly almost all cleansers include either sodium laureth sulphate or sodium lauryl sulphate, including the own brands of a well known health food shop and a certain wannabe ecologically friendly high street store. However, it is possible to find alternatives, you just need to check the ingredients label carefully. It is worth trying an alternative if you suffer from eczema, as I do, rather than simply washing in something which strips the skin and then using vegetable oil in the form of glycerine to moisturise it, or thinking that it is caused by some other pathological disorder.
- Hidden Dangers in Cosmetics

A chemical called triclosan poses a health risk, as it is a toxic compound which can promote cancer. The most shocking thing is that triclosan is commonly found in everyday consumer goods such as antibacterial soaps, deodorants, body washes, creams, lotions, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, detergents, dishwashing liquids, and yes, mouthwash and toothpaste.
- Toxic chemical triclosan commonly found in anti-bacterial soaps, toothpaste products

Regardless of derivation, these man-made detergents pass through the skin and mucous membranes and bio-accumulate in fatty tissue to levels that can cause cellular malfunction and disease. And toothpaste is especially important because the mucous membranes in your mouth are very permeable. So, if you expose yourself to toxic toothpaste several times a day, you subject yourself to a lot of toxins.
- The Dirty Facts about Cleaning your Pearly Whites

What the commercials don't say is that fluoride was known in the early 1900s as an excellent rat poison. According to Robert Carleton, former scientist with the EPA, fluoride is more toxic than lead, and not quite as toxic as arsenic. It's a waste product of many heavy industries-derived from the production of pesticides, fertilizers, aluminum, iron, steel, copper, lead, uranium, brick, cement and glass, among others....

....As it turns out, too much toothpaste may not be good for your health. Concerned that too many young children were swallowing toothpaste, the Food and Drug Administration, beginning in April 1997, required the following warning to appear on tubes of fluoridated toothpaste: "Use only a pea sized amount and supervise child's brushing and rinsing (to minimize swallowing)." Parents also are warned to keep the toothpaste "out of the reach of children under 6," and to "seek professional help or contact a poison center immediately" if more than is used for brushing is accidentally swallowed.

The FDA's decision also was spurred by the growing number of cases of dental fluorosis-an unsightly and permanent discoloration of the teeth. The Wall Street Journal reports that 22 percent of American children now have the condition, which occurs in young children under six who have consumed too much fluoride.
- Fluoride: Wonder drug or super poison?

Fluoride
May contain lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic. Accumulates in body and contributes to bone disease. Carcinogenic. Found in toothpastes.

Formaldehyde
Suspected carcinogen and neurotoxin, it may be fatal if swallowed, absorbed through skin, inhaled or swallowed. Can cause spasms, edema, chemical pneumonitis and is extremely destructive to tissue of the mucous membrane, this chemical is found in many nail care products. Known to cause cancers in humans and experimental animals. Found in baby shampoo, bubble bath, deodorants, perfume, cologne, hair dye, mouthwash, toothpaste, hair spray, nail polish.
- List of the More Widely Known Dangerous Ingredients in Body & Food Products

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: All information contained in this website is presented in summary form only is solely intended for your general knowledge, it is not a substitute for dental or medical advice nor for the treatment of specific medical conditions. We cannot and do not give you medical advice. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues. The information on this site should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of a visit, call, consultation or advice of your dentist or other health care provider. This site does not recommend the self-management of dental problems. Information obtained by using this site is not exhaustive and does not cover all dental diseases, ailments, physical conditions or their treatment. Should you have any dental health care-related questions, please call or see your dentist or other health professional promptly. You should never disregard dental or medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read here.




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