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‘Most women are still unaware of the dangers of |
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For Release January 9, 2008
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Ulrike Jacob-Dewor, US CEO of leading organic health and beauty product company Lavera said today that the message must be told to women that many beauty and skin care products are potentially harmful. “The vast majority of products on the market today contain substances that are known to have carcinogenic and estrogenic as well as toxic effects such as parabens, petroleum by-products, including phthalates, and sodium lauryl sulfate, to name the common ones.” “Most women are still unaware of the dangers of synthetic skin care ingredients. This health message needs to be delivered strongly to young women, and especially African American women, before they have babies so that they and their fetuses have minimum exposure to environmental hazards from personal care products.” Jacob-Dewor, who has an MSc in biochemistry, said, “If we educate women early and they end up using only organic and natural personal products, then they will inevitably have healthier children who will subsequently have healthier adulthoods. Children have a much higher ratio of skin area to body volume, hence they absorb up to three times more chemicals through their skin than their parents.”
SYNTHETIC SUNSCREENS She said that synthetic sunscreens must be part of educational process as they are very often among the first skin care products children are exposed to and they are applied over large areas of the body. “It’s been known for about a decade that synthetic sunscreen substance accumulate in the body and can get into breast milk. Numerous studies have shown certain sunscreen chemicals act as endocrine disruptors – that is having estrogenic effects.”
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN Jacob-Dewor said that medical studies have indicated a particular vulnerability among African American women, who have a much higher incidence of breast cancer at younger ages and greater mortality at all ages. Referencing a medical paper* co-authored by Dr. Devra Davis, of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh, she said “African American of all ages use more hormone containing personal care products than white women and this is claimed to be linked to premature appearance of secondary sexual characteristics among infants and toddlers.” The hypothesis is that the use of estrogen and other hormone containing personal care products in young African American women accounts, in part, for their increased risk of breast cancer prior to menopause, by subjecting breast buds to elevated estrogen exposure during critical windows of vulnerability in utero and early life. “As the paper says, people have a right to know whether products they use on themselves or their children contain compounds that may increase their risk of disease, including cancer.”
FOLLOW EUROPE’S LEAD “We should follow Europe’s lead where, since 2003, they have banned substances known to be carcinogens, mutagens, and teratogens. This broad-based ban includes about 1,000 substances. It is a ‘better safe than sorry’ precautionary approach that is absent in the US health regulatory environment which is open to powerful lobbying influences,” concluded Jacob-Dewor. Lavera organic health and beauty products are currently sold in more than 12,000 locations in 25 different countries. Lavera is the market leader in Europe for natural skin care with a 27% of the market share in general health and beauty products and a 50% market share in sunscreen products.
ABOUT LAVERA SKIN CARE NORTH AMERICA Since its founding 20 years ago in Germany, the Lavera brand has grown to include more than 250 products including 74 all natural makeup products, 69 bath and lotion products, 29 moisturizers, 32 hair products, 16 sun products, 12 baby products, 10 anti-aging products, and 16 all natural men's products. Top sellers are Lifting Serum, Ultimate Eye Cream, Mascara, Self Tanner and mineral based sun protection for face and body.
Contact the Lavera North American by phone at 877-528-3727 (extension 6 for public relations), or visit Lavera's site at www.lavera.com. The entire product line can be viewed at our online store. For product samples, please email press@lavera.com.
Medical reference * http://216.92.30.97/documents/MedicalHypothesesforWebsite.pdf
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