Toxic Apocalypse Now -- And How to Avoid It!

Your body is under siege, and the enemy is disguised as your friend. Like the Trojan Horse, many of your personal care products conceal harmful invaders and deliver them into the fortress of your body.  Toxins, carcinogens, and mutagens are all commonly used "potentially harmful"  ingredients in shampoos, conditioners, toothpastes, lotions, sun-blocks, and many other products that you trust to convey health and beauty to your body. But in reality, what you are getting with these products is gradual poisoning and increased risk of cancer.

By using products without these harmful ingredients, you may have support in avoiding the toxic apocalypse of cancer. "Neways is in the business of helping people detoxify their bodies," according to Tom Mower, President of Neways. Knowing the chemical constituents of your personal care products and their effects on your body enables you to understand how toxic culprits can contaminate your body. Ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), propylene glycol, fluoride, and alcohol have been identified by experts as known or potential carcinogens that can be found in ordinary personal care products.

"All these toxic ingredients can enter your bloodstream through the skin," Dr. Cole Woolley, chemist, and Neways chemist, says. Once in the bloodstream, carcinogens can be oxidized and accumulate in the fatty tissue and cells. Once oxidized, these carcinogens may damage a cell's genetic program by altering its DNA chain. Thus damaged, the cell will either die or reprogram itself into a cancer cell, a non-functional cell that replicates at faster rates than other cells. "This growing mass of nonfunctional cells can turn into a cancerous growth," Woolley says. "As this mass enlarges, it crowds and affects the activity of other cells and organs, causing pain, symptomatic problems, and even death."

Despite the dangers posed by these ingredients, manufacturers continue to use them in personal care products primarily because they are cheap and they create the look, feel, and smell of a health-enhancing product. "These toxic chemicals don't have to be [in personal care products]," says consumer advocate Ralph Nader. "Yet corporations continue to expose people to health hazards unnecessarily."

The U.S. government, meanwhile, has failed to appropriately regulate the use of synthetic chemicals. Only 3 percent of the 75,000 commercial chemicals used today have been tested for safety, according to the article "Cancer, Inc." in the September/ October 1999 issue of Sierra Magazine. Woolley says that of those chemicals that are recognized as toxic, some are not regulated at all and others are allowed to be included in formulations if they meet regulated safe levels. While it is true that a single, safe level of exposure to a chemical like sodium lauryl sulfate may not cause any lasting harm, long-term daily use can. These chemicals can bioaccumulate in your cells and fatty tissues until harmful levels are reached.

"People blindly assume that if a product is on the market, it must be okay, or the government would not have allowed it to be sold," says Elizabeth Sword, executive director of the Children's Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC).

While millions of consumers remain unaware of these potential dangers, many groups have allied with Neways to inform the public of the danger inherent in using products with potentially carcinogenic ingredients.

The CPC has formed an alliance with Neways to prevent the use of cancer-causing and other toxic elements in personal care products and to provide safe alternatives until that vision is realized.

CHEC, too, is forging a partnership with Neways. "We share common goals," Sword says,"and our missions are uniformly aligned. In short, we are both working to reduce children's and adults' unnecessary exposure to toxic substances, thereby reducing the resulting illnesses they induce."

"Ultimately, it all comes down to one question," says Tom Mower. "Do you value your health enough to protect it from cancer-causing ingredients?"

A glance at current cancer statistics helps reveal why these groups feel such pressing urgency in crusading against exposure to carcinogens. According to the American Cancer Society, men in the United States face a dire one in two lifetime risk of developing cancer, while U.S. women face a one in three risk. Of all the deaths that occur in the United States, one in four is caused by cancer. This year, about 1,200,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed and added to the millions who already have cancer with an anticipated loss of more than 500,000 lives (more than 1,500 deaths a day). This is not all - between 1950 and 1988, there has been a 43 percent increase in cancer rates.

Beyond publicizing the negative effects of carcinogens found in personal care products, Neways also provides consumers with safe product alternatives. "We have shampoos without sodium lauryl sulfate," Mower says. "We have lotions without propylene glycol, bubble bath without DEA or TEA, toothpastes without saccharin or fluoride, and mouthwash without alcohol. We use toxin- and carcinogen-free products that give consumers something more than clean skin or fresh breath—they provide peace of mind."

Using Neways' toxin-free products to detoxify your body is the first step in the Neways three-step approach to health and youth enhancement. The second step is to feed your body, which emphasizes giving your body appropriate nutrition by including plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and nutritional supplements in your diet. "In many cases," Woolley says, "Neways nutritionals can even help the body recover from the toxic effects of potentially harmful ingredients. For example, nutritional products with raspberry extract contain high levels of ellagic acid, a known carcinogen inhibitor and antimutagen. Blueberry extract contains anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes the negative effects of carcinogen oxidation, which can damage DNA molecules and lead to cancer."

The third step is to preserve your youth, which incorporates nutritional products that promote longevity. Longevity products supplement your body's declining biochemical levels, bolster the immune system, and catalyze cellular metabolism. This approach helps the body maintain its pristine state through detoxification and nutrition.

By refusing to use potentially harmful ingredients in its products and promoting nutritional supplementation, Neways continues to be a pioneer in the health and personal care industry.

"Ultimately, it all comes down to one question," says Tom Mower. "Do you value your health enough to protect it from cancer-causing ingredients? If not, then you may be facing toxic apocalypse now."