But our mattresses and bedding can contain chemicals that can actually have negative health effects, adding unnecessary work to the task of rejuvenation and potentially limiting the body’s innate ability to preserve our health-not to mention expose us to toxic chemicals linked to cancer, fertility problems, hormone disruption, and more.

The problem is that it’s hard for people to figure out which bedding is safe and what’s not, with no labeling and little information out there. In fact, it might be one of the least talked-about health issues out there…which means it’s a story prime for telling.

Enter Detox Your Sleep, a new ground-breaking report from Made Safe on toxic chemicals in bedding and safer alternatives. It’s a first-of-its-kind report to look at the materials that make up what we sleep on and how they affect our health, with a comprehensive look at the safer alternatives.

Find out if you are sleep deprived

For example, did you know:

• Most mattresses are made of polyurethane foam, which is treated with flame retardants, linked to endocrine disruption, lower IQ, hyperactivity, altered sexual development, fertility issues, thyroid dysfunction, and cancer.
• Because polyurethane foam is highly flammable, the addition of flame retardant chemicals is necessary to meet mattress flammability standards. Natural materials like wool and cotton are generally less flammable than polyurethane foam, so they don’t require extra flame retardants.
• Foam mattresses off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including a chemical manufactured with phosgene, a poisonous gas originally used as a chemical weapon in WWI that was responsible for the majority of deaths.
• Baby mattresses are often made with waterproof vinyl, which can off-gas plasticizing phthalates and harmful VOCs directly into the baby’s sleep environment.
• Sheets labeled “wrinkle-free,” “no wrinkle,” “no iron,” and other terms can contain a finish of formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen.

Learn more about household items that contain harmful chemicals

Check out Detox Your Sleep for safer alternative materials, and MADE SAFE certified* bedding options from Naturepedic, Coyuchi, and other brands.

*The MADE SAFE® seal means that a product is literally made with safe ingredients not known or suspected to harm human health, animals or ecosystems. Certified products are examined by scientists to ensure they’re made without known behavioral toxins, carcinogens, developmental toxins, endocrine disruptors, flame retardants, heavy metals, neurotoxins, high-risk pesticides, reproductive toxins, toxic solvents, or harmful VOCs. MADE SAFE then goes above and beyond: Ingredients have been further examined by a chemist for bioaccumulation (builds up in our bodies), persistence (builds up in the environment), ecosystem harm, and general and aquatic toxicity, making it the leading standard in the country.

The post Detox Your Sleep appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

We released the Made Safe Hazard List as a way to provide shoppers with guidance regarding common hazards in products found on store shelves and in their homes. It’s includes where these chemicals are found and how they impact human health, environmental health, and aquatic or animal life. Several are built out further with their own pages and infographics, like dioxins & furans (fem care) and PFOA (cookware) with more detail on how to avoid those chemicals.

Read more information on healthy cookware

This comprehensive list differs from others out there in that it includes chemicals across product categories that impact human health and ecosystems. Many lists focus on just one category of products, like beauty, or one category of harm, like endocrine disruptors.

With 300+ scientific citations plus reflecting three years of MADE SAFE screening and the use of ingredients found in real-time within products on store shelves, this list is a big deal. For example, it includes some of Made Safe’s new findings on flavor, bug repellent, preservatives, fragrance, retinol, and more. We aim to build on this list over time as data emerges and or/ the science merits.

It’s good to note that this is by no means a comprehensive list of all chemicals that are not permitted in MADE SAFE certified products; that list is well into the thousands. Rather than expect people to sift through endless lists of harmful chemicals, we provide the MADE SAFE seal on products for instant assurance. That’s why the MADE SAFE exists: we’ve done the hard work for you to vet all ingredients for known toxic chemicals so you can see at the point of purchase what’s safe to use on your body, with your family, and in your home.

The Hazard List is a guide to help educate and explain what Made Safe does and how we approach chemicals and ingredients while educating on common harmful chemicals.

These 12 Household Items Have Harmful Chemicals

It’s also a short-cut to knowing more about what IS NOT included in any of our certified products, no matter the brand, type of product, or where it’s sold. This list doesn’t just belong to Made Safe; it belongs to every product we certify.

Ultimately, we hope to change the norm so that every product on shelves is made without harmful ingredients. In the meantime, the Made Safe Hazard List arms shoppers with knowledge for protecting their health.

Or, as we like to say, it’s always better to be MADE SAFE than sorry.

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What Makes Fragrance So Tricky?

The word “fragrance” (aka “parfum”) is used as an umbrella term for a cocktail of natural essences and synthetic chemicals. Scent isn’t generally one ingredient, but can be as many as 100 ingredients combined. Companies are legally allowed to keep individual fragrance ingredients secret because they’re deemed “confidential business information,” or “trade secrets.”

The International Fragrance Association (IFRA), representing the world’s fragrance houses, has a published list of roughly 4,000 fragrance ingredients that lists chemicals and natural ingredients known to be used in fragrance. This is a helpful look into what goes into fragrance, but since fragrance ingredients aren’t required to be disclosed, consumers are still left guessing.

Read more about 4 Reasons Why Synthetic Fragrance Stinks

In short, without full ingredient transparency, there’s no way for shoppers to know what’s actually inside of these fragrance or perfume catch-alls found on labels and in products.

Toxic Chemicals Hiding in Fragrance

Unfortunately, many common fragrance ingredients can be toxic to human health. Phthalates have been linked to reproductive and developmental harm. Synthetic musks like galaxolide and tonalide, are potential endocrine disruptors that don’t break down in our bodies or the environment and are commonly found in blood and breast milk.

Other fragrance ingredients are parabens; although these are largely being phased out, common ones like methyl paraben and ethyl paraben are still found in products and are listed on Washington State’s Chemicals of High Concern to Children List. IFRA’s list also includes ingredients such as styrene (a carcinogen) and resorcinol (a known irritant and likely linked to endocrine disruption).

In addition to chemicals linked to human health harm, some common fragrance ingredients are allergens. While not everyone reacts to allergens, people who are sensitive to them have a right to know if they’re used in products so they can avoid them.

This is why, in addition to passing our screening process for ALL ingredients, sub-ingredients and so-called secret ingredients, MADE SAFE requires full ingredient transparency as part of certification so that shoppers can make the right choices for their own health.

Are Essential Oils a Safe Bet for Fragrance Lovers?

Essential oil (EO) use for many things, including scent, is on the rise. So are EOs the answer for all your fragrance needs?

Lets start with what they are. Essential oils are highly concentrated compounds derived from plant oils. At first glance, this may seem simple-but they are actually highly complex ingredients made up of many naturally-occurring subcomponents.

When intact as a whole extract, essential oils have been known to have incredible potency and beneficial properties when used properly (and should always be used according to manufacturers’ guidelines). Many plants themselves, and therefore essential oils, can contain some harmful ingredients if evaluated on their own. However, when approached and reviewed as a whole, they are considered safe for use when used properly. In fact, some researchers believe these harmful compounds may actually be part of what keeps a plant healthy in the wild. For the majority of people, naturally-derived essential oils (not oils derived from plants grown in a lab, but those that have evolved over time) contain many more powerful ingredients that promote health than they do ingredients that take away from it, including beneficial ingredients like antioxidants.

The extracts themselves can contain sub-ingredients that, for some people, may be allergenic, and which may make essential oils a poor choice for those people. However, for most individuals, the whole plant boosts overall health, as they contain beneficial ingredients like antioxidants.

Read more About 25 Ways to Use Essential Oils

Essential oils are pressed or steam-distilled from aromatic plants directly. This method for extraction, usually used in making skincare or therapeutic products, is non-chemical in nature. However, there are other ways to extract scent and aroma from plants. The strongest form is an absolute, which uses a chemical (often hexane) as a method for extraction and yields a higher-potency, longer-lasting scent, which makes this method more commonly used for perfumery. To make an absolute, one extracts with a chemical and yields a waxy substance often called a concrete. This can be used on its own or it can then be further extracted to yield the absolute. CO2 extraction methods are popular as they can be used for essential oils and absolutes without using a petrochemical process and occur at low temperatures, making them good for skincare and therapeutic use alike. Extracts can be pressed from plants after soaking in a base such as oil. It is important to know if things are added to extracts, such as preservatives or other additives.

Made Safe generally permits the use of essential oil ingredients for scent after we have vetted them through our process, although some of those essential oils may contain sub-ingredients which are allergens, because not everyone reacts to allergens.

Finding Safe Scent and Fragrance Free Products:

We know that while a lot of people like to find safer scents, there are just as many people who are sensitive to fragrance or would like to avoid it altogether. Which is why we’re excited to provide this list of MADE SAFE certified fragrance-free products! Sometimes you just want the assurance that a product doesn’t contain ANY fragrance or chemicals, which is why a third-party certification like MADE SAFE is helpful. All of our products contain ingredients that meet our strict standards.

[Editor's Note: We are proud that our sponsor Natracare was awarded the MADE SAFE certification.]

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Our youngest are also our most vulnerable population when it comes to exposures to harmful chemicals. Babies and small children breathe more than twice as much per minute as adults, meaning they have more than double the environmental exposure and a less developed system to detox them. That’s why it’s so crucial to use, buy, and give gifts that aren’t linked to harm.

Read more about conventional diapers

Which is why Made Safe and the Plastic Pollution Coalition have teamed up to create the first-ever Healthy Baby Guide, out today, with everything you need to keep you and your children safe from harmful chemicals.

According to Dr. Mark Hyman, “This baby guide is a powerful RX for minimizing environmental exposures for our babies and children." The Healthy Baby Guide includes:

• Where toxic chemicals lurk in plastics and other everyday products
• How they impact our health
• Tips for avoiding plastic and other toxins in everyday life
• Product recommendations that have been vetted by MADE SAFE to ensure they’re made with safe ingredients not known to harm human health.

This Guide is broken out by rooms in your house for ultimate ease:

• Nursery
• Bathroom
• Kitchen
• General Household
• Outdoors
• With a special category for pregnant women and moms

To celebrate the launch of this guide, Made Safe and Plastic Pollution Coalition teamed up with sponsors of this Guide for a GIVEAWAY of healthy goodies for the whole family.

The grand prize includes:

• Healthy Sleep Bundle of Verse kids mattress, breathable pad, changing pad, cover and crib sheets from Naturepedic
• Healthy Mama Healthy Baby pack of essential oil roll-ons from Oilogic
• Family package of stainless steel baby, child, and sport bottles from Pura Stainless
• New Mom Package of Nursing Pads and Maternity Pads from Natracare

With scant regulation of harmful chemicals, confusing labeling, and rampant greenwashing, parents are left to navigate a health minefield with little help. And that’s why this guide is so important. Products should just be safe to begin with, but until we can make that vision a reality, signals like the MADE SAFE seal and resources like the Healthy Baby Guide are a guiding light in the darkness.

Is there BPA in your baby's bottle?

"The modern family is now faced with challenges unheard of in previous generations,” says Dr. Michelle Perro. “Who has the time or background to review the health risks of these pervasive chemicals that we are doused in daily? This science-based guide demonstrates the ‘whys’ and the ‘how-tos’ effectively and effortlessly. In addition to the health benefits delineated, by offering lists of ‘made safe products’ the guide will enable consumers to send a clear message to industry which can create ‘a tipping point’ where companies will change their ingredients of their products to safe, non-toxic alternatives based on consumer demand."

See the full Healthy Baby Guide here.

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Made Safe’s Bug Repellent: What’s In It? report finally gives you the answers you need. We looked at common active ingredients in conventional insect repellent and how they impact our health and the environment, as well as more natural options. Here’s the scoop:

Insect repellents are made up of two types of ingredients.

1. Active ingredient are the active repelling chemicals and must appear on the label
2. Inert ingredients, which are everything else in the products and can be all kinds of things from solvents and preservatives to anti-caking or foaming agents and fragrance, and are not listed on the label.

Some common active ingredients are chemicals of concern.

• DEET: linked to skin irritation, neurotoxicity, and shown to cross the placenta. Shows up in groundwater, surface water, and drinking water.
• Cyfluthrin: linked to neurotoxicity, and harmful to aquatic invertebrates, fish, and honeybees.
• Permethrin: linked to neurotoxicity, and harmful to aquatic invertebrates, fish, and honeybees.
• Pyrethroids: a class of chemicals linked to neurotoxicty; some have been linked to endocrine disruption; some have been classified as possible carcinogens.

Read more on chemicals of concern in bug repellent.

Some plants have pharmacological and biological properties that make plant extracts effective insect repellent, including:

• citronella
• clove oil
• geraniol
• lemongrass
• lemon eucalyptus
• linalool
• neem
• thyme

Read more on plant-based alternatives and other tips to keep bugs at bay.

MADE SAFE has certified the first-ever bug repellent made entirely with safe ingredients: Kosmatology Bug Repellent Balm* is made with a mixture of herbs, essential oils, and coconut oil. And for soothing your kiddos’ bug bites, we recommend Oilogic Bug Bites & Itches Essential Oil Roll-On, which is also MADE SAFE certified.

Find more MADE SAFE certified products.

Remember to choose the repellent that’s right for your family’s needs.

Knowing your area and if you are at risk for a mosquito-borne or tick-borne illness can help you make the right bug repellent choice for you and your family. Go to Consumer Reports’ Guide to Mosquito and Tick Diseases for information for your area.

With the rise of Zika virus and concern for other mosquito-borne diseases, Made Safe recognizes there is a time and place for the use of bug repellant products that would not pass our screening process. We urge people to become informed and stay on top of advice from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

*MADE SAFE does not test for efficacy. We examine ingredients for human health and environmental harm and we don’t permit pesticides. This means that any approved products are taking a natural approach to bug repellant which may work for casual settings to diminish bites, but it cannot prevent diseases; there may be situations in which you prefer conventional bug repellent.

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While things like lube, condoms, feminine wipes and washes are often discussed in hushed tones, if at all, it’s imperative that we talk about what’s actually in these. Why? Because they come into contact with some of the most sensitive skin on our bodies-and in the case of women, some of the most absorptive. And they contain some toxic chemicals that you likely don’t want anywhere near that area.

Unfortunately, many chemicals commonly used in these products are linked to long-term harm like cancer and hormone disruption. Some of them, particularly ingredients in lube, can also disrupt the natural bacterial balance and lead to bacterial vaginosis, which studies show makes women more susceptible to sexually transmitted infections.

At MADE SAFE, America’s first nontoxic certification for consumer products, we believe that all products should be made with safe ingredients, even the ones that don’t get talked about-because the first step to changing the status quo is calling out the problem.

So here’s the low down:

Lubes

Personal lubricants can contain petrochemicals like propylene glycol and synthetic glycerin. Not all petrochemicals are linked to human health harm, but these two can contribute to damaging rectal, vaginal and cervical tissue, according to the World Health Organization.

Condoms

Many condoms contain nitrosamines, which are common ingredients in latex linked to cancer. This does NOT mean that you should stop using condoms. Sustain condoms don’t contain nitrosamines, but if you don’t happen to have those on hand, it’s imperative to use condoms to protect against STIs and pregnancy. See more on nitrosamines.

Fun fact: nitrosamines are also common in bacon (we know, two product categories you would never consider to be related). Nitrites have been used for a long time to preserve meat, and in the 1960s studies began to show carcinogenic nitrosamines in cured meat – particularly in fried bacon samples.

Feminine Wipes & Washes

These two products can contain chemicals linked to cancer like parabens and formaldehyde-releasing ingredients (DMDM Hydantoin and 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol); skin allergens like Methylisothiazolinone and Methylchloroisothiazolinone; and “fragrance,” which is in used as an umbrella term for dozens of different ingredients, including some harmful ones like phthalates and synthetic musks.

In addition, washes can contain FDA-restricted dyes like D&C Red No. 33 and Ext Violet #2, which are not authorized for use on mucous membranes like internal vaginal tissue.

See more on chemicals of concern in feminine care products from our partners at Women’s Voices for the Earth.

Here's our post on tips for finding safer products and a list of MADE SAFE certified options.

MADE SAFE TM (Made With Safe Ingredients) certifies that products we use every day are made with ingredients not known to harm human health, animals or ecosystems. Their mission is to change the way that products are made in this country and around the world.

Photo credit

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This week, we’re giving you suggestions for products that are actually made with safe ingredients. The following products are certified MADE SAFE, which literally means they’re made with safe ingredients not known or suspected to harm human health.

You might be thinking, “Why does it matter so much what’s in the products in my nightstand?” Consider this: doctors are increasingly administering hormone treatments vaginally because they’re absorbed and circulated through the body much more rapidly. According to Women’s Voices for the Earth’s Chem Fatale report, “One study found that a vaginally applied dose of estradiol (an estrogen proxy) resulted in systemic estradiol levels in the body 10 to 80 times greater compared to the same dose given orally.”

That means that ingredients in sexual health products are coming into contact with some of the most absorptive skin on women’s bodies. So it’s a good idea to buy from companies who put your health first! Here are two of our favorites.

Good Clean Love

This company has been making safer products for women, talking openly about healthy sex lives, and teaching women to be advocates for their sexual wellbeing for years. Good Clean Love’s founder Wendy Strgar based her formulations heavily in science, and their line of personal lubricants was named one of the safest on the market in a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study. In addition, Good Clean Love’s Almost Naked and Restore personal lubricants were the first lubes to receive MADE SAFE certification.

Good Clean Love goes beyond making products to educate women about sexual wellness using a holistic approach. Their Make It Good blog covers healthy relationships from emotional topics to physical ones, and what it means for women to take control of their healthy sex lives. Good Clean Love is a staunch advocate of women’s health organizations like Women’s for the Earth.

MADE SAFE Certified Products:

• Almost Naked Personal Lubricant
• Balance Moisturizing Wash
• Restore Moisturizing Lubricant
• Love Oils
• Myths and Legends perfumes

Sustain

Sustain’s condoms are the first and only condoms on the market that are MADE SAFE certified. The company uses their Fair Trade, vegan, sustainably-made condoms as a conversation starter to connect the dots between world issues like hunger, poverty, and climate change. And of course, family planning, education, and reproductive health care.

Sustain’s unique 10%4Women initiative donates 10% of profits to women’s health organizations and efforts, including Health Care Without Harm, Planned Parenthood, and Breast Cancer Fund. Why? Sustain’s philosophy is that lack of health care access leads to high rates of AIDS and other STDs and unplanned pregnancies. Sustain believes in access to basic women’s care services like breast exams reproductive health care.

MADE SAFE Certified Products:

• Condoms
• Organic Lubricant – Lavender
• Organic Lubricant – Unscented
• Post Play Wipes

MADE SAFE certified products have been examined by scientists to ensure they’re made without known behavioral toxins, carcinogens, developmental toxins, endocrine disruptors, flame retardants, GMOs, heavy metals, neurotoxins, high-risk pesticides, reproductive toxins, toxic solvents, or harmful VOCs. Ingredients have been further examined by a chemist for bioaccumulation (builds up in our bodies), persistence (builds up in the environment), and general and aquatic toxicity. Find more products made from safe ingredients.

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