First of all, what is an endocrine disruptor?
The discovery of endocrine activities of certain molecules is very recent, the first study began in the 1960s. It was in 1991 that the word ‘endocrine disruptor’ (PE) was introduced by a Dr. Théo Coburn zoologist. Since this period, the health authority has given an official definition of PE:
"An endocrine disruptor is a substance or a mixture of substances, which alters the functions of the endocrine system and therefore induces harmful effects in an intact organism, in its offspring or within (under) populations".
Concretely, these are molecules that have a negative effect on our hormonal system generated by the pituitary gland, the thyroid, the pancreas, or the sexual organs.
What effects on the health of our children?
Young children are a very vulnerable population with regard to PE. Not simple, because their organic barrier is more fragile, but also because the hormonal system plays an essential role in the development and general health of a child.
And this means that the abnormal functioning of any endocrine gland in the fuselage can have a spectacular impact. Most disorders linked to hormonal imbalances are typically linked to abnormal increase or sexual development.
The PE, could unbalance this natural endocrine harmony in the body of our children. Some PEs have a chemical structure very similar to sex hormones and could lead to the prematurity of ovaries or testicles which means inducing early puberty.
And other endocrine disruptors have opposite effects. They prevent hormones from reacting with the body of our young children. This directly influences pubertal development.
PE regulation changes slowly and industry plays the sorcerer's apprentices
The misdeeds of bisphenol A were demonstrated around the 1990s in scientific newspapers, but it was not until 2012 that France prohibited this problem compound. The worst in all of this is that industry plays the sorcerer's apprentices:
Always the same story: as bisphenol has been prohibited, industry quickly found an alternative: bisphenols S and F which are not yet prohibited by regulations. But these have very worse harmful effects that bisphenol has according to scientific studies. (1)
What to do then?
Avoid using certain plastics.
There is not only one plastic, there are lots of different plastics.
Depending on the material that composes them, plastics are classified from 1 to 7.
The 2 HDPE, 4 LDPE and number 5 numbers are healthy, especially if they have the food grade.
HDPE, LDPE recycled plastics are much more ecological, but unfortunately, they do not ensure an absolute absence of endocrine disruptors.
It is absolutely necessary, avoid PS (number 6) (plastic used in meat packaging), PVC (number 3) and "other various plastics" (number 7) which are suspected of being carcinogenic and potentially contain endocrine disruptors.
For us, it is best to also avoid PETs (number 1), there are in the bottles of supermarket water.
Scientific studies contradict themselves about the presence of endocrine disruptors or not ... We no longer know what to believe.
Privilege of the natural or organic certified product
By choosing natural and organic products, it is the assurance of avoiding the worst: some families of parabens, triclosan, phthalates in perfumes ...
But beware, the presence of certain endocrine disruptors is suspected in organic products too.
Use your product scan app
Despite their many flaws, some scan applications produce update the presence or not of endocrine disruptors, as Inci Beauty.
Use of products contains minimum ingredients and very long history uses
PE regulations are slowly evolving and health authorities often only react after devastating accidents to banish these substances.
The safest is to use very few children's skin care products.
But even if each product contains very few ingredients, each ingredient can have a more or less long -term impact on our body after use.
With us, we work hand in hand with the best toxicologists in France and every day, we make scientific watch on all our ingredients.
See how we chose the ingredients at Lilikiwi.
Do not be trapped by the superfluous ingredients of marketing
The plant is dreaming, nature makes vibrate, but nature is not always harmless for our little cabbage.
Plant extracts have much more complex compositions than you might think (a mixture of hundreds or thousands of molecules) besides, we do not know the whole composition.
And above all certain extracts of plants authorized in organic cosmetics contain suspected PE. Here is the list:
- Queen-Prés extract (INCI: Spiraea Ulmaria Flower Extract) contains METHYL SALYCILATE The health authorities suspect it be a PE since this year.
This is the limit of scan applications produced, they alert to the Salycilate method, but not on the extract of queen near.
- Ylang-ylang essential oil (INCI: Cananga Odorata Flower Oil) contains benzyl sunset, also suspected to be a PE.
- Fermented radish extract (INCI: Leuconostoc/Radish Root closes filter). It was considered a natural miracle preservative in organic cosmetics, but in reality, the extract contains salt of Didecyldimethylammonium which is carcinogenic and salcycylic acid which is suspected of being a PE, great! (2)
You have to be extremely payable to products without rinsing
Creams, lotions because they have long contact with the body. PEs need time to penetrate the skin and react with our body, and very often PEs are small molecules that do not dissolve in water. Concretely, buying a cream that contains endocrine disruptors is much more serious than using a shampoo that contains it.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send a message to our site or to contact us by email at: cowcou@lilikiwi.fr. We will be happy to answer you quickly!
Sources: (1) Eladak et al. A New Chapter in the Bisphenol Story: Bisphenol s and bisphenol f are not safe alternatives to this compound. Fertility and Sterelity. Volume 103, Issue 1. Jan. 2015 Page 11-21 (2) Li et al. Identification of Didecyldimethylammonium salts and salicylic acid as antimicrobial compound in commercial fermented radish kimchi. J. Afric. Food. Chem. 2015, 63, 11, 3053-3058.