Young Feminists -- Poison Earth, Poison Woman: Making the Connection

Alison Ojanen-Goldsmith

“From a healthy Earth come healthy women. From healthy women comes a healthy Earth. ”

While I have always held these values in my spiritual and personal life, they’ve recently moved to the forefront of my professional life as well. I work at the intersections of environmental and reproductive health; every day I see research linking chemicals that pollute our environment with adverse effects on women’s reproductive health, from infertility to birth defects to early puberty in girls. Some of the biggest culprits are a group of industrial chemicals called endocrine disruptors that are so similar to normal hormones that they trick the body into initiating abnormal responses.¹

These endocrine-disrupting chemicals are widely used in our everyday products. Thinking I could boycott products that used these toxic chemicals, I tried to reduce my exposure to endocrine disruptors. This is the story of my personal and professional crusade against toxic chemicals, and it is far from over.

I began by making a list of priority chemicals that were a) known endocrine disruptors, b) in a large percentage of products I use, and c) in products I felt I could either cut out or substitute with safer brands. The resulting list contained upwards of 30 chemicals! Overwhelmed, I decided to start small and focus on the chemical that seemed to be in almost every product I use: phthalates.

Phthalates (pronounced thal-lates) are used to make plastics soft, hold synthetic fragrances and dyes, and enhance chemical absorption in the skin. Because of these properties, phthalates are used in a wide variety of consumer products.² Researchers have linked phthalate exposure with an increased risk of infertility(iii), birth defects³ , and breast cancer.⁴ Companies rarely disclose phthalates as an ingredient, but if the product has a scent and lists “fragrance” or “parfum,” it’s a safe bet it contains phthalates.⁵ Think about the amount of scented products, including perfumes and colognes, laundry products, dishwashing soaps, household cleaners, air fresheners, cosmetics, lotions, bubble baths, deodorants, hair products, soaps… the list goes on. These products are heavily marketed to women, the primary consumers of “personal care” and household cleaning products and we may be the most at risk.⁶ For this reason, I felt that the single most important step I could take to protect my health and fertility was to eliminate all products containing “fragrance” or “parfum.” But, because manufacturers are not required to disclose ingredients (try to find an honest ingredient list on your laundry detergent or dish soap) I decided that anything with an artificial “fresh, clean” scent had to go.

Making these decisions found me questioning if I could live without all those things that (through aggressive marketing and targeted advertising) I associated with “beauty,” “femininity,” and “health.” Could I live without the cosmetics, lotions, and perfumes I’ve relied on for years and still be a beautiful, healthy woman? It turned out I could, and I could feel even healthier. I started by substituting natural oils for perfumes and body sprays. I switched from body wash to homemade soap from local vendors (no phthalates, no plastic bottles!) I discovered the many fragrance-free cosmetics and lotions and even found a naturally scented shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant (they work; no complaints from co-workers yet!). I bought fragrance-free and dye-free laundry products, dishwashing soap, bleach, and household cleaners.⁷

But, two things happened: I spent twice as long shopping as I scoured ingredient lists and I spent twice as much for natural, organic products. (Beware of greenwashing!⁸ ) Worse, I hadn’t even considered the 30-plus other endocrine-disrupting chemicals on my list! That’s when I started asking questions. Why is it up to every individual consumer to decipher what’s safe and what isn’t? Why do the regulatory agencies that should protect us allow these chemicals in our consumer products? Why do we have to spend more to buy safe, healthy products? (If I was a low-income mom with a family to support, I couldn’t afford those products, let alone the time and resources required to research and find them.)

Rest assured that there are dedicated environmental and women’s health advocates asking the same questions and working toward solutions. The hard truth is that our regulatory system is insufficient to keep toxic chemicals out of consumer products, but the good news is that chemical policy reform is coming. Earlier this year, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) took effect, banning certain phthalates and lead from children’s toys and cosmetic toy sets (if you want safe lipstick, go to Toys R Us.) While CPSIA is an important first step in protecting our children’s health and safety, more policy change is needed to protect all consumers, and especially women, from toxic chemicals.

The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act is an important piece of legislation to provide more comprehensive chemical policy reform. Kid-Safe would mandate that chemical manufacturers adequately test their chemicals for health and safety before putting them on the market -- a commonsense principle that is, unfortunately, long overdue. A major goal of Kid-Safe is to strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency by giving it the same regulatory power over chemicals in consumer products that the Food and Drug Administration has over food and pharmaceutical products. Kid-Safe would also provide public information on the hazards and health effects of the chemicals in our products. As a staffer at the Reproductive Health Technologies Project and a concerned citizen, I am working to build nationwide support for Kid-Safe; I urge you to learn more at www.rhtp.org/fertility. To take immediate action and for more information about toxic chemicals and human health, visit: www.ewg.org.

On International Women’s Day 2005, Klaus Toepfer, head of the UN’s Environment Programme (UNEP) called upon the world to recognize the connection between environmental issues and women’s quality of life.⁹ I am convinced that countries that do not protect the Earth will not protect their women, and countries that do not protect their women will never protect the Earth. The time has come for the U.S. to enact policies that do both. As Lucretia Mott, abolitionist and feminist said, “The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.”

1. Collaborative on Health and the Environment, “Hormone Disruptors and Women’s Health Reasons for Concern”, Bolinas, CA: Collaborative on Health and the Environment, 2008, Retrieved January, 2009 from http://www.womenshealthandenvironment.org/downloads/HormoneDisruptors.pdf.

2 Schettler T, “Human exposure to phthalates via consumer products,” International Journal of Andrology 2006; 29:134-139.

3. Woodruff T, Carlson A, Schwartz J, Giudice L, “Proceedings of the Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility: executive summary,” Fertility and Sterility 2008; 89: 281-300.

4. Breast Cancer Fund, “State of the Evidence The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment,” San Francisco, CA: Breast Cancer Fund, 2008, 49. Retrieved January, 2009 from http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/c.kwKXLdPaE/b.3266489/k.379C/Breast_Cancer_Fund_Publications.htm

5. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, “A Little Prettier”, 2008, 7. Retrieved January 2009 from http://www.safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=222

6. Lovecamp-Swant T, Barbara J, “Mechanisms of phthalate ester toxicity in the female reproductive system”, Environmental Health Perspectives 2003; 111: 139-149.

7. For more information about safe cosmetics, including an excellent, searchable database, visit the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at www.safecosmetics.org. For more information about safe cleaning products, including easy, do-it-yourself recipes, visit Women’s Voices for the Earth at www.womenandenvironment.org.

8. Greenwashing is the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. Don’t be duped! For more information, go to: http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/

9. US Department of State, "Environmental Issues Linked to Women's Rights, Advancement", Washington, DC: US Department of State, 08 March 2005. Retrieved March 2009 from http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2005/March/20050308135836cmretrop9.748477e-02.html#ixzz0EeRoSpfu&A

Alison Ojanen-Goldsmith is Programs and Policy Associate at Reproductive Health Technologies Project where she works on environmental and reproductive health and justice advocacy.