Kelly Bonanno

Your soulful coach for eco friendly living, clean beauty & wellness Savvy | Sexy | Beautiful | Healthy | You

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How To Find Safer Sunscreen Protection

I love the smell of Coppertone… brings back fond memories of my childhood. Oooh and baby oil… I’d slather that stuff all over my body in hopes of achieving that deep dark tan. If we only knew! Not only were we damaging our skin but that pleasant smell of Coppertone is a highly toxic synthetic fragrance.

file9151265810349In my post, You Know The Sunscreen You’re Using Is Toxic, Isn’t Time To Make A Healthier Choice? I detailed the harmful chemicals that most sunscreen brands contain. Because the FDA does not conduct any safety testing on sunscreen, we consumers have to be savvy about what we use. It’s infuriating, we’re trying to protect ourselves from skin cancer but the damn sunscreen itself contains carcinogens. So what the hell are we supposed to do?!

Don’t worry, there are alternatives. There are brands that offer quality sunscreen without the harmful chemicals that get a good rating on the Environmental Working Group sunscreen report. Look for products that have zinc oxide made without nanotechnology. Zinc is a physical barrier against the sun’s rays that does not get absorbed by the skin. The sun’s rays break down chemical sunscreens and you have to reapply them frequently. The physical sunscreens do not break down so they protect your skin from the sun longer.

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SPF 15 & 30, sunscreen stick and lip balm with SPF 15

California Baby and Badger are good but they do leave a white film on the skin (which my 11 year old won’t tolerate!) , UV Natural is good but a bit greasy.

I like Solar Protective MoisturizerSPF 30 by Devita Skin Care. It’s good for us gals because it contains hyaluronic acid which gives a little anti-aging boost.

I know sunscreen sprays are convenient and easy to use but they are especially harmful because we inhale the ingredients as well as absorb them.

Protect Your Health, Protect The Environment

Lake Arrowhead 009Avoiding sunscreen with toxic ingredients is not only important for our health, it’s important for the environment. After we slather ourselves with it, it washes off into the ocean harming sea life. According to a study conducted by Environmental Health Perspectives in 2008, these chemicals are killing the coral reef.

Research shows that octinoxate, oxybenzone, parabens and camphor derivatives kill hard corals which could have a negative impact on biodiversity and reef ecosystems. Help inform your friends – tweet this, share it on Facebook & send it to friends, especially those with kids. No one should use sunscreen with harmful chemicals and with all the safe alternatives, they don’t have to.

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Cell Phone Use And Radiation ~ Should We Be Concerned? Part I

Who among us doesn’t rely on our cell phones every single day? I was charging mine the other day, nearly forgot it as I was running out of the house and the thought occurred to me, how did we ever live without these things?! But how much radiation are we really being exposed to?

A report released from the Environmental Health Trust [EHT] says that governmental testing of cell phone radiation is highly inaccurate. “Unsurprising, biased and misleading,” is what EHT President, cancer epidemiologist, Devra Davis, PhD, MPHT says about a recent Danish study that underplayed the cancer risk from cell phone use.

The tests conducted by the Federal Communication Commission [FCC] are based on old science, old cell phone models and they do not take into consideration the increase of current cell phone use. Their tests are done on mannequins emulating a 220 pound man who is 6’2″ tall, this does not represent most of the population.

Not too worried about yourself? Think twice when it comes to your kids’ cell phone use. Children absorb radiation at a far higher rate than adults. Radiation goes 150% deeper into the head of a 10 year old child than it does an adult’s head; radiation goes even deeper into that of a 5 year old.

One study shows that the bone marrow of a child absorbs 10 times the amount of radiation as an adult. The radiation “limits” allowed by governmental studies pertain to adult men not children. It’s cause for concern, particularly for kids who have their own cell phone or for kids who frequently use their parent’s cell phones for games and web surfing. EHT points out that some countries ban children from using cell phones because of the health risk.

Scientists at the World Health Organization [WHO] believe that cell phones are carcinogenic. ABC News reported that WHO conducted a world wide study revealing that just 30 minutes a day of cell phone use for 10 years increased the risk of a rare brain tumor by 40%.

Be sure to check out part II is this series which includes cell phone safety tips.

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BPA Is The New Nicotine

There has been more bad news about Bisphenol A (BPA) than just about any other substance over the last few years but some people still are unaware of just how hazardous it is. Several studies have sited the dangers of BPA and it’s harmful effects on our health even at low doses. It imitates estrogen so it disrupts our endocrine system and messes with our hormones. It’s been associated with breast and prostate cancer, heart disease, premature puberty, neurological problems in infants, male sexual dysfunction, miscarriage, fertility problems, obesity, liver abnormalities and diabetes.Recent Studies State Chemical In Plastic Liquid Containers Contain Tox

Even the American Medical Association (AMA) has reported that it officially recognizes BPA as an endocrine-disrupting agent and they are prompting manufacturers to warn consumers by clearly labeling products containing it. They were also quick to back the decision to ban the sale of products that contain BPA for babies.

It’s widely known that BPA is used in plastic but it might surprise you to find out that it is also in receipts and dollar bills among other things. Yep, just by touching those items your body is absorbing it. Lovely. It also leaches into food inside of cans because the inner lining of canned foods contains BPA. It gets into our food even without being heated.

It’s frustrating to believe you are making a healthy dinner for your family only to serve up the cancer causing compound. An interesting study was conducted last year by Silent Spring Institute and the Breast Cancer Fund. They found that when families ate fresh foods and avoided food in cans and food packaged in plastic for 3 days their BPA levels dropped on average by a whopping 60 percent! Canada no longer allows manufacturers to use it, it’s time for us to do the same.

193There are alternatives, Janelle Sorensen, freelance environmentalist and former CCO, Healthy Child, Healthy World says, “Eden Foods uses a safer material and has agreed to make their ‘trade secrets’ public. The key to successful change is finding feasible alternatives. We have those in hand so with sustained consumer pressure, it shouldn’t be too long before we see the end of BPA used in food and beverage products.” I buy Eden Foods almost exclusively when buying canned foods because of this. The Breast Cancer Fund launched their ‘Cans Not Cancer’ campaign to urge manufacturers to uses a safer alternative in the lining of canned foods. Eden Foods does it why can’t everyone else?!