Healthy Changes or Futile Effort?

So more and more I read about how they’re just now discovering how all these chemicals in stuff we use everyday can cause everything from obesity to cancer to birth defects and infertility. See, what happened is we were so busy rushing this, that, and the other to market that we completely skipped the whole testing thing.

Now that we have long-term exposure data — oops.

This seems to be happening more and more. And sure, by itself one chemical or another in low levels probably isn’t a big deal. But take low levels of something and stick a little of it in everything – and you end up with excessive exposure. High Fructose Corn Syrup is just one example. Phthalates and bisphenol-A (found in a lot of health care products) are another.  It’s not the small amount we’re exposed to when we use a little dab of this or a smattering of that. It’s that accumulation because it’s in every dab and smattering. I wouldn’t be surprised if we discovered it was something like this causing the alzheimer’s epidemic.

So I found myself researching cosmetics and health care products with the lowest risks for causing cancer, infertility, endocrine issues etc… I mean – that’s literally shit you’re absorbing into your skin. Including lip color (some of which has LEAD in it — and there is NO safe level of lead exposure).  Ugh. Not to mention current laws don’t seem to require cosmetic or health care companies to label every ingredient in their product on the label. After all – would you knowingly use a lip color with lead in it? Probably not.

I started thinking about it. Do I try to limit my exposure by not willfully using products with high levels of contaminants in my body (or on my body as the case may be) – or do I just give up and say screw it? I wonder about the latter because I have no doubt we’re bombarded with chemical contaminants by breathing the air, using computers and other items made from chemicals and plastics.  It’s in our food. It’s in the air. It’s in our furniture, clothes, and carpets for crying out loud.  Yet we all still manage to live.

And sure – we’re all going to die from something be it cancer, heart disease, complications from obesity or diabetes or whatever. We all have to die – no way getting around it. But is it futile to attempt to control your manner of death considering all the contaminants we’re exposed to unknowingly every second of every day?

What do you think?  Is it worth the hassle to read labels and attempt to limit our exposure to the bad stuff?