Every year around Mother’s Day, my son and daughter (pictured with me, above) want to know what they can get me. I’m not big on buying a lot of presents, especially given how much stuff I already have. But I always make a point of telling them to skip anything having to do with cosmetics, fragrances, and other “fancy” personal care products. Why? Because I have no idea what they’re made of. That’s especially true after having watched The Human Experiment, a new documentary produced and narrated by Academy Award-winner Sean Penn.

Most chemicals circulating in our environment today have NOT been tested for their long-term impacts on human health. The Human Experiment film shines a very needed spotlight on the devastating impact untested chemicals can have on our health.

I was invited to attend the film’s premiere in Beverly Hills, thanks to Rachel Sarnoff of MommyGreenest.com and a long-time advocate of non-toxic living. Sean Penn introduced the film by noting how important it is for consumers to understand the health threats we face from living day-to-day with the more than 80,000 chemicals that circulate around us.

The documentary explains in heartbreaking detail how vulnerable we all are to toxic chemicals that companies are allowed to use until they’re proven dangerous. It tells the stories of three women whose lives have been turned upside down by what they believe are toxic chemical exposures. One young, fit and seemingly healthy woman can’t get pregnant. Finally, after fertility treatments, she conceives twins, but one of the babies is born so weak he cannot survive. Another women talks about the ways she thinks chemical exposures might have contributed to her brother’s autism. Another 30-something woman gets breast cancer – even though she takes good care of herself, eats right, is not overweight, and doesn’t smoke.

A study by the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) shows that American women put, on average, 168 different chemicals on their bodies each day, and many of those chemicals are dangerous.

According to EWG’s study, those chemicals are delivered via the soap, shampoo, body lotion, make-up, deodorant and even toothpaste we use. Most of us don’t give our personal hygiene regimens much thought. We do what we’ve always done: lather, rinse, repeat. And because we can buy the products we use online or at the store, we generally assume that they’re safe to use.

Unfortunately, that burden of proof usually falls on consumers. Most of us can’t afford to pay for the extensive testing required to prove whether the products we buy, and the chemicals in them, are safe.

That’s why two U.S. Senators, calling for toxic chemical reform, are pushing passage of the Personal Care Products Safety Act.

That’s also why BigGreenPurse.com encourages shoppers to shift their spending to the healthiest, safest products available. If you visit TheHumanExperimentmovie.com, make sure you click on Switch to Safer to see the safer products the film’s producers recommend. It will make a difference, not just to you, but to the manufacturers who need to change their ingredients lists. Rachel Sarnoff of MommyGreenest.com, agrees. “In America, consumers seem to be the only group forcing manufacturers to change. It’s only when shoppers demand cleaner alternatives that companies develop non-toxic formulations. And it’s working: The green chemistry market, which was assessed at $800 million in 2011, is projected to reach $2.7 billion this year.”

Yes, it’s ridiculous that you can’t really think about buying your mother (or spouse, or partner, or yourself) a bottle of perfume or some fancy make-up or even an afternoon at the spa without worrying that the chemicals in these “gifts” could make her sick. But right now, if you’re planning to shop for Mother’s Day, you’re probably better off choosing something other than personal care products.

No matter when you shop, shift your spending to products that do not contain some of the worst chemical offenders:

* phthalates

* diazolidinyl urea

* lead acetate

* methylene glycol/formaldehyde

* propyl paraben

* quarternium-15

And make sure you don’t miss The Human Experiment. You can download it on Vimeo here, or look for it at your local movie theater.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Non-Toxic Personal Care

How to Avoid Toxic Chemicals in Make-up When Pregnant

Is There Mercury in Your Mascara? Probably.

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I’ve just returned from a seven-day trip to Beijing, China’s capital, and Xi’an, the country’s cultural heart and soul and home to its famous terra cotta soldiers. In that entire time, I never saw the sun or sky. Nor was I able to drink the water that came out of any tap.

Why? The sky was cloaked in grey smog so thick it obscured the tops of buildings, not to mention the heavens above. The air, while not exactly putrid, smelled dank and dangerous — a result of massive numbers of polluting cars on the road and regional industrial plants that spew contaminants into the air.

I could have worn a surgical mask like many of the city’s permanent residents. Instead, I opted to be a “guinea pig” and see how much the smog would affect me as I went back and forth to various business meetings and tourist destinations.

After just three days in Beijing, I developed a sore throat and itchy eyes, and lost any desire to explore the city’s beautiful parks. I could have easily walked distances of a mile or two. Instead, I took the subway to avoid breathing the outdoor air unnecessarily. Back at my hotel, I kept the windows closed, choosing a stuffy room over a polluted one.

The water coming out of my faucet looked cleaner than the air — but I would have been a fool to drink it. Water treatment anywhere in China is thoroughly inadequate. The country’s drinking water is tainted not just by household waste but from relentless industrial run-off.

Some government figures estimate that over 70 percent of the nation’s rivers have been contaminated by the discharge of heavy metals and other toxins directly into streams and tributaries that feed into China’s waterways. Water treatment facilities remove a smattering of contaminants but never clean up the water to the point where it is drinkable. And this creates another problem.

Independent companies are privatizing the water, purifying and bottling it, and selling it to the public by the tons. What happens to all the empty plastic water bottles? They end up back in the rivers and streams when they’re trashed.

Why is China so polluted?

In short, because it has neither a power federal environmental protection agency nor adequate laws for such an agency to enforce. Yes, the government gives lip service to reducing pollution and protecting public health. But local activists in Beijing told me that given the physical size of the country, a population of more than 1 billion people, and tens of thousands of “renegade” manufacturing facilities, neither air nor water quality will improve significantly until the government makes a real commitment to strengthen and enforce its environmental laws.

This is not to say that air and water in the U.S. are perfect, or even good enough. A recent study by Environment America, using data provided by the American Lung Association, reported that nearly half of all Americans — 48 percent — live in areas plagued by unhealthy smog pollution. A water quality analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council concluded that 22 million Americans may be drinking water that contains excessive levels of poisonous arsenic, among other chemicals.

Still, the same Environment America study notes that “air quality has improved significantly in the last decade as a result of policies at the state and federal level.” Likewise, the non-profit Environmental Working Group found over 90 percent compliance by water utilities in applying and enforcing standards that exist. Their recommendation: that EPA set even more effective standards so water quality will continue to improve.

We can continue cleaning up our air or water. Or, we can abolish the EPA and look a lot more like China. I suggest Michele Bachmann go to China before she decides.

Follow me on twitter @dianemaceachern.

(NOTE: This article originally appeared at Huffington Post.)

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One reader worried that many sunscreens rely on nanotechnology, which manipulates particles that are smaller than 100 nanometers (nm); for comparison, a human hair is about 80,000 nm in diameter. Some research indicates that nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, which makes it easier for sun screen to soak into the skin, are small enough to bypass the body’s defensive “blood-brain barrier,” enter the brain and damage brain cells. (Larger particles are blocked by that barrier and don’t pose this problem). Environmental Working Group notes that, while several studies have found that nanotechnology does not penetrate healthy skin, they can still pose a danger to consumers or the workers who manufacture them. It is possible to find sunscreens that do not contain nanoparticles – but they may contain other undesirable chemicals. You can address the conundrum in part by staying out of the sun between the intense solar hours of 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and wearing protective clothing.

Speaking of which, another reader noted that clothing specifically manufactured to resist the UV rays that cause sunburn and skin cancer may be coated with nano-based chemicals. It is difficult to determine which clothing relies on nanotechnology and which doesn’t. Question the manufacturer if you’re concerned. Or follow recommendations on ehow.com and chose tightly woven, dark garments when you’re out in the sun. Tightly woven cotton, wool and polyester offer better protection than linen, acetate, rayon and other thin fabrics. Rule of thumb: if you can see your skin through the clothes you’re wearing, they’re probably not blocking UV rays very effectively. While you’re at it, protect your eyes with sunglasses that specifically offer UV protection. Look for photochromic lenses, which reduce glare, sun and UV radiation without reducing visibility.

Finally, a doctor wrote to say that the skin needs some sunlight, since that is how the body restores its supply of Vitamin D. While this is true, most health professionals agree that the body can get enough Vitamin D supply from about 15 minutes of sun exposure in a day. You’ll get that walking back and forth to your car, walking in and out of work, or taking the dog for a stroll. You certainly don’t need to expose your skin to 15 minutes of blazing sun in the middle of the day.

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