Ok, so we know that aluminum in our deodorant and antiperspirants are a much bigger problem that having stinky under arms, but now the word is out that our NATURAL deodorant has aluminum in it too?

Talk about stinky business! Apparently, my beloved Crystal deodorant has been found to have aluminum in it and that the crystal stone is made from alum- one of the official names is "potassium aluminum sulfate", (aka- aluminum--- aka, linked to Altzheimers).

So what's a gal to do? Well, this link at " Mercola.com", says to use baking soda and water. Hmmm, I'll try it out and let you know.

I recently read another article- how doctors are concerned about antibacterial soaps that use antibacterials like
"Triclosan",

The head researcher Dr. Eli N. Perencevich of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, told Reuters Health that "The concern is that low levels of use of this compound, which would occur in (households), could select bacteria that are resistant to these products and possibly antibiotics."

Basically, synthetic antibacterials... not so good for humans and not so good for the planet.

After experiencing the "horrible-ness" of cancer with my dad, I learned alot about the toxic and cancer causing chemicals that are in our products and that we thoughtlessly put on our bodies every single day. Now that I'm a mom, I'm always on the lookout for ingredients and product labels.

I thought it might be an interesting idea to share what I find every so often, to make it a little easier on the mom who's crazy busy or for someone who just doesn't know where to look.

Here are a couple ingredients that are in A LOT of products- even one's that call themselves "natural"...
PEG'S - there are many different types, but all are linked to either cancer or organ toxicity or neurotoxicity.
Phenoxyethanol - linked to organ toxicity, some studies have shown it linked to cancer and Japan has restricted this ingredient.

I know a lot of people are looking for natural ingredients to address the H1N1 (swine) flu, so it was interesting to read this news...
The Department of Microbiological and Gynecological Sciences at the University of Catania, Italy, let the world in on their recent results testing Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil (tea tree oil, or TTO) on H1N1 virus. It's a technical publication, but here's a bit from their abstract:

TTO and some of its components (the terpinen-4-ol, the terpinolene, the alpha-terpineol) have an inhibitory effect on influenza A/PR/8 virus subtype H1N1 replication at doses below the cytotoxic dose.

That last bit seems to support that tea tree oil inhibits the virus at concentrations that don't hurt your own cells.