You think you’re doing everything right—eating plenty of green vegetables, drinking at least eight cups of water a day, and getting the doctor- recommended 150 minutes of exercise every week—but could your hygiene routine be sabotaging your health?
A staggering amount of personal care products contain carcinogens and other toxic ingredients that act as hormone disruptors, causing symptoms such as infertility, PMS, acne, insomnia, or even cancer. But before you “Marie Kondo” your entire medicine cabinet, try the Think Dirty app (available on iOS and Android). Think Dirty allows users to scan barcodes on personal care and household products (either at home or while out shopping), and gives each product a rating from zero to 10. A rating of zero means the product is harmless, and a 10 means it is incredibly toxic.
According to their website, Think Dirty assesses the risks of a product based on the potential health impacts of ingredients as listed by 30 reputable nonprofit and government agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Each ingredient is evaluated for “carcinogenicity, development and reproductive toxicity, and allergenicity and immunotoxicity.” Product evaluations are made by members of Think Dirty’s advisory board, who have experience in medicine, biochemistry, biology, physiology, environmental toxicology, environmental health and safety, and chemical engineering.
We at Cancer Wellness think any product in the red zone, meaning a rating of seven or higher, is best tossed immediately. Worried about breaking the bank? Products with a rating higher than three or four can be phased out slowly and replaced with cleaner versions. The app also has a Shop section, which lists clean products by category and includes links to buy directly from company websites.
So, instead of mindlessly trusting often arbitrary product labels like all-natural, “think dirty” while you shop.