While many of us try to eat and drink clean, it is the unfortunate reality that the purity of the air we breathe is for the most part out of our hands. Proposed updates to EPA regulations and the diligent work of Earthjustice, the Clean Air Council, and the Sierra Club have revealed why we need to be aware now. I’d like to share the findings and also share a simple way to support your body’s battle with heavy metal contamination.

Pending its approval by Congress, the EPA is working to release the Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) which would reduce the toxic pollutants that most industrial boiler plants are spewing into the environment. The list of pollutants includes mercury, lead, chromium and others in amounts exceeding millions of pounds per year. Sadly, lobbyists and those in the industrial plant industry have countered by introducing bills that will permanently exempt them from the Clean Air Act. While the battle for cleaner air rages on, an environmental group called Earthjustice has just released the results of their own study which pinpoints where the worst offending industrial plants are located in hopes of raising public awareness.

Earthjustice research revealed that the states with 50 or more potentially noncompliant boilers include North Carolina with 166, Pennsylvania with 99, South Carolina with 91, Virginia with 87, Indiana with 86, Michigan with 84, Ohio with 83, Wisconsin with 72, Minnesota with 68, Alabama with 61, Illinois with 60, Tennessee with 59, Georgia with 55 and Iowa with 51.

The Earthjustice website stated that the dirtiest of these facilities released more than 160 million pounds of toxic air pollutants like mercury, lead, benzene and acid gases in 2010 alone. The Earthjustice site breaks down by pollutant the current standards of the EPA that are being exceeded by these plants and the numbers are astonishing. The impact of these plants on the pollution of our air is immense and measured in millions of pounds.

“Many people don’t know that major industrial operations often have their own personal power plants, which have not been subject to EPA clean air standards,” said Earthjustice staff attorney Jim Pew. “People who live near industrial power plants pay a disproportionate cost in increased cancer risk, heart attacks, asthma and other respiratory illness. Americans have the right to know where these plants are located and the pollutants they emit. Now they can get this information easily online.”

You can find a detailed lists, facilities maps and further information on the Earthjustice website. If you also live near one of the named heavily polluted areas, please be aware you are being exposed to heavy metals and other pollutants that could be effecting your health. I live in South Carolina, so this study was of particular interest to me when I read the headlines. Although South Carolina is one of the worst ranked in terms of numbers, there are a handful of states that are right there with us.

While we wait for government regulations to help reduce our exposure to these toxic pollutants, be sure to educate yourself on ways to help your body detox pollutants which can accumulate in your body.

Chlorella is one of the main ingredients in our Miessence Deep Green alkalizing organic superfood supplement for good reason. Its an excellent detoxifier associated with its ability to bind with mercury, lead and cadmium and eliminate them from our system. Its perfect for the whole family, even young children. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, please consult with your doctor. Depending on the levels of pollutants in your system, a detox response may be too intense for a growing fetus or breastfeeding child.

If you feel you are suffering from an illness that has been caused or aggravated by industrial pollution, you may want to contact a doctor with a focus in holistic and natural healing. Diagnostic testing exists that can determine the levels of pollutants in your body, while an expert can then devise a treatment plan and monitor your detox.

A big thank you to the innovative directors at Porter Gaud college preparatory day school for including Organic Glow and Miessence in their Girl’s Leadership Eco-Conference. In the bodycare presentation, the girls in grades 1-12 learned that they should be as mindful about what they put on their skin and bodies as they do about what they put into them. Miessence samples of Desert Flower Shampoo, Herbal Shine Conditioner, Sunflower Body Wash and Intensive Body Cream were distributed in recycled juicebox pouches. We are thrilled that the girls will be able to try truly organic products and a seed is planted to be conscious about choosing healthy, safe and effective products.

With teenage girls being a huge market segment for beauty and skincare products, we hope to do more community outreach in the future on this important health topic.

Every ingredient in Miessence certified organic products are as pure as organic food and certified as such. The ingredients include rare and exotic organic herbs, botanicals, fruits, oils, nut and seed butters that are unprocessed, cold pressed and preserved with beneficial essential oils. The most pure, potent and fresh on the planet!

Alissa Cohen is a world leading expert on health, nutrition and the raw food diet and she is spreading the word about InLiven from Organic Glow.com! Check out the write-up on Alissa’s page on Open Sky for a special 48 hour promotion.

Author of Living on Live Food the most comprehensive and practical book on raw food, she’s been interviewed on NBC’s Today Show, Celebrity Fit Club, OK Magazine, First for Women Magazine and the Tyra Banks Show. At 44 years old, Cohen has the looks and energy of a 20 year old. She has been eating and teaching raw foods since 1986.

We are so excited to have an authority on Alissa’s level recommend our product to her health conscious, loyal followers!

I first heard about the Rodale Institute through my Miessence training and was so impressed by their important work. The Rodale Institute is a non-profit who’s mission is to generate support for organic farming through research and outreach. For the last sixty years they have been researching every aspect of organic farming and sharing the findings with the farmers of the world.

The Farming Systems Trial is Rodale’s longest running side-by-side U.S. study comparing conventional chemical agriculture with organic methods. The institute gathered data for thirty years for this study and just released the findings this month. You can read the details of the results on the Rodale Institute website, but a basic summary is this; organic farming was found to be superior to conventional in the areas of crop yields, economics, energy consumption, human health and soil health. The bottom line is clear…as the world population grows we need to rely on farming systems that will provide in the face of drought, extreme weather and with less dependence on oil. Organic is the only way forward. Check it out and share the good news!

Have you ever wanted a doctor’s advice regarding natural skincare? Physician Laura Koniver, MD runs a unique on-line skin care course called Skin Happiness that is devoted to teaching women how to care for their skin naturally.  This course is fun and full of great tips for all natural skin care… each day for two weeks participants get a newsletter sent to their email in-box chock full of great skin care advice, tips, techniques, and links to fabulous organic products… including Organic Glow.com!  Dr. Koniver loves the Miessence line and recommends it highly on her blog as well.

The Skin Happiness course topics range from cleansing, exfoliation and moisturizing to sun protection, nutrition, and treating your skin in an energetically balanced way from the inside out.  Touching on lots of great ideas, from techniques to decrease acne to anti-aging strategies and more, this course is fun, easy, and inexpensive.

The next course begins August 22nd, so don’t miss it! You can sign up now using the link below.  Dr. Koniver hosts a number of on-line health care courses, including a Female Health eCourse, a Detox eCourse, Organic Parenting classes and individual Medical Intuition Counseling.

Sign up now HERE!
http://www.intuitionphysician.com/

Questions?  Visit Dr. Koniver’s website at www.intuitionphysician.com or email her directly at heartsong@primary-plus.com

Beauty Editor Katherine Butler of EcoSalon, the conscious culture and fashion website, has ranked her seven favorite organic products for getting a safe, self tan this summer.

Among the winners is the Miessence mineral bronzer and blush. She writes, “For the ultimate in color, consider separately applying both a bronzer and blush. Some products are meant for blending, as are this bronzer and blush combo from Miessence via Organic Glow.com“.

OrganicGlow.com proudly announces we have been listed as one of EcoSalon’s Top 15 Eco Beauty Boutiques on the web by EcoSalon Beauty Editor Katherine Butler. EcoSalon rounds up their favorite online shops for organic beauty every year updating their findings and listing classic favorites. We are honored…. Check out the article!

About EcoSalon

EcoSalon is the conscious culture and fashion website.

The place for women of substance and style, where we present modern living with heart. We celebrate, we criticize. We cover what’s now – and what’s next – in fashion, culture, shelter, food, and sex. As the #1 website for conscious women, EcoSalon is leading the way to a more holistic definition of green. Influencers read us. Tastemakers read us. Women love us. (And we love you.) Our motto: Have a heart.

What should a consumer look for in a safe and effective sunscreen this summer? We’ve developed a list of tips to help you shop. The good news for fans of natural products is that dermatologists and skin cancer experts agree that major points go to Zinc Oxide, a mineral that performs as a natural sunblock offering both UVA and UVB protection and is very stable in sunlight. Everyone from the Skin Cancer Foundation, to Vogue Magazine is recommending consumers seek zinc oxide.

#1) READ NOT ONLY SPF, BUT INGREDIENT LISTS TO INSURE UVA PROTECTION

80% of consumers buy their sunscreen based solely on its SPF rating. SPF (sun protection factor) only measures protection from UVB rays, ignoring the UVA radiation exposure that is also cancer causing and damaging to skin. The ridiculously high SPF’s (70+) are unsubstantiated and for the purpose of marketing.

As far as UVB protection, SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB, SPF 30 blocks 97% and SPF 50 blocks 99%.

Since SPF excludes UVA protection information, the only way to insure your sunscreen offers UVA protection is to read the ingredient label. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends “looking for UVA blocking ingredient zinc oxide”, which is the closest thing to a total sunblock on the market today. A high quality sunscreen will have around 20% zinc content.

#2) SEEK MINERAL (zinc oxide) vs. CHEMICAL INGREDIENTS (all the rest)

Zinc is a physical sun blocker that actually reflects or bounces the sun’s ultraviolet rays off of your body. It has over a 300 year history of safety with no known adverse reactions (which is why it is used on even the youngest babies in diaper rash creams). On the flip side, chemical sunscreens (avobenzone, oxybenzone, homosalate, etc.) absorb the UVA rays once they hit your skin. Many chemical sunscreen ingredients have shown to be unstable when the rays are absorbed, causing the chemical to break down and cause free radical damage.

#3) AVOID TITANIUM DIOXIDE AND NANO-PARTICLES

Its difficult to find a mineral sunscreen that is purely zinc. Most formulations rely on a blend of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. As far as performance, Titanium Dioxide degrades in the presence of uv light to form free radicals. Not good…especially if we are talking about use in a sunscreen. A new report from the American Cancer Society identifies Titamium Dioxide as one of their top “suspected carcinogens”.  The safety of Titanium Dioxide is one of the least well studied in humans, although it has been long established as a cancer causing agent in animal exposure studies. There is conflicting evidence as to whether nanoparticles of titanium dioxide can pass through the skin. But if nanoparticles do pass through, the presence of titanium dioxide in a large variety of sunscreens, cosmetic powders and creams may be a cause of concern.

#4) USE A QUALITY MINERAL MAKEUP

Depending on the brand and zinc oxide content, mineral makeup has the potential to offer great everyday UVA/UVB protection. By applying a high quality organic mineral makeup with 20% zinc content or higher, you’ll get easy, natural sun protection everyday. So easy to apply, reapply and its non-irritating to even sensitive skin and eyes. Be sure to look for non-nanoparticle zinc and a formulation that’s free from titanium dioxide.

#5) MAKE USE OF SPF TREATED SUN PROTECTIVE HATS & CLOTHING

If you invest in a few key pieces of SPF treated swimwear, you’ll have a sunscreen alternative available if you are unable to apply sunscreen or need more protection after a few hours in the sun. Look for wide brim hats and rash guard shirts with long sleeves and higher collars. You’ll only have to reapply sunscreen to the skin that’s visible. NO sunscreen or block will stop 100% of harmful rays so adding a second physical blocker (SPF treated clothing) on top of physical blocker zinc oxide will be the ultimate protection for a long day in the sun.

MIESSENCE REFLECT OUTDOOR BALM = PERFECT SUN PROTECTION

If you are ready to buy sunscreen that meets or exceeds all these standards then check out Miessence Reflect Outdoor Balm on OrganicGlow.com. Its a fantastically effective, broad spectrum sun blocker with no synthetic chemicals (only mineral and organic ingredients). Environmental Working Group annually ranks the safety and effectiveness of 1700 SPF products and Miessence is consistently ranked in the Best Sunscreens list.

Read further into the ingredients and production of this product and you will agree it is above and beyond even other top ranked sunscreens. The Reflect Balm’s gold standard formulation is a whopping 22% microfine zinc oxide which offers protection from harmful rays while organic olive oil keeps the skin supple. Potent antioxidants including natural vitamin E, beta carotene and polygonum extract, protect the skin from premature aging and prevent damage caused by the elements.

• Creates a physical sunblock that bounces the sun’s harmful rays off of your skin, unlike chemical sunscreens that absorb rays
• Non-nanoparticle zinc; Reflect uses micronized (physically crushed zinc minerals) that is 150 nanometers
• Non-coated minerals; Reflect’s mineral zinc is not coated with aluminum compounds, silicone compounds or titanium dioxide

While you are shopping, check out our mineral foundations as well. At 25% zinc oxide, they provide up to 5x the amount of zinc oxide sun protection of other brands. Its awesome!

We are so excited to officially launch the newly redesigned Organic Glow.com website this month and so glad you are here! Since 2007 I have researched, read labels, comparison shopped and sifted through the most credible resources to study the benefits of organic, 100% synthetic free products. As a Miessence independent representative website, Organic Glow.com offers you the most pure, potent and truly organic skincare, bodycare, home and nutrition products on the planet. Be sure to check out the reviews and testimonials.

Beyond that, the new site also serves as an informational resource. For those who wish to do their own consumer research, it was important for me to offer personal experiences, reputable study findings and easy ingredient label reading tips. Not to mention tons of tools to ask questions and share comments.

Check out the site and let us know what you think!

If you’ve never read Dr. Laura Koniver’s blog Intuition Physician, be sure to check it out. We love her take on skincare topics and today she shared her thoughts on cosmetic safety.

Check out her Intuition Physician blog

During medical school, Dr. Laura worked at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD with a research team who was investigating oncogenes.  We thought her take on cosmetic products and cancer was quite interesting.

Dr. Laura says: “I feel like I’ve gotten a little extra training in the areas of cancer research and in skin and my gut feeling says that the more you chronically irritate something, the more likely you are to develop cancer in that organ.  As straight forward as that.

Most of the over the counter anti-aging crap (um… I mean, *products*) you can buy through drugstores, department stores, and even health food stores, contain ingredients designed to chronically irritate your skin.  This is because they’ve found that by chronically irritating it (at low levels… low enough that you don’t see any skin reaction visibly) you are chronically encouraging it to slough off and turn over new cells.  This is why low but consistent doses of retinal products and hydroxy acids and other skin acids (even all naturally derived fruit acids) works to give your skin a refreshed surface… chronically forcing new cell turnover.
While this is great in the short term (you get fresher skin within a few weeks) in the long term, chronic irritation and inflammation has been shown to incite cellular damage.  Chronic inflammation is turning out to be one of the major factors in all types of disease… from coronary artery disease, to strokes, to cancer.

So, my goal as a physician is to decrease the levels of inflammation and irritation in and on the body as much as possible.  It is routine practice now to try and decrease the level of inflammation inside our bodies… for example, decreasing the level of inflammation in our guts by avoiding certain foods (like avoiding gluten if you have celiac disease) or using prescription medications to decrease inflammation (like statin drugs for heart disease)  But it is not generally addressed when it comes to skin care.

Yes, everyone understands that inflaming your skin to the point of sunburn is a serious no-no… that UV exposure can cause skin cancers… but what about the chronic irritation of the toxic chemicals in daily use of chemical sunblock?  This is starting to get more recent press and consumers are switching to physical sunblocks over chemical ones, for good reason.

The same goes for your facial care products.  Infrequent use may be fine, but daily (and sometimes twice daily, morning and night!) slathering on of anti-wrinkle, anti-aging, anti-this-and-that products intended to stir up your skin and cause enough low levels of irritation that it forces your skin to make new skin faster… 40 years of applying this to your face doesn’t seem right to me.

If you had a chemical irritant would you smear it morning and night on the inside walls of your heart?  Or along the surface of your kidney?  Why does it seem so much more benign when we slather it onto our skin?  I’m not sure why.

I do agree it seems less *invasive*.  But skin cancers are no small concern… and with the advent of the newer delivery methods (micronized particles and nanosphere delivery systems) the ingredients do not stay superficial at all anymore, but rather are internally delivered.  On top of that, and this is just my gut feeling, I truly believe that the chronic inflammation and irritation of the skin, while creating the immediate effect of quicker skin turnover, in the long term (decades later) this very chronic irritation can cause faster skin aging… as your skin reacts to being chronically irritated with visible signs of stress… uneven pigmentation, broken capillaries, seborrheic keratosis, actinic keratosis, and other age related changes.

So that is the platform upon which I recommend this very simple skin plan.  Do no harm.  Allow your body to do what it does best… cover you in sheets of beautiful, healthy skin, replacing it as needed… and support this process with moisture and occasional exfoliation.”

Well said Dr. Laura!!!