隨著工業時代的迅速發展,人類的生活模式已有別於過去。雖然科技帶給生活許多的自由與便利,但也把我們帶入了另一個極端的惡性循環之中。走進商店,架上琳瑯滿目的商品都是工業化產鏈大量生產的成果;近年來世界各地也陸續爆發出許多食品安全問題,甚至也擴及到日常生活中的清潔用品對人體是否產生不良影響的疑慮,究竟內服、外敷的商品之中有哪些可令人安心使用的?皆極度令人惶恐與不安。
然而現實環境雖然如此不堪,但其實只要建立適當的知識與進一步學習,就可協助我們於日常生活中正確地判斷,並安心地選擇良好且健康的商品。除了每日三餐飲食的基本需求外,每日與身體直接接觸的化學物品無非是沐浴時的洗髮精、沐浴乳與洗面乳;因為是高頻率的皮膚接觸,所以選擇坊間沐浴產品時,也必須睜大眼睛仔細認清商品的成分特性。實際走訪一趟藥妝店,隨手拿起架上陳設的洗髮精與沐浴乳,翻到背面細讀其成分表皆以英文化學名稱呈現,無法直接讓消費者真正了解到各種成分的用途與特性,因此也讓顧客長久處在弱勢的一方。
透過成分資料查詢,可進一步了解到坊間的清潔用品都是由許多化學原料調合而成,例如:防腐劑、乳化劑、界面劑、柔潤劑(如:矽靈)、酸鹼調節劑與香精等。如此多種的成分皆是為了因應大眾的盥洗習慣(如滑順感、起泡力、清潔力)而輾轉延伸了這些額外的化學添加物,其中成分以防腐劑對皮膚的刺激與傷害較大,而化學香精則對呼吸系統有負面的影響。如此眾多化學添加物的影響與刺激下,很難想像長期使用後對身體造成的結果。
人體是一個奧妙的小宇宙,擁有完整而健全的生理系統,因此只要排除與避免非天然刺激產品的接觸,身體自然而然便能恢復正常的健康狀態。至於實際上能夠提升多少生活品質,端看個人在生活物品使用上的抉擇。希望大家能明智地慎選生活用品,健康樂活!
末後,簡列出市售洗髮精的成分內容與其主要功能給大家參考(紅色指標為防腐劑):
Walk into any stall today and we find the shelves filled with products of industrial and mass production. Shocking news about food safety and safety of cleansing products around the world never seem to stop coming in. And we are never quite sure what external or internal products are safe for us.
However, with proper knowledge we can actually correctly decide what products are good and healthy. Other than our daily diets, cleansing products are the next product that maintains close contact with our body. We use them every day or even more than once a day from head to toe on our body, our baby and loved ones, on the clothes that we wear next to our skin, and on kitchen-ware and table-ware that serve the foods we eat. Did we ever care to read or learn to understand the labels and ingredients behind these cleansing products that we use and dispose into the sewage every day?
Let's check out the ingredients of some cleansing products we commonly see in the commercials and on shelves in malls today. Check out the tables below and we will find that many products, which are quite well-known, are mainly made of artificial preservatives, emulsifier, surfactants, emollients (such as dimethicone), pH modifiers, and artificial fragrance. These ingredients provide the cleansing products with the properties of smoothness, excellent foaming ability, and good cleansing power. Among these, artificial preservatives are the most harmful to our skin. Artificial fragrance (or commonly known as parfume), on the other hand, is harmful to our respiratory system. Long-term use of these products bring us more harm than good.