The hidden truth about traditional oral care products

Traditional oral care products no longer have a place in an advanced society. It is time that we discover all the negative that lies behind the scenes of obsolete oral hygiene and that no one has ever wanted to tell.

Dietro le quinte dei tradizionali prodotti per l'igiene orale

We are grateful for all that traditional oral care products have done for humans in the past when there were little or no alternatives. However, in 2020, there are much healthier, eco-friendly, safer, and more mindful options, and there's no excuse to get stuck in the past. This is the bad truth behind traditional oral care products.

ANIMAL TESTS

Most traditional oral care products are tested on animals. Many animals are subjected to painful tests and experiments, being forced to ingest or inhale various substances, or to have cosmetic or medicinal ingredients rubbed into their eyes, ears or skin to look for allergic reactions. The greater the concern for the ingredient in question, the harder and longer the test.

ANIMAL PRODUCTS

Traditional oral hygiene is mainly based on some type of animal product, be it toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss and others.. Some of the animal-based ingredients commonly used in traditional oral care products are glycerin and glycerol - although it is possible to extract glycerin and glycerol from plant sources, it is immensely cheaper to extract it from animal bone marrow -, calcium phosphate / E542 (from animal bones), lanolin (from sheep's sebaceous glands, commonly used in oral hygiene and hair products), propolis (resin based on bee saliva and beeswax, mainly used for cosmetic products, as a conditioner for lips or lotions and toothpaste), boar or horsehair (for toothbrush bristles).

DANGEROUS CHEMICALS

There are hundreds of known dangerous chemicals used in traditional oral care products, and this is after many have already been banned. For example, the mouthwash contains at least four ingredients dangerous to human health: chlorhexidine gluconate, ethanol (ethyl alcohol), hydrogen peroxide and methyl salicylate. If we look at toothpaste, there are suspected carcinogens, substances that disrupt endocrine function, substances that weaken the immune system, or chemicals that induce ulcer, in most of the products on the market. Look for triclosan, aspartame and saccharin, carrageenan, diethanolamine, parabens, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate, tetrasodium (tetra potassium) pyrophosphate or titanium dioxide - they are not your friend.

As for dental floss, these are normally made from plastics and other petroleum derivatives and contain perfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances. These PFAS are man-made, very persistent in the environment and in the human body and tend to accumulate over time. There is sufficient evidence that prolonged exposure to PFAS may be related to cancer, thyroid hormone disorders, and a weakened immune system.

Last, but not least, toothbrushes and we don't even know where to start. Traditional oral care products like toothbrushes are just a nightmare when it comes to toxic and dangerous chemicals. A traditional and regular toothbrush consists of a combination of a dozen plastic, at least, from the handle to the bristles. N, N-dimethyl acetamide, 1,1,2,2-tetrachlorethane, 3,5,5-trimethyl-1-hexanol, carvone, 2-methyl-benzenesulfonamide, 344-methyl-benzenesulfonamide, benzyl-butyl-phthalate, 2 -butoxy-ethanol, 1-butoxy-2-propanol, naphthalene, 2-butoxyethyl acetate, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone and nickel are just some of the more harmful substances found in various toothbrushes from a 2004 study by the Danish Institute technological. But there are others.

MICROPLASTICS

Microplastics are not only very difficult to detect as they are almost impossible to get rid of. As such, they end up polluting our planet, mainly seas and oceans, and one of the main fears is that microplastics end up being integrated into organisms and ultimately into human bodies and that in the long run it can be very problematic, for the human and animal health as we have explored in this article.Traditional oral care products, especially conventional toothpaste, are filled with microplastics - namely plastic microspheres - which act as abrasives and which are marketed as "pearls" that will make your teeth whiter. In fact, there's no evidence that the microspheres in toothpaste and other traditional oral care products actually help your teeth become cleaner, whiter, or healthier, so it's quite likely that most brands use them for marketing purposes. As a general rule, beware of ingredients whose name begins with "poly", such as polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polylactic acid (PLA), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and nylon.

DIFFICULT TO RECYCLE AND TOXIC FOR VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTS

Your average traditional toothbrush is very difficult to recycle. Toothbrushes and some traditional oral care packages are made with many plastic components, some derived from petroleum, some from rubber, and some that are a complicated mix of various other plastics. They are also extremely robust, making biodegradation in a human life impossible - it could take up to 400 years! -, difficult to recycle due to the difficulty of separating the components, and almost impossible to use for energy recovery through combustion. Wouldn't it be great if you could have an easily recycled or even composted toothbrush? Well, we may have a surprise for you.

Every purchase decision you make has the power to change the world. This is why conscious consumption is so important today, for your health, our economy, our ecosystems and our planet.

We encourage you to start looking deeper into your product labels and make more informed decisions about what you buy and use in your body. Be aware before buying a product, buy local, talk to entrepreneurs, be careful about what's "behind the scenes".

Check out BribeUShop products, allo bamboo toothbrush and charcoal floss! They are natural, eco-friendly once tried, you won't want to go back to traditional oral care products, we promise!
100% transparency, 100% natural.

BribeUShop wants to build a society of optimistic people. People who share similar values and interests and inspire each other to find alternatives for products and materials that harm this beautiful planet!

#bribeuworld