Yes, Everything Has Carcinogens, but You Can Still Choose to Be Healthy

Chances are, if you’re a woman on social media, then you’ve heard about Environment International‘s 2024 study revealing that tampons contain a multitude of toxic materials like lead and arsenic.

At this point, you might also be aware that carcinogens have been linked to many everyday products, from waterproof mascara to any kind of product from SHEIN. At the same time, according to the National Cancer Institute, more young adults than ever before are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer as a result of our increasingly sedentary lifestyles and, according to CNN, our ever-growing intake of ultra-processed foods.

Don’t even get me started on the microplastics! I’ll throw away every plastic thing I own and cry myself to sleep. 

Honestly, given all these super discouraging facts, you might slowly give up on trying to live healthily. I know a lot of people who are starting to. Recently, my little sister proudly showed me her SHEIN haul. When I told her that an abnormal number of carcinogens were detected in their products, she widened her eyes for a moment before shrugging. 

“There’s carcinogens in everything nowadays,” she said (as I’ve heard many times before). 

Why are we accepting this as a part of our lives? Sure, carcinogens are undoubtedly present in our lives, no matter how much we listen to Cleveland Clinic and avoid alcohol, tobacco, and apply sunscreen. I’ll give you that. But even if that’s true, living passively with this information and choosing to ignore it does nothing but satisfy our short-term desires while having massive long-term consequences.

Unfortunately, living healthy isn’t just going to the gym, getting a good eight hours of sleep, eating fruits and veggies, etc. It means being a knowledgeable consumer in every sense of the word, in our consumption of food, clothes, media – you name it. 

For me, at least, if that means that I have to wear pads instead of tampons, then I’ll do it. If that means I have to put aside my waterproof mascara for only special occasions, or if I have to save my money to buy clothes, shoes, and accessories from a more expensive retailer instead of SHEIN, I’ll do it. And you can, too! You just have to care enough to try. 

We live in an age where information is so readily available, where we can navigate to any search engine, type in a question, and have an instant answer. If you’re unsure of the health complications that might result from eating out or buying fast food daily, you can Google it. If you have doubts about microplastics in some of your cosmetic products, you can easily download free and reliable apps like Beat the Microbead to find out.

Yes, purging your life of cancer-linked products might require some massive lifestyle changes. Still, the benefits, like prolonging your life, avoiding illness and disease, improving your mental health, etc., outweigh any possible struggle. 

So, if you need a sign to go through your grocery list and everything you own to ensure that you’re living with as few carcinogens as possible, then this is your sign to go ahead and get that process started. I wish you the best of luck; hopefully, this article will provide some helpful information to begin! 

• beauty
• cancer
• carcinogens
• cosmetics
• healthy
• mental health
• microplastics
• physical health
• wellness