This made me think a little.

It’s scary to realize what (some) corporations are doing to people – food being altered (GMO) or de-quality-fied (synthetics and flavorings, salt, sugar, fat) – drugs – war – the list goes on and on.  Corporations – generally speaking – are inherentally structured as contradictory to earth, human and life values.

Let’s take responsibility for ourselves – in education, health, lifestyles, habits, the foods we eat, in the actions we take daily, in our politics, in our beliefs, and in our voices. This also means avoiding the bad influences and bad stuff that can do us personal harm – whether is affects us immediately or years later.

We hold the power to live the life we wish to live and in the quality we wish to live it.

It’s about taking full responsibility for your own destiny.  Control is in our own hands.

As I’m shopping at our favorite market, I look at the PLU* label on the produce I’m looking to buy.  This sticker, if there is one, can tell me if I’m buying organic food, conventionally grown food, or GM food**.

A sample PLU code lis shown on this image —>

PLU code is either a 4 digit or 5 digit number.

A food that was conventionally grown will be 4 digits or 5 digits (if 5, the first number would be zero).  It’s more common to see it in 4 digits.

example:   5432  (without a leading zero) or 05432.

A food that was organically grown will be 5 digits long and begins with a ’9′.

example:   95432

A food that was genetically grown ( GMO )  will be 5 digits long and begins with an ’8′.

example:   85432

If there is no PLU, I check if the food is certified organic by looking for an independent third party certified logo which guarantees the produce was grown organically (example USDA Organic logo).

It’s great to know that there IS a way to tell if some foods are GMO.  I hope you share this information with your family and friends.

*PLU is the price look-up code – the sticker – on items that are sold loose or in bunch, by weight or by each (an individual apple or orange, or bunch of greens). **GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism.

All the PLU information you want is in the downloadable User’s Guide at  plucodes.com – the IFPS or International Federation for Produce Standards.

I learned about this from an article we read in Health Action’s Fall 2009 magazine www.hans.org.  I don’t care for GMO because I’m concerned that food grown that way could be toxic.  GM food is man-made food – not nature-made food.

The Personal Care and Cosmetics Industry are dependent on the use of synthetic ingredients.  The industry does not have a lot in place to ensure that synthetic ingredients used in their products are actually tested to be safe for consumers.  The cost to do so would be prohibitive and it would take precious time to actually do adequate tests (before putting a product to market). The Cosmetic Ingredient Review, which itself is made up of manufacturers of personal care and cosmetics, have, in my opinion, not much to do with synthetic ingredient safety.  In the USA as well as in other countries, government efforts to safeguard consumer’s health when it comes to using synthetic ingredients, are seen as quite limited by concerned groups such as safecosmetics.org.

Now that ‘organic’ is in for consumers.  Many manufacturers are coming up with their own so called ‘organic’ standard as new marketing strategies.  So-called ‘organic’ because their standards will allow synthetic chemicals. Organic certification standards from USDA NOP or organic certifications related to IFOAM do a way better job at preventing synthetic chemicals from being used.   Read more about it at http://toxicbeauty.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/on-new-natural-organic-cosmetic-standards-how-does-these-standards-stand-up-to-established-organic-food-standards/

One must go outside of the Personal Care and Cosmetic industry to actually find adequate regulation & safety  – Organic Certification is the only true standard I know of that ensures synthetic chemicals are not used in the making a product.  It’s great and marvelous that we have these organic certifiers around. Some standards are better than others (see IFOAM) but they indeed are great to have around.   Organic certification started in the 50′s and 60′s as a reaction to the chemical onslaught in agriculture.

It’s not enough to say ‘Organic’ or ‘Natural’, you should look for the logo to prove an organic claim. It has to be on the bottle.  (eg. miessence Certified Organic from ONEGroup http://myorganicfamily.mionegroup.com is certified by USDA NOP and Australia Certified Organic)

Previous post in the series is here.

Next: Reading Labels on Personal Care Products (part 5) – What does Organic (Certified Organic) on the LABEL mean – does it benefit me?

There may be safe personal care and safe cosmetics products, but they are so very hard to find.  There are not many out there for one and they are not usually available in the places you shop (eg from spas, beauty shops, organic shops, beauty professionals).

Manufacturers are jumping on the Organic beauty bandwagon because that’s where the growth is at.  There’s a lot of demand for organic beauty products and less demand for traditional beauty products.  Unfortunately beauty products buyers are confused.  The beauty products on the market do not reflect the ‘organic’ marketing claims.   Manufacturers find it easier to penetrate the market by claiming ‘organic’ than it is to actually produce a products that is truly 100% organic and without chemicals.

Chemical ingredients are cheaper (to obtain), easier to obtain, easier to work with, more stable than organic ingredients, more consistent in quality processing control (one batch will be the same as another batch), have long store shelf life (many years).   Beauty chemists are usually more familiar with chemicals then they are with organic ingredients.

Unfortunately for women and for others using beauty products with chemical ingredients, are chemical ingredients safe?   My opinion is simply NO.  Chemically derived ingredients are foreign (to our bodies) and not natural. Our bodies were not made to ‘eat’ chemicals.

NEXT miessence post on beauty and health – part 4: Back to Labels – How do I know if an ‘Organic’ & ‘Natural’ claim is for real & the product avoids chemicals?

read part 2 of this post here

How to read Labels on personal care & cosmetics products

a) the bio-chemist rule of thumb 1/3 1/3 1/3 = 90-95% 5-8% 1-3%

Look at the ingredients labels of personal care and cosmetics products you use at home, you’ll probably see that it lists quite a number of ingredients.

Example label ingredient list:

Top third of listed ingredients = 90%-95% of contents in bottle (blue in example)

Middle third of listed ingredients = 5%-8% of contents in bottle (red in example)

Lower third of listed ingredients = 1%-3% of contents in bottle (green in example)

b) Not all ingredients are necessarily shown

• If ingredient is less than a certain % (eg EU Directive allows nondisclosure of chemicals below certain %s)
• when trade secret
• on contaminants (eg nitrosamines)

c) Words ‘Organic’ ‘Natural’ on a label

• Can be misleading. ‘Organic’ Personal Care industry uses dictionary definition (any compound containing carbon). ‘Natural’ has no meaning.
• No advertising & labeling controls on use of words.
• Organic percentage & content misleading. Some examples:
  • many products add minuscule amount of aloe vera to water content that makes up the bulk of the product & then call it 70% organic.
  • ‘Aqueous blend of ‘…some herbs Like dunking a tea bag in 200L. of water. Not much.
  • ‘derived from coconut’ … no longer coconut. (eg vodka is derived from potato, but would you feed your child vodka?). Toxic chemicals involved in the processing. Derived from a natural substance is not the same as the natural substance.

next miessence post on beauty and health – part 3 Are there any safe products?

read part 1 of this post here

- Important because (products) are in intimate contact with our bodies. Up to 60% of what we use put on our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream and can build up in our tissues.

- What we do know is…

• 1/3 of products contain 1 or more known possible human carcinogens
• Near 70% of products contain impurities leading to cancer (includes 80% of baby, bath products)
• 4% of 25,000 chemical ingredients used in Personal Care & cosmetics have been tested on humans
• Recently it has been found that when 2 or more chemicals are combined, toxicity often rises exponentially. Typically 2,3,5,10, 40 chemicals in a product. No one tests really for this – too expensive and too much time.
• Chemicals are so pervasive – and no one is really aware of health effects.
• The less we expose ourselves to unnatural ingredients – the better.

- What’s in place now to protect my health and my family’s health?

• Today’s GOVT legislation/policies are old & meant to address poisoning or blindness.
• Safety is responsibility of the manufacturer, not government – not Health Canada or FDA.
• Companies are not required to pre-market test products or ingredients (post-market test, if any, is what takes place).
• Limited restrictions on use of chemicals in personal care products (one example is EU Directive).
• USA the FDA leaves the “policing” to a coalition of cosmetic & personal care manufacturers called Cosmetic Ingredient Review (wolf left to protect hen house?).

next miessence post…part 2 Labels how to read them

“From studies conducted over the past 3 decades, we know that personal care products such as lotions, dyes, nail polishes, skin treatments, hair products, oils and creams can contain hormones and substances that act like hormones. Some hospitals sell discarded placentas to companies that put them into cosmetics that are marketed as creating especially soft skin and hair. The placenta, through which all nutrients pass from mother to the growing fetus, is packed with pregnancy hormones.“

I heard about this some time ago.
The whole book is well researched. It’s titled “The Secret history of the war on cancer” by Devra Davis.

Read the full story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/29/BUD410D6T9.DTL&hw=bronner&sn=001&sc=1000

I see, a lot of the nasty compounds with characters in their names such as MEA, DEA, TEA, PEG, Betaine, taurate, -eth, PPG, sultaine, taurate, … will be prohibited. You can see a list of them in Table G.3 and Table G.4 of the draft document.  (see below)

..exerpt from the draft:

“ Purpose
This Standard encourages participation in the manufacturing of personal care products using organically grown ingredients within the supply chain. It emphasizes open disclosure of impacts and benefits, and does not compromise proprietary, patented, or trade secret information. This Standard is to be used voluntarily by companies that may not be able to meet the current USDA organic food regulations.” 

NEWS:  USA Organic Personal Care Standard drafted
In the USA a draft standard on Organic Personal Care has been submitted by NSF
International called NSF Draft Standard 305: Organic Personal Care Products. It is available for public comment until March 3, 2008. This draft standard will be the first U.S. national standard to define organic labeling and marketing requirements for organic personal care products.
Previously, personal care product companies have had to work within the limitations of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program standards, which were written specifically for food.
The proposed NSF draft standard may soon be used by companies that would like to make organic label and marketing claims, while meeting the strict requirements of this standard, which includes organic ingredient specifications.
Source: BioFach Newsletter

http://standards.nsf.org/apps/group_public/download.php/263/305i1r6.pdf
http://www.npicenter.com/anm/templates/newsATemp.aspx?articleid=20314&zoneid=2

USDA personal care

So what does this mean?

Medicine taken by skin patch is absorbed into the blood stream – a more DIRECT path.   Food & medicine taken by mouth goes through our organs of digestion (mouth, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, small intestine, etc…).  When food goes into our mouth, through our digestive system,  ‘parts’ of it can be at least  ‘filtered’ OUT of the body and eliminated.

You might say our skin is like our stomach (but without this ‘digestive filter’).  What we PUT on our skin is about the same as EATING it.

That’s why it’s important to know what we put on our skin.

You’ve likely heard this before.  A lot of excellent medical material is written about this.  Lots of books on the subject.  It is after all common knowledge.

What do you and your teens (or baby) put on your skin then?

Probably the same as what most of us put on our skin.   Soap, shampoo, moisturizer, sunscreen, makeup, shaving foam.   It’s astounding to me that practically everything on the market today have synthetic chemicals (things that our foreign to our bodies)…even those labeled ‘organic‘ or ‘natural‘.

(Did you know that not all synthetic chemicals are listed on a label and that products having synthetic chemicals are usually ‘contaminated’ with other synthetic chemicals – and these chemicals are not listed?)

I believe that conventional products, which contain synthetic chemicals, are irritating and harmful to the body. Everything that our bodies come into contact with has an effect on our health as well as on our beauty.

Someone wise said the other day that we the people should demand a constitutional right to health…but that’s getting into politics – not for me.

The EU cosmetics directive (link to cosmetics_EU_directive.pdf) is just a basic system a guaranteeing ‘quality’.  Certainly the same chemicals that have always been allowed with continue to be, even the dodgy chemicals that would never be allowed in organic foods.  The main difference is that cosmetic companies will be required to list aromatic ingredients that are known allergens if they exceed a certain threshold.

Certified organic is totally different.  Only certified organic ingredients at minimum levels of 95% are required for the product to be labelled certified organic.  Synthetic chemicals are prohibited.

The Organic Industry is at arms with the Beauty Industry. The Beauty Industry is attempting to create their own private ‘organic’ standards that well…is not really organic according to the Organic Industry. In fact, it’s a way for those in the beauty industry to market their products as ‘organic’ while still allowing chemicals to be present. Another Green Wash attempt?

The OCA and others are at last taking a stand. This is a good move for consumers, especially for women who use so many personal care products that contain chemicals.

Hmmm. Talking about labels…maybe we should have a new label with “NOT TESTED ON WOMEN” for all personal care products containing chemical ingredients whose safety is not tested.

The Organic Consumers Association has threatened to sue nine personal care product companies unless they change their products to become chemical-free or stop labeling them as natural or organic, according to Organic Monitor.

The OCA said it would take nine companies to court unless they either retool their products’ makeup or remove the “organic” or “made with organic” label. Why? One of the reasons is that there are levels of possible cancer-causing ingredients in their products.

“There are a number of companies making massive profits off misleading labeling,” said Craig Minowa, an OCA environmental scientist. “It’s beyond problematic that these companies tested positive for dioxane.”

Companies such as Dr. Bronner’s have been fighting for a more stringent use of “organic” labeling, expressing frustration that their organic products, which are backed up with certification, are right next to products claiming to be equally or more organic, while containing petrochemicals or other non-organic ingredients.

There are currently no standards that govern the words “natural” or “organic” for personal care products, so to be nationally certified as organic, personal care products manufacturers are required to follow the standards of USDA’s National Organic Program, which oversees certification of organic agricultural produce. Note: USDA’s National Organic Program is one of several Organic Programs worldwide. example: Australia Certified Organic (IFOAM accredited).

Good luck to OCA! I believe women all over the world will gain on a OCA victory…and if OCA loses, women will lose. Go OCA!

myorganicfamily is a ONE Group Independent Representative offering miessence truly organic products and an ethical home-based business opportunity for those who would love to share their passion for great healthy and beautiful products.

What are some of those nasty chemicals that are likely found in my personal care products? click here

Here’s one example that’s popping up lately. OASIS is a standard created by manufacturers of conventional personal care products. Standards, such as OASIS’s, seem to allow organic ingredients that have been grown via conventional methods using nasty chemicals. Standards like these also seem to allow these organic ingredients to be preserved by synthetic petrochemical preservatives – more nasties.

So if some of these new standards are saying they are at least 85% organic or even 95% organic but allow nasty chemicals to be included, would you use it on your baby, on yourself? In comparison, would you buy a can of ‘organic’ fruit drink that is 85% organic fruit (water counted as organic) and 15% mercury?

Some new standards now even allow water to be counted in the percentage of organic content.

So it begs one to ask these questions. Are manufacturers creating a new standard because they are unable to meet international Organic Food standards? Are they creating lower standards they can meet in order to cash in on the consumers trend to choose organic, which happens to be where consumer demand for personal care products is at?

Are they not willing to do what it takes, spend the time to create a truly organic product or spend the money that it takes to use quality organic ingredients?

Organic Consumers Association are pointing out that new standards for personal care products like OASIS and EcoCert allow questionable ingredients to be used in products.

EcoCert, is like a watered-down version of an organic standard. It bends its own rules. EcoCert allows ingredients used in personal care products to have been conventionally grown (as opposed to organically grown) and allows chemicals such as petrochemicals to be used.

So now that new so-called independent standards’s ‘organic’ labels are due to show up on many personal care products. What can you do to check if an ingredient listed is safe?

- http://myorganicfamily.mionegroup.com/toxic is a toxic ingredient directory sourced from MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), which is recognised as the international standard for providing safety information about chemical ingredients used by humans (workers handling the ingredients).

- The Chemical Maze – shopping companion by Bill Statham
This book has been produced for those people committed to living a healthy lifestyle. The Chemical Maze: Helps you choose safer products Fits conveniently into your pocket or purse Simple layout makes it simple and easy to use Gives useful information on hundreds of substances Origins of additives/ingredients including ANIMAL and GM ” Environmental effects of chemicals found in consumer products. http://myorganicfamily.mionegroup.com/product/18130

- Dangerous Beauty – Cosmetics & Personal Care by Peter Dingle, Toni Brown is an eye-opening expose of some of the most common ingredients used in today’s personal care products. This little booklet will arm you with the knowledge to make more informed choices. No longer will you be able to participate in mindless consumerism…ignorance may once have been bliss; but now it spells danger in our mass-manufactured, profit-driven, long shelf-life, chemical-romanced society.
http://myorganicfamily.mionegroup.com/product/18131

- EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database
Check their database to see if they consider an ingredient to be safe. It is an excellent source of reference – although sometimes not accurate on the safety ratings of an ingredient. An ingredient report may be based on an ingredient that is normally sourced from conventional agriculture – and hence found to contain high levels of chemical contaminants (therefore not considered safe to use). There are sometimes ‘certified organic’ sources for an ingredient that is clean and safe from the reported contaminants – unfortunally their reporting is sometimes too general and may not mention safe alternative sourcing.
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

Sources:
OCA & Dr. Bronner’s Challenge Weak Ecocert & OASIS Standards
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080317/pl_usnw/oca___dr__bronner___s_challenge_weak_ecocert___oasis_standards
“Cease & Desist Letters Sent to Certifying Standards of Fraudulent ‘Organic’ Claims on Personal Care…
Dr. Bronners and the Organic Consumers Association plan to pursue legal remedies on Earth Day April 20th, if they do not receive responses indicating these certifiers will cease certifying outright organic claims in California by September 1, 2008.”

Industry Creates New Bogus “OASIS” Organic Standard for Personal Care Products
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10886.cfm
“The OASIS standard was spearheaded and created exclusively by conventional industry members like Estee Lauder (owner of Aveda), Loreal and Hain (Jason, Avalon), without any input or comment period from organic consumers, organic farmers or personal care companies who have achieved USDA National Organic Program certification for the majority of their products. …

about organic cosmetics, organic personal care, organic standards

Source: Environmental Working Group
Website: http://www.ewg.org/node/26212

A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reveals that 97% of Americans are contaminated with a widely-used sunscreen ingredient called oxybenzone that has been linked to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. A companion study published just one day earlier revealed that this chemical is linked to low birth weight in baby girls whose mothers are exposed during pregnancy. Oxybenzone is also a penetration enhancer, a chemical that helps other chemicals penetrate the skin.

Although oxybenzone is most common in sunscreen, companies also use the chemical in at least 567 other personal care products.

Environmental Working Group identified nearly 600 sunscreens sold in the U.S. that contain oxybenzone, including products by Hawaiian Tropic, Coppertone, and Banana Boat (see the full list of 588 sunscreens here) as well as 172 facial moisturizers, 111 lip balms, and 81 different types of lipstick.

The Food and Drug Administration has failed miserably in its duty to protect the public from toxic chemicals like oxybenzone in personal care products. At the request of industry lobbyists, including Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who represented the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association, the agency has delayed final sunscreen safety standards for nearly 30 years. FDA issued a new draft of the standards last October under pressure from EWG, but continues to delay finalizing them at the behest of the regulated industry.

EWG research shows that 84% of 910 name-brand sunscreen products offer inadequate protection from the sun, or contain ingredients, like oxybenzone, with significant safety concerns.

The last safety review for oxybenzone was done in the 1970s, and does not reflect a wealth of information developed since that time indicating increased toxicity concerns and widespread human exposure. A recent review in the European Union found that sufficient data were not available to assess if oxybenzone in sunscreen was safe for consumers.

Environmental Working Group again calls on FDA to review the safety of oxybenzone, given this new data on widespread contamination of the U.S. population, and to finalize its sunscreen safety standards so that consumers can be certain that sunscreen products they purchase are safe and effective.

Check out the products that contain oxybenzone at http://www.ewg.org/node/26212 and at http://skindeep.ewg.org/browse.php?containing=704372

An Exotic Nut Oil That Heals the Skin When Applied Topically

(NaturalNews – P. Donovan) Over the last several months I have become increasingly interested in natural healing substances that have been used by native peoples around the world. As my own healing journey has progressed I have become convinced that there is a natural, non-toxic remedy for virtually everything that ails us. One such substance I find fascinating is Tamanu Nut Oil. It has a multitude of uses which have been confirmed by research. Tamanu nut oil has been used by the indigenous people of the Philippines and Southeast Asia for at least a few hundred years.

In the 1930s, researchers in Europe, Asia and the Pacific Islands began studying this oil in hospitals after Sister Marie-Suzanne, a French nun working in Fiji, reported remarkable results using Dolno,(tamanu nut oil) topically for the neuritis (nerve inflammation) associated with leprosy. Their research showed Tamanu nut oil to be an excellent topical healing agent for skin, that it definitely had properties which relieved nerve pain and that it has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.

Although this research goes back almost 80 years, it is only in the past 10 years that this oil has been marketed as an ingredient in cosmetic and first aid applications. One company using this oil is Miessence, a company which sells Certified Organic products for everything from your skin to cleaning your house. Certified organic products not only give you an exceptional natural product but also promote sustainable farming and agriculture and fair trade. I recently tried a few of these products and they are outstanding. One Miessence product containing this oil is called “Ambrosia Essence”. To quote their literature: “Ambrosia Essence is an extremely potent combination of eight highly effective herbal and flower extracts to soothe, tone, and renew the skin. Use daily to revive and restore your complexion”.

The scientific name for the tree which produces this nut is Calophyllum inophyllum, meaning beautiful leaf. The tree is indigenous to Southeast Asia, growing profusely on the coastlines and inland. Although no studies have compared the oil from coastal and inland trees, Polynesian natives claim the oil from the nuts of coastal trees is more beneficial than the oil of nuts from inland trees. At this time, producers of the oil rely on nuts from coastal trees. The oil from the Tamanu nut is quite mysterious. When removed from the inedible fruit, there is little apparent oil in the blond kernel even when pressed or ground. Yet, once the nut has been dried on a rack for a month or two, it becomes a deep chocolate brown and is covered with sticky rich oil which is easily extracted by mechanical pressing. Science has yet to discover how this transformation occurs.

Tamanu nut oil possesses the ability to promote the growth of new tissue, thereby accelerating wound healing and growth of new skin. This process is called cicatrization. In Pacific Island folk medicine this oil is applied liberally to every kind of skin malady imaginable such as cuts, scrapes, burns, insect bites, acne, psoriasis, diabetic ulcers, sunburn, dry skin and/or scaly skin, blisters, eczema, and herpes sores such as cold sores and genital sores. It can eliminate or greatly reduce skin scarring from acne, burns and other skin trauma. The Polynesian natives even use it to reduce foot and body odor.

The oil can even relieve sore throat when applied externally to the neck. It has potent pain-relieving properties and the natives have traditionally used it topically to relieve neuralgia (nerve-pain), arthritis and sciatica. The women apply it to their skin to keep it clear and blemish free and massage it into babies to prevent diaper rash and other skin eruptions. Compounds in tamanu nut oil have significant anti-inflammatory properties when applied topically thereby reducing pain and swelling associated with these conditions.

This oil also contains several powerful bactericide/fungicide agents, which have proven effective against various pathogens which cause much mortality and morbidity today. It holds promise in the prevention of MRSA (methicillin resistant staph aureus), the superbug that has been in the news a lot lately because it demonstrates very good activity against Staphylococcal aureus. When compared to ampicillin and amoxicillin, the compounds in tamanu oil were at least as good. Researchers concluded that the antimicrobial and anti-fungal agents in tamanu oil could be used effectively to treat a range of infections of the skin and eyes, including ring worm. (Mahmud).

Tamanu oil demonstrates antioxidant properties, specifically inhibiting lipid peroxidation (the break down of lipids by oxidation). Cell membranes are composed of lipids; therefore, tamanu oil inhibits oxidative damage to the skin. Although the oil itself is thick and rich, it is completely absorbed by the skin leaving no oily residue or greasy feel. It has a mild and pleasing aroma and a luxurious feel making it an ideal component of lotions, creams, ointments and other cosmetics.

This information forces me to ask a question: Why, if tamanu oil is so healing, do we not see it in global use as treatment for everything from first aid creams for minor scrapes to an ointment for major burns being treated in specialized burn units? If you aren’t already aware of the answer, here’s the short and not-so-sweet version: Approximately 80% of pharmaceuticals are derived from plants, but they have been condensed down to one “active-ingredient” and then synthesized because a natural substance cannot be patented while the synthesized version can be. Synthesize it and patent it and the pharmaceutical companies are set to make billions of dollars of profit at the expense (financially and physically) of the consumer. Once something is taken out of its “whole” it tends to become toxic. Examples are numerous including everything from sugar to chemotherapy agents.
Sources: http://www.medicinehunter.com/tamanu1.htm

about ambrosia: http://myorganicfamily.com/downloads/ambrosia.pdf

where ambrosia is sold: http://myorganicfamily.mionegroup.com/product/11703

this is about effective herbal ingredients, heal skin, natural healing substances, skin care