Keratin - compound
found in horny tissue: horn, claws, nails. Used in many hair products.
almond Oil used as a hair rinse can give the same strengthening effect.
Lactic acid - derived
from blood, muscle and milk. used in skin fresheners and as plasticiser
and food preservative.
Lactose - milk sugar.
Used in eye lotion and cosmetics, food, medicines.
Lanolin - (lanosterol,
lanoinamide DEA, wool fat, wool wax) a moisturising agent derived
from sheep wool, often after the animal has been slaughtered and skinned,
lanolin may contain pesticide residues from sheep dipping, and can
cause allergic reactions. Used in sunscreens, moisturisers, perfumes,
pharmecueticals, hair products, dish detergents, baby products. 2,
47
LD50 - The toxicity
of many products is estimated by employment of the LD50 test, where
animals (usually rats) are force fed a substance until 50 percent
of the test population dies, having consumed a 'lethal dose'. Toothpaste,
Lard - rendered pig
fat 14, 2
Lead - Lead may enter
the body inhaled from car exhaust, consumed from vegetables contaminated
by exhaust, or from lead-based paint, lead water pipes, copper pipes
soldered with lead. It is proven to cause infertility, sperm deformity,
and lower intelligence in children. Some other sources of lead may
include some Indian eye liners and hair blackeners. An itemin the
Courier Mail in June 1997 claimed that "certain hair dyes contain
so much lead that consumers, bathrooms, hair dryers, hands and dyed
hair are contaminated". see also Toxicity 12, 17
Leather-The softest
leather comes from the youngest animals, sometimes unborn ones taken
from their dead mother's womb. So don't be under any illusions about
leather being an innocent by-product of meat production. Tanning animal
hides into leather is also polluting: tanning, dyeing and finishing
use poisons such as chromium, which pollutes waterways and is known
to cause cancer. 2, 14
The Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical
Technology states, "On the basis of quantity of energy consumed per
unit of product produced, the leather-manufacturing industry would
be categorized with the aluminum, paper, steel, cement, and petroleum
manufacturing industries as a gross consumer of energy." Leather products
are not easily biodegradable, because the primary function of a tanning
is to stabilize the collagen so that they are not.
Lecithin - derived
from eggs or soyabeans, though it may be obtained from tissues and
blood. In cosmetics, soaps and some medicines. 14, 2
Linen - fabric derived
from the flax plant
Lipase - enzyme from
the stomachs and tongue glands of calves, kids and lambs. in some
vitamins 75