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Parabens & other skin cream ingredients


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#1 katzenjammer

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Posted 13 December 2007 - 02:26 PM


If used on a regular basis, how dangerous or harmful are the below common skin cream ingredients? It seems nearly impossible to avoid the below ingredients - especially if one wants to use any of the various apha/beta hydroxy acids, etc.

Or, is the concern over this just overblown?

Love & kisses to all, ~katz
_____________________
Here are a few of the most common suspicious ingredients:

Mineral Oil, Paraffin, and Petrolatum – Petroleum products that coat the skin like plastic, clogging pores and creating a build-up of toxins, which in turn accumulate and can lead to dermatologic issues. Slows cellular development, which can cause you to show earlier signs of aging. Suspected cause of cancer. Disruptive of hormonal activity. By the way, when there’s an oil spill in the ocean, don’t they rush to clean it up – fast? Why put that stuff on your skin?

Parabens – Widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic industry (including moisturizers). An estimated 13,200 cosmetic and skin care products contain parabens. Studies implicate their connection with cancer. They have hormone-disrupting qualities – mimicking estrogen – and interfere with the body’s endocrine system.

Phenol carbolic acid– Found in many lotions and skin creams. Can cause circulatory collapse, paralysis, convulsions, coma and even death from respiratory failure.

Propylene glycol – Used as a moisturizer in cosmetics and as a carrier in fragrance oils. Shown to cause dermatitis, kidney or liver abnormalities, and may inhibit skin cell growth or cause skin irritation.

Acrylamide– Found in many hand and face creams. Linked to mammary tumors in lab research.

Sodium laurel or lauryl sulfate (SLS), also known as sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)– Found in car washes, engine degreasers, garage floor cleaners… and in over 90% of personal care products! SLS breaks down the skin’s moisture barrier, easily penetrates the skin, and allows other chemicals to easily penetrate. Combined with other chemicals, SLS becomes a “nitrosamine”, a potent class of carcinogen. It can also cause hair loss. SLES is sometimes disguised with the labeling “comes from coconut” or “coconut-derived”.

Toluene – Poison! Danger! Harmful or fatal if swallowed! Harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Made from petroleum or coal tar, and found in most synthetic fragrances. Chronic exposure linked to anemia, lowered blood cell count, liver or kidney damage, and may affect a developing fetus. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) contains toluene. Other names may include benzoic and benzyl.

Dioxane– Found in compounds known as PEG, Polysorbates, Laureth, ethoxylated alcohols. Common in a wide range of personal care products. The compounds are usually contaminated with high concentrations of highly volatile 1,4-dioxane, easily absorbed through the skin.

Dioxane’s carcinogenicity was first reported in 1965 and later confirmed in studies including one from the National Cancer Institute in 1978. Nasal passages and liver are the most vulnerable. Dioxane is easily removed during the manufacturing process by “vacuum stripping”. Warning: It is a synthetic derivative of coconut. Watch for hidden language on labels, such as “comes from coconut”.

#2 dbillet

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Posted 13 December 2007 - 04:17 PM

http://products.merc...al-body-butter/

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#3 katzenjammer

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Posted 13 December 2007 - 04:23 PM

http://products.merc...al-body-butter/


Ummm.....yeah, so what do you think? Overblown hype, a grain of truth, or truth itself?

#4 missminni

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Posted 13 December 2007 - 07:38 PM

I think you have to consider the amounts that are present in the cream.
In small amounts they might not be toxic. How far down
they appear on the list of ingredients will give you an idea of how much is in the product.
If it's a first ingredient you probably should avoid it.

ETA~I just checked out that link. Of course that guy is trying to sell a product, but truthfully,
if you are just looking to moisturize your skin, any of those ingredients he mentions will be effective.
You can buy coconut oil, pure aloe vera gel, shea butter etc and make your own moisturizers.
I used to do that. I used to mix Vitamin E oil (the kind you take internally) with Retina A .10%.
It was wonderful, although the E might have interfered with the Retina A (I don't really know that 's the case, just something someone once said to me) They blend really well together too and make the E more spreadable
and the Retin A less harsh...although for me Retina was never that harsh...and it absorbs into the skin
quickly, where E can sit on your skin for hours otherwise. Why not experiment with various natural products
and find what works best for you. Then you don't have to worry about the toxic ingredients at all.

Edited by missminni, 13 December 2007 - 07:58 PM.


#5 Athanasios

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Posted 13 December 2007 - 08:02 PM

Here is some stuff to look at.

Evaluation of the health aspects of methyl paraben: a review of the published
literature.
PMID: 12387298 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Safety assessment of propyl paraben: a review of the published literature.
[Food Chem Toxicol. 2001] PMID:11346481

Safety assessment of esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (parabens). [Food Chem
Toxicol. 2005] PMID:15833376

http://en.wikipedia....ben_controversy

The biggest problem most of these claims have is dosage. A lot of the time the ingredient has industrial usage and they are looking at extreme situations and concentrations. For instance, what safety gear does a factory/lab worker working with this chemical in pure powder form for 40 hours a week need? What if a beaker of the pure stuff is drank? Etc.

Edited by cnorwood, 13 December 2007 - 08:09 PM.


#6 rosenn

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Posted 20 December 2007 - 06:18 AM

I think the ingredients used in the cream try to recognised which one is much harmful, show you the nature of that as well.




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