The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances (7 page)
Authors: Julie Gabriel
Tags: #ebook, #book
There has been a lot of confusion between propylene glycol (PG), diethylene glycol, ethylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol (PEG). While all of them have similar-sounding names, these chemicals have different safety ratings. Propylene glycol is a popular humectant (an ingredient that helps draw moisture from the air to the skin) and a penetration enhancer used in many cosmetic products. It helps products such as stick deodorants retain their solid form and prevents melting. The FDA considers propylene glycol to be “generally recognized as safe” for use in food, cosmetics, and medicines. However, it banned this chemical from cat food in 2001.
Ethylene glycol is considered less safe. Apart from its use in antifreezes and deicing fluids, ethylene glycol is found in photographic developing solutions, hydraulic brake fluids, and in inks used in stamp pads, ballpoint pens, and print shops. There is a higher dose of ethylene glycols in children’s shampoos and baby washes, to make them “less irritating” to a baby’s whisper-thin skin.
Diethylene glycol is toxic to humans and animals. It is not allowed for food and drug use but can be found in polyethylene glycol in very low concentrations.
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is another popular cosmetic ingredient. It’s frequently used in “natural” cosmetics as well as in laxatives and other medications that have to be delivered in a slippery, syrupy form. PEG, just as propylene glycol, is also used as a food preservative. It is considered generally safe to use by cosmetic manufacturers “with a maximum concentration of use of 20 percent,” with a warning: “On damaged skin, cases of systemic toxicity and contact dermatitis in burn patients were attributed to a PEG-based topical ointment” (CIR Expert Panel 2006).
what
science
says
When it comes to short-term effects from daily use, contact allergic dermatitis is the most common side effect of using products containing propylene glycol and various PEGs. These chemicals are known to aggravate acne and eczema by rupturing skin cell membranes (Gonzalo et al. 1999). Propylene glycol, used as a penetration enhancer and humectant, has been found to provoke skin irritation and sensitization in humans in concentrations as low as 2 percent, while the industry review panel recommends that cosmetics can contain up to 50 percent of the substance (Johnson 2001).
Current studies have not shown that propylene or the other glycols can cause cancer when used in cosmetics. Female animals that ate large amounts of ethylene glycol had babies with birth defects, while male animals had reduced sperm counts (Anderson et al. 1987). Ethylene glycol and propylene glycol affect the body’s chemistry by increasing the amount of acid, resulting in metabolic problems. However, these effects were seen when animals were fed very high concentrations of these chemicals. It is very unlikely that you will gulp PEG-containing toothpaste by the tube. However, your two-year-old toddler might happily do that, given the chance.
Then there is another potential danger. Impurities found in various PEG compounds include ethylene oxide, 1,4-Dioxane, polycyclic aromatic compounds, and heavy metals such as lead, iron, cobalt, nickel, cadmium, and arsenic. The toxicity of PEG compounds increases when products are applied to damaged skin. These contaminants could be easily and economically removed by vacuum stripping during manufacture. Still, there is no guarantee that the PEG in your baby wash has been treated to remove any possible toxins. In spite of these concerns, PEG compounds remain commonly used in “natural” cosmetics and personal care products, often disguised by giving plant names to them.
Simply because propylene glycol has many different applications does not make all PEG-containing beauty products equally toxic. Industrial-strength solutions are very concentrated and require caution in handling them. The cosmetic industry uses only very small amounts of propylene and polyethylene glycols. Chances are you’ve been using products containing various PEGs and PGs for years, and there’s little use in being paranoid about it. But if you would like to reduce your current personal toxic load, it may make sense to avoid using products containing glycols, especially now when many alternatives are available.
The Big Preservative Debate
All personal care products have a shelf life. You can usually find out how long the product will remain fresh by locating a “best before” date stamped on the sealed end of a tube or directly on the bottle’s label. Have you ever noticed a sketch of an opened jar on a box of a beauty product? Sometimes there is a symbol of a jar along with a number preceding the letterM: 6Mmeans six months while 12Mmeans twelve months. If these numbers accompany a jar with a closed lid, it means that a product will remain fresh for six months from the manufacture date (as long as it remains closed and sealed), while a jar with an open lid indicates that once opened, with normal use the product will remain fresh for six, twelve, or more months.
Preservatives contained in beauty products ward off bacteria, fungi, microbes, and oxidation. Such preservatives halt enzyme activity in the formulation, stop the oxidation process, or kill bacteria and any living creatures that wandered inside the bottle. The more preservatives that are loaded into the product, the longer it can remain “pure” and uncontaminated. This way, beauty products can be manufactured in mass quantities and be warehoused for a longer period.
Of all cosmetic ingredients, preservatives are the most frequently targeted by open-minded research doctors, consumer groups, and nongovernmental organizations. Preservatives keep products clean and fresh, which is a good thing because we often store our beauty products in bathrooms, which tend to be warm and moist. Also, family members may share cosmetic products, which often come in wide-neck jars—think body balm used as an aftershave lotion and hand salves doubling as creaking door menders. Under such conditions, even the most stable formulation can grow some fussy colonies.
Microorganisms can do much more than make the cream smell weird. While using out-of-date products may not please your senses, decaying ingredients can actually affect your health. The bacteria growing in outdated products can cause rashes and breakouts when applied to skin that is irritated or scratched, or to the fragile, thin skin around the eyes.
Staphylococcus aureus,
a pathogenic bacteria, can be fatal when applied to broken skin (Nguema et al. 2000), and incidences of blindness caused by contaminated mascara have been reported (Reid,Wood 1979).
No wonder many cosmetic companies are now searching for preservatives that are paraben- and formaldehyde-free yet are effective against the effects of air, light, bacteria, yeast, and fungi even at low concentrations.
In addition to eliminating parabens from their formulations, marketers are also removing phenoxyethanol. Fenilight and Feniol have the same full bactericidal activity but are much safer than phenoxyethanol. Tinosan is a natural, silver-based preservative.
Chemists are also working on creating cosmetic compounds that would not require preservatives at all. Ritative AN is a blend of emulsifiers and humectants that has built-in, broad-spectrum microbiological activity. Despite its militaristic name, the B52 preservative (based on benzyl PCA) doubles as a gentle, nonirritating moisturizer and emollient. It can be used in moisturizers, lotions, and bath products.
All of these preservatives are synthetic. They are safer than conventional preservatives, but they are hardly green. Are there any completely natural preservatives out there?
Suprapein (created by Bio-Botanica) is a totally natural preservative made of oregano and thyme oils, as well as cinnamon, lavender, lemon peel, goldenseal, and rosemary extract. Lemon peel oil, grapefruit seed extract, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and vitamin E (tocopherols) are also used to prevent oxidation. The chemical benzanthracene, found in lemon and lime oils, has potent microbial properties. Potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate are considered safe and have a lower likelihood of causing cosmetic-related allergies and sensitivities. Many cosmetic companies are switching to aseptic manufacturing and airtight packaging, which minimizes the exposure to air and bacteria.
You can do your own share to prevent contamination of your paraben-free products, which have a much shorter life span than their synthetic counterparts do. Handle all cosmetics in a way that prevents bacterial contamination. Do not leave product containers uncapped. Do not share them. Do not use your fingers instead of applicators. Some products, such as lip and body balms, body and hair butters, oil-based serums, perfumes with or without alcohol, oil-based salt and sugar scrubs, bath and body oils, and liquid soap have a shelf life of several months to a year. Nevertheless, most organic creams and lotions that contain water must be used within six months.
what
science
says
While keeping bacteria away, preservatives themselves often act as contaminants and powerful skin allergens. It was once believed that parabens, known as esters of para-hydroxybenzoic acid, were not stored in human tissue. However, recent findings prove the contrary. When rubbed into the skin, parabens are rapidly absorbed and metabolized, but they also accumulate in the human body. In 2002, parabens, due to their estrogenic activity, were found to cause increased uterine growth in animals. The same study first linked parabens to the proliferation of two estrogen-dependent human breast cancer cells (Darbre et al. 2002). Two years later, parabens were found in breast milk and breast cancer tumors. In a 2004 study, tests found parabens in breast cancer tumors in nineteen out of twenty women with breast cancer (Darbre et al. 2004). This study, while small and statistically insignificant, proves the ability of paraben preservatives to penetrate skin and accumulate in living tissue, such as breasts. In the body, parabens mimic our own hormones and can have an endocrine-disrupting action. The hypothalamus, the ovaries, the thyroid—parabens affect virtually every system, even though their action is much milder than that of natural estrogens and other xenoestrogens (synthetic estrogens that mimic natural hormones).
Granted, science currently has no direct evidence that any cosmetics containing parabens result in a higher risk of cancer, and the American Cancer Society insists that parabens are perfectly safe from an oncologist’s point of view. The cosmetic industry’s panel, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), reviewed the safety of methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben in 1984 and concluded they were safe for use in cosmetic products at levels of up to 25 percent of the finished product. However, not a single study has yet focused on chronic, decades-long, direct exposure to parabens that act synergistically with other xenoestrogens and the body’s own estrogens.
While the jury is still out, the use of parabens, often disguised by tongue-twisting names such as benzoic acid, isobutyl p-hydroxybenzoate, or p-methoxycarbonylphenol, has been strictly regulated in European-made cosmetics, and current European Union legislation allows their use only in extremely weak concentrations. It is unlikely that parabens will be removed from cosmetics sold in the United States anytime soon. There is strong support of paraben use coming from the chemical industry, especially preservative suppliers, which is very understandable.
PRESERVATIVES TO AVOID
Other preservatives to avoid include imidazolidinyl urea and diazolidinyl urea. Often disguised as Germall 115 and Germall II, they are a mixture of allantoin, urea, and formaldehyde. Both preservatives are known skin irritants (de Groot et al. 1988; Bosetti et al. 2007). During use, they can release formaldehyde, whose ability to increase the risk of cancer is well-documented (Blackwell et al. 1981). In liquid form, formaldehyde is contained in other widely used preservatives as DMDM-hydantoin and quaternium-15. Beginning in September 2007, the European Union has banned the use of formaldehyde for embalming purposes. Bronopol, often listed as 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, can contribute to the formation of cancer-causing nitrosamines, according to the FDA. It can also break down to produce formaldehyde. European regulators have also questioned the safety of iodopropynyl but ylcarbamate (IPBC), a common wood preservative used in cosmetics, and may restrict its use in moisturizing body lotions. Many agencies are concerned about the levels of iodine found in IPBC, and regulators claim that iodine may be absorbed into the bloodstream, travel to the thyroid gland, and affect its functioning.
“Artificial preservatives are only necessary if your product formulation is weak or unstable,” says Roger Bars by of Weleda. “If you dilute your ingredients [with water] to make the product cheaply, then you will need artificial preservatives. Also if your formulation is not balanced and carefully created, you will need stabilizers and preservatives to hold it together.” To keep their lotions, shower gels, and baby products safe, Weleda uses essential oils, which provide a natural preservative action.
While writing this book I tested and studied ingredients in hundreds of cosmetic products. Too often, when thoroughly reading the ingredients in a 72 percent “organic” hand cream, I discovered that methylparaben was shyly hiding at the end of the list of ingredients, almost blending in the luscious floral design. The ingredients list further revealed triethanolamine and fragrance (unlikely to be naturally derived), both printed in very small, all-capitalized letters, making it very difficult to read. There was plenty of blank space on the label permitting a larger type, but the company usually chose not to attract attention to synthetic bulk in their “organic” creations.
Our skin eats anything that we put on its surface. I bet you already know that junk food, with all its flavor enhancers, preservatives, synthetic fillers, and highly processed ingredients, is not good for our bodies. When you use beauty products loaded with chemical ingredients, you are feeding your skin highly processed, artificial junk food. If you try eating healthfully, why use junk beauty products?