Found in: Cleansers, lotions, creams, foundations, mascara, lipsticks, shampoo & conditioners, make-up remover, baby-care products and many more everyday products. To find out if your product has it, look for other names often listed for this nasty toxin like:
- Liquid Parafin
- Vaseline
- Petroleum Jelly
- Petroleum
- Propylene Glycol
- Eq05
- Ozekerit
- Polyisobutene and others
This is all mineral oil. This cheap, nasty, colourless, odourless petrochemical is derived from crude oil, a derivative of petrol. Place any of these nasties in a saucepan and heat them, they will start smelling like petrol. Mineral oils are found in most commercial skincare products of today and worst of all, in baby-care products causing many health problems. Once absorbed into the body, IT DOES NOT LEAVE and accumulates into fatty tissues. Researchers have found both fatty tissue and (breast milk in nursing mothers) contaminated with mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons. According to the EWG (Environmental Working Group), almost 85% of all beauty and baby-care products may be the cause of this contamination. It also clogs the pores by around 60% and researchers in Sweden found that when mineral oil accumulates in the body, it can cause arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Safety warnings as early as 1979 from Sweden showed that it should be washed off the skin with soap and water as soon as possible after contact with the mineral oil. Mineral oil, also known as baby oil is an occlusive agent which means that it puts a seal on the skin’s surface that blocks the pores (much like wrapping in glad-wrap). This is bad news for skin prone to pimples, blackheads, whiteheads and acne. This rubbish is to be found in most commercial products simply because it is a cheap and odourless filler material.
Mineral oil and its many derivatives cause elavated estrogen levels in our body. It acts as a xenoestrogen, a potent estrogen mimic affecting pregnant women, nursing mothers, babies and men, women and children of all ages. In men, it can result in low sperm count, decreased sex drive and prostate problems. In women, weight gain, menstrual problems, depression, menopause issues, thyroid disease, cancers and many other problems may occur. A 2011 study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21970597) stated:
There is strong evidence that mineral oil hydrocarbons are the greatest contaminant of the human body.
So what to do about this problem?
- Research the ingredients of all of the products you use on and in your body and that of your family. (NOTE: It is not always on the label, look to the company website- This can be an eye opener with many products)
- Switch to products using natural plant extracts, butters, organic oils etc. or better still, learn to create your own products from pure ingredients so you can truly know exactly what you are putting on your skin.
