Slather on the good stuff
Posted by Michelle Moquin on June 23rd, 2011
Good morning!
Like many girls, I want my skin to feel soft so I slather on the moisturizer all of the time and especially after I have been sunning. But do you know what you’re really putting on your skin? Moisturizers and yes, suntan lotions too, contain nasty ingredients that you do not want applied to the largest organ on your body: Your skin.
If you’re like me, you read the labels on everything. But if you’re like many and don’t pay attention to labels, you might want to pay attention to this:
This Popular Moisturizer Applied to Mice for 17 Weeks Got 69% More Tumors
A study has found that topical applications of moisturizers such as Dermabase, Dermovan, Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream, or Vanicream could increase skin cancer risk.
Irradiated mice who were treated with the moisturizers exhibited a significant increase in their rate of tumor formation and increase in tumor size per mouse. Treatment of the mice with Dermabase, Dermovan, Eucerin, or Vanicream for 17 weeks increased the total number of histologically characterized tumors by 69 percent.
According to the study, as reported by Green Med Info:
“The results indicate that several commercially available moisturizing creams increase the rate of formation and number of tumors when applied topically to UVB-pretreated high-risk mice. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of topical applications of moisturizing creams … in humans.”
This also applies to tanning oils and lotions—which many of you may be using right now with summer in full swing—as well as the baby oil or lotion that many parents unwittingly slather on their babies.
Dr. Mercola’s comments:
Many skin lotions, creams and oils contain mineral oil, as do many tanning products. Mineral oil may sound safe enough, but… it’s not.
Mineral oil is actually a derivative of petroleum, the same stuff you put in your car’s engine. Because it’s very viscous (slippery), many products use mineral oil as the main ingredient, as it allows the lotion to be spread easily across your skin. This despite the fact that it’s a known carcinogen!
It’s also comedogenic which means it blocks your pores and your skin’s natural respiration process. Blocked pores can lead to blackheads and pimples. And, because mineral oil can create an impenetrable film on your skin, it may also block the absorption of any beneficial ingredientsthat might exist in the product.
Moisturizing Creams with Mineral Oil Can be Tumorigenic
The featured study, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, found that commonly used moisturizing creams containing mineral oil are tumorigenic when applied topically to UVB-pretreated high-risk mice. What this means is that these creams and lotions can increase the rate at which skin tumors form. The study tested four common skin lotions:
- Dermabase
- Dermovan
- Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream
- Vanicream
What these creams have in common is that they all contain mineral oil. Mice that were at high risk of developing skin cancer received a topical application of 100 mg of one of the creams once a day, five days a week for 17 weeks. The researchers concluded that the rate of tumor formation significantly increased, as did the tumor size per mouse. In fact, the number of histologically characterized tumors increased by a whopping 69 percent!
“The results indicate that several commercially available moisturizing creams increase the rate of formation and number of tumors when applied topically to UVB-pretreated high-risk mice. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of topical applications of moisturizing creams on sunlight-induced skin cancer in humans.”
Watch Out for Tanning Oils Containing Mineral Oil!
In light of the potential tumorigenic effects effect of mineral oil on UVB-exposed skin, it stands to reason that this is NOT an ingredient you want in your suntan lotion or tanning oil. However, that’s just what you’ll find in many tanning products. Unfortunately, just because you don’t see it on the label, it doesn’t mean it’s not in there. Mineral oil has countless different names, but each has the same effect… one you’ll want to stay away from!
Alternate names include:
| Adepsine oil | Albolene | Drakeol |
| Lignite oil | Liquid paraffin / paraffin oil | Mineral seal oil |
| Petrolatum | White oil | Baby oil |
Mothers: Beware What You Put on Your and Your Baby’s Skin
Many women who breastfeed will apply cream to their breasts without too much consideration for what’s in it. Hopefully, you now will not be one of them. Studies have actually found that mineral oil paraffins can bioaccumulate in both fat tissue and human breast milk. According to the authors of one 2008 study:
“Mineral paraffins might be the largest contaminant of our body, widely amounting to 1gram per person and reaching 10 grams in extreme cases.”
It’s believed that your baby may receive about one percent of the mineral paraffin accumulated in your body and breast milk. A previous study sums up the problem of using mineral oil-containing skin creams when you’re breastfeeding:
“Beside exposure of babies via human milk, the intake by direct licking off salves (in the worst case consisting of Vaseline) from the breast of their nursing mothers may be much higher. In a worst case situation, daily intake from breast care products by babies is estimated to reach 40mg/kg bw.
Many compositions do not comply with the specifications and a temporary group ADI of 0-4mg/kg bw established by the SCF. This possible exposure of babies either calls for a toxicological re-evaluation of the mineral paraffins or for measures ensuring that exposure of babies is reduced.”
The concern is a valid one, especially in light of the fact that mineral oil has been linked to no less than 23 different diseases and health problems, according to GreenMedInfo.com’s excellent research database, including autoimmune diseases and a number of different cancers.
With that in mind, please avoid using creams and lotions that contain mineral oil (especially Vaseline) on your breasts while you’re still breastfeeding. It would also be wise to avoid putting baby oil on your baby’s skin, as most baby oil brands contain straight mineral oil!
You Can Absorb MORE Toxins from Skin Care Products than Food
Remember, your skin is your largest organ — and also the thinnest. Less than 1/10th of an inch separates your body from potential toxins. Worse yet, your skin is highly permeable. Most items you rub on your skin will end up in your bloodstream, and will be distributed throughout your body. This is why I’m so fond of saying “don’t put anything on your body that you wouldn’t eat if you had to…” and a petrochemical is certainly not something you would eat!
Putting chemicals on your skin may actually be worse than eating them. When you eat something, the enzymes in your saliva and stomach help to break it down and flush it out of your body.
However, when you put these chemicals on your skin, they are absorbed straight into your bloodstream without filtering of any kind, going directly to your delicate organs. And once these chemicals find their way into your body, they tend to accumulate over time because you typically lack the necessary enzymes to break them down. When you add up daily exposure over the course of a lifetime, it really adds up!
Safer Alternatives
Most of the personal care products in supermarkets and even high-end department stores contain toxic ingredients that can harm your health-mineral oil is just one among thousands of harmful chemicals lurking in these products. You and your family deserve better, and there are other options. One of the easiest ways to ensure that you’re not being exposed to potentially hazardous agents is to simply make your own personal care products, using simple all-natural ingredients that many of you may already have in your home.
Two great all-natural moisturizers are pure emu oil, and pure coconut oil. Both can be used for facial and body moisturizers and lotions. Coconut oil has been used to moisturize skin for ages, and is also a potent source of the beneficial fat lauric acid.
You can also find many organic skin oils and lotions these days. Just be sure to read labels and check products out before buying them to make sure you’re not being fooled by less-than-honest claims. EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database is an excellent resource for finding and evaluating healthful personal care products. They also recently published their 2011 special report on sunscreens.
Finally, if you’re perusing your local health food store for some safe, natural options, here are my top guidelines to keep in mind:
- Look for the genuine USDA Organic Seal.
- If you can’t pronounce it, you probably don’t want to put it on your body. Ask yourself, “Would I eat this?”
- Look for products that are fragrance-free. One artificial fragrance can contain hundreds — even thousands — of chemicals, and fragrances are a major cause of allergic reactions.
- Pay attention to the order in which the ingredients are listed. Manufacturers are required to list ingredients in descending order by volume, meaning the first few ingredients are the most prominent. If calendula extract is the last ingredient in a long list, your calendula body wash isn’t very natural.
- Stick to the basics. Do you really need 20 products to prepare for your day? Simplify your life and rescue your bank account.
- Buy products that come in glass bottles rather than plastic, since chemicals can leach out of plastics and into the contents. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a serious concern; make sure any plastic container is BPA free.
- Look for products that are made by companies that are earth-friendly, animal-friendly and green.
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Girls: Don’t forget when getting your weekly or monthly mani/pedi, nail salons rarely use high quality lotions so mineral oil is bound to be an ingredient. Do like I do, and bring your own lotion.
And to those men out there who indulge in a mani/pedi too: Do yourself a favor and BYOB – Bring Your Own Bottle…of “lotion” that is.
Great Quotes: Love the quote.
Zen Lill: I was saying the exact same thing the other day. Enough is enough…and 10 or 15 years is definitely enough.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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June 23rd, 2011 at 10:31 am
Michelle, I’m a recent newbie to your blog, but I want to thank you for all the uplifting and informational posts/articles! I always learn something new every day! Have a wonderful day!
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:23 am
Hi Misch, yeah call me a biagge but I want them to prove themselves worthy of a 4 year term and then a re-election process, this lifetime of being bought and paid for is insane. I have always questioned this practice – froom when we learned about the 3 branches of govt back in grammar school, I found it questionable the…now, again, freaking insane. I’m just po’d today that they get to go with big pharma and all we get to do is say ‘yes master(s)’?
Love this article, I get Mercola’s emails but love that you post em’ nonetheless…I am transitioning to all organic and found a fab woman in Venice who makes all her own skinfood – her websites not quite up to speed yet but here’s her blog link, I just spoke with her on the phone, thanks for making me reconnect with her! http://blog.eliqueorganics.com/
I’m off to the Sierra’s for a wedding by a lake, sounds romantic and it will be : ) catch you on the flip, I’ll be posting from there, have mac will travel so, ya nevah know, i might say a few words if I find the time, might be out hiking and all that other nature lovin’ good stuff, can’t wait to hit the road…!
Luv, Zen Lill
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:05 pm
ioLLa//3 #5 June 22:
You are correct about the obvious fact that humans are destroying their environment, including the vast Oceans of the Earth.
Oxygen levels are decreasing and “Dead Zones” are increasing in the Oceans and it is horrible that so many species are dying off daily on land and sea. This can lead to a mass extinction of both sub-marine and land dwellers since the oceans are a vital ecosystem necessary for the planet to keep supporting the life that inhabits it.
It is a shame that beings who occupy the oceans, some longer than humans, are being affected by our negligence. Humans have not realized that without the ocean ecosystems functioning properly, the life cycle of land dwellers will be affected as well.
It does seem like we are on the brink of another mass extinction, however it is not up to the ioLLa to decide the Earth’s fate.
HOWIE
June 24th, 2011 at 10:18 am
BETTER ODDS AGAINST BREAST CANCER
However vigilant women are in watching for early signs of breast cancer, there are always those heart-stopping moments when everything goes awry.
A dear friend of mine in her 40s who had gone with great discipline for a mammogram each year, who had no family history of the disease, and who kept herself astonishingly healthy and fit just called to tell me she’s been diagnosed with a malignant breast tumor that will have to be removed.
Lumpectomy or mastectomy, it’s not clear yet, but the doctors have said she will need radiation and chemotherapy, as well as follow-up scans over the years.
Two things are true — her prognosis is fairly good, and her life is forever changed. Every time I hear a story like this, any of us hear a story like this, the question is asked, Why isn’t there some way to detect the presence of cancer earlier?
Well, however frustrating the timing is given my friend’s diagnosis, it seems that there finally is some new and better technology on its way.
If you’re a health-conscious woman age 40 or over, chances are you, like my friend, make a yearly pilgrimage to your doctor’s office to have your breasts squashed between two plastic plates.
It’s not fun, it’s a little uncomfortable, but it only takes a few minutes, and 40 million of these mammograms are performed in the US each year — resulting in the detection of 80% to 90% of all breast cancers.
Now, there is promising new technology that was approved by the FDA in February of this year called breast tomosynthesis — or, more commonly, “3D” mammography, and while there are still questions to be resolved, there is also great hope that this new development will help physicians diagnose breast cancer with even greater accuracy. I’ll explain how they hope to do that.
7% GREATER IMPROVEMENT IN DETECTION
FDA approval was based on two studies that asked radiologists to review more than 300 mammograms using traditional 2D mammography alone or a combination of 2D and 3D imaging.
The radiologists who viewed both 2D and 3D images were 7% more accurate in their diagnoses than those who viewed only 2D.
Doctors get a greater sense of depth with 3D mammography, explains Ellen B. Mendelson, MD, a professor of radiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and section chief of breast imaging at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Regular 2D technology captures a compressed image of the breast.
In contrast, 3D mammography images a series of thin “slices” of the breast from different angles, which a computer processes into a 3D image that the radiologist can manipulate. 3D mammography is performed along with regular mammograms, at the same time on the same scanning machine. Resulting advantages are…
Better detection. 3D mammograms can help radiologists pin down the size, shape and precise location of abnormalities… compressed 2D images tend to obscure these details.
Increased accuracy. There are fewer false-positive diagnoses with 3D mammography. The technology can help distinguish harmless growths from cancerous tumors by revealing more detail about irregularities.
Some subtle changes are more easily observed in the thin slices that comprise the tomosynthesis exam.
Reduced recalls and less anxiety. Improved accuracy spares many women the anxiety of being called back for further testing (for more scans or biopsies) when results are uncertain.
The test still requires the flattening of the breasts so many women object to, but what a small price to pay for your health and your life!
A LINGERING CONCERN: RADIATION EXPOSURE
On the negative side, 3D mammograms expose women to additional radiation due to the dual 2D and 3D test. The amount is low, but all radiation exposure is cumulative, and we should always be aware of it, notes Dr. Mendelson.
That said, the dose of the combined imaging is under the FDA limit for mammography, and the agency ruled that the benefits of the additional diagnostic information to radiologists outweigh the potential health risks from additional radiation exposure.
Dr. Mendelson says that 3D mammography is currently most useful for women with dense breast tissue and for those who have already had breast cancer, but eventually it may be used by all women.
At present, 3D mammography is available at a limited number of medical centers — Mass General in Boston, which spearheaded the research, is one, and more hospitals will be offering the procedure soon.
Right now, many of the sites offering the procedure are doing so only in clinical trials… and pricing and insurance coverage is being worked out at this moment also.
While questions remain, Dr. Mendelson believes that when 3D mammograms are available in your area and your doctor recommends one, you should go ahead and have it.
Keep in mind, however, that at this time 3D mammography is meant to complement — not replace — standard 2D digital mammography.
Anything that improves chances of detecting breast cancer by another 7% is reason for hope. That 7% might have given my friend the edge she needed to catch her tumor while it was still tiny and much more easily removed.
Source(s):
Ellen B. Mendelson, MD, FACR, chief, section of breast imaging, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and professor of radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago.
June 24th, 2011 at 10:28 am
Howie, who would you suggest it be up to to “decide the earth’s fate?”
Do you think the animals and the sea creatures would be willing to allow the land dwellers to destroy the planet and their survival based on some ego trip that “humans” should be the sole arbiters of this planet?
Would you allow a child to kill himself and others with his toys, simply because they are his toys?
I live on the planet and I am a human who has no power to stop the greed and madness that it brings to those who would commit any atrocity to the environment for a few dollars more.
I say whoever has the power to stop the madness and possible extinction for the animals, the environment, us humans and the planet. DO IT!!!!
Fuck the egos. Just do it.
Irene
July 19th, 2011 at 6:00 am
I have done a lot of research on acne treatments and ahve found the best is the natural treatments. Your information on moisturizers, mineral oil and other unnatural oils as dangerous is quite interesting, particularly the cancer link. I stress the overall health benefits of treating acne the natural way, similar to your information. I also like the way you stress the use of emu oil and coconut oil as healthy alternatives and I know from my research you are correct, but I never knew of the risk in using mineral oil. All I can say is WOW.