Author: Peter Clark Date posted: Oct 27, 2009 Article views: 115 Wordcount: 550 Ezine Ready
Did you know that Ralph Nader has said that "Over the last 100 years, the rate of cancer in the U.S. has sky-rocketed from 1 out of 800 people diagnosed, to 1 out of 3 today." Do you have any idea why? Of cause there is no definitive answer however there is a reasonable chance that one of the causes may be dangerous ingredients in personal and beauty care products such as skin care and anti aging products and cosmetics and more.
There's many ingredients found in products that we may be using everyday that are potentially dangerous and are even known carcinogens. And this includes products that we make eat as well.
Mineral oil is a fine example of an ingredient that you may see if you look on the label of many big brand anti aging products. Avoid it.
Mineral oil is a byproduct of the distillation of crude oil and is therefore a petrochemical product. If you buy baby oil you're buying pure mineral oil, sometimes with a fragrance added to it.
You'll find mineral oil in many personal, anti aging and skin care products and cosmetics and other products. It used in anti aging products as a moisturiser however mineral oil has no moisturising properties. It's there because it forms a thin film of oil on your skin and that film prevents moisture loss. This works to some degree.
You may be familiar with Material Safety Data Sheets. A Material Safety Data Sheet is a document that lists everything that a user of a particular chemical ought to know about that chemical, for example for safety reasons. A Material Safety Data Sheet on mineral oil says that "mineral oils are suspected carcinogens of the skin and scrotum, larynx, lung and alimentary tracts". On top of this it also says it "may cause eye, skin and respiratory tract irritation" and also that "pre-existing skin disorders may be aggravated by exposure".
So mineral oil cause cancer and skin conditions.
Mineral oil isn't all. There's many other ingredients that you may see listed on the label of anti aging products that may well be dangerous. Why is this so and why aren't we protected from this?
The FDA isn't required to protect us. It's not their job to test how well anti aging products work or how safe they are for us to use. And of course big companies are known for their concern about the well-being of their customers. A fine example is the cigarette companies. If the company is allowed to use these ingredients then it will.
Many of these dangerous ingredients are found in our personal products like our skin care products because they're cheap. The cheaper the ingredients the more profit that is made on the sale of the product. It's well known that there are excellent ingredients that work extremely well to promote skin health but most of these are not used because they are expensive.
However some clever people have seen an opportunity here and have started small skin care and anti aging companies that produce excellent quality products, however because they put their money into product quality they cannot afford to advertise and compete on price. So you'll most likely never hear about them.
