The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances by Julie Gabriel Read Free Book Online Page A

“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