Skin is the largest organ of the body. Just like any other organ our skin needs to be healthy in order to perform its many jobs. We can think of our skin as a filter. It filters things coming in and filters waste going out.
Large cosmetic companies use synthetic and petrochemical ingredients in there so called body care products. Here is a personal challenge. Pick up any cosmetic product in your home. (Just about anything in your bathroom) How many ingredients on the label are natural? Better yet, how many can you even pronounce?
Do you see any that say mineral oil, paraffin oil, or nujol. These are all the same ingredients just different names. Of course, most of us know of baby oil which is just mineral oil.
Mineral oil is a byproduct of the distillation of gasoline from crude oil. If someone told you to put motor oil on your infant you would think they were crazy. However, the fact remains mineral oil and motor oil aren’t much different. Take a look at the following MSDS on Mineral Oil and see what the potential health effects really are.
Mineral oil facts. Also called paraffin oil, white mineral oil, liquid petroleum, and nujol.
Potential Health Effects
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Inhalation:
Causes irritation to the respiratory tract. Symptoms may include coughing, shortness of breath. Inhalation of mist or vapor may produce aspiration pneumonia.
Ingestion:
Material is a cathartic and can cause serious diarrhea. Nausea and vomiting may also occur and possibly abdominal cramping. Aspiration of mineral oil into the lungs can cause chemical pneumonia.
Skin Contact:
Prolonged contact may cause irritation; occasionally dermatitis due to hypersensitivity occurs.
Eye Contact:
Mists or fumes can irritate the eyes. Can cause discomfort similar to motor oil.
Chronic Exposure:
Prolonged or repeated skin exposure may cause dermatitis. Highly refined mineral oils are not classified as human carcinogens. However, related forms (untreated and mildly-treated oils) are listed as human carcinogens by both NTP and IARC.
Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions:
Persons with pre-existing skin disorders or impaired respiratory function may be more susceptible to the effects of the substance.
Call For Change To Mineral Oil Label
NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters Health) -- Labels on bottles of mineral oil should include a warning of a risk of a serious lung disease in some patients, according to a letter published in the December 24th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Taken as a laxative at bedtime, mineral oil can cause a lung disease called "lipoid pneumonia" in children or the bedridden when the oil is regurgitated and inhaled into the lungs.
In the letter, Dr. David E. Langdon of Arlington, Texas, writes that he recently read mineral oil bottles in pharmacies and supermarkets.
Langdon noted that none of the labels he inspected "displayed any warnings indicating the population at particular risk from such bedtime use: persons with nocturnal reflux."
"Should not persons with known hiatus hernias and symptomatic reflux be warned to avoid using these products just before recumbency?" the physician asks.
In a written reply published in the journal, Dr. Debra L. Bowen from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notes that the agency "requires manufacturers to label orally administered mineral-oil products as not for use in infants, and to warn against their use in young children or bedridden persons."
But Bowen also writes that "the directions and warnings sections of labels of mineral-oil containing laxatives can be strengthened in order to enhance their safe and effective use." Further, she states that the FDA plans to publish "a final rule" concerning laxatives that "will include required labeling improvements."
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine 1998;339:1947-1948.