Unnatural

Because natural beauty and hygiene items are becoming big business, some not-so-natural manufac­turers are trying to capitalize on the market and putting the word "natural" on their product labels.

Their products may sound natural, with their jojoba oil, honey, herbs and wheatgerm oil for example, but they may also contain such unnatural ingredients as artificial colours, fragrances and preservatives. "Natural" products which use natural preservatives, like naturally occurring Vitamins E and C, are not any safer either.

According to Alexander Fischer, M.D., author of Contact Dermatitis, "Topical Vitamin E is a potent sen­sitizer which can produce both delayed allergic contact dermatitis and immediate allergic hives."

Gerald McKnight, author of The Skin Game, warns that organic essences and ingredients which are being increasingly used in cosmetics today, are not 'Only more likely to set up allergic reactions, they also tend to deteriorate more quickly.

3 types of tests

The main animal tests carried out are:

• For toxicity (to see

if a substance is harm­ful): Products, like bleach or lipstick, are force-fed to a group of animals, usually rats and mice, until 50% die.

• For eye irritation:

Products, like shampoos or hair sprays, are dripped or sprayed into the eyes of conscious rabbits. (The animals' tear ducts are structured in such a way that they cannot flush such sub­stances away.) This can continue for some days to see if the eye is dam­aged.

• For skin sensitivity or irritation:

Substances, like deodor­ants and face cream,

are applied to the shaved skin of animals, usually guinea pigs or rabbits. They are held in place for some time with sticky tape, to see if there is an adverse reac­tion. Symptoms may include inflammation and swelling.

ANIMAL TESTS NO GUARANTEE FOR SAFETY

TOILETRIES and cos­metics are usually tested to see if they are safe and to prove their safety to regulators worldwide. However, successful animal testing is no guarantee that there will be no adverse reactions in humans. This is due to differences in metabo­lism, skin structure and even the fact that a sub­stance might be poiso­nous to one species and not another.

Also, toxicity tests on animals often use sub­stances in concentra­tions 100, 1,000, or even 10,000 times the dose humans could pos­sibly be exposed to.

Different substances have different effects according to the dose. It is thus inaccurate to apply a standard rule of more-severe-reactions­with-higher-doses on all substances.

Impure and unsafe

And "natural" plant extracts does not mean pure, clean or perfect either. According to the cosmetics trade journal, Drug and Cosmetic Industry, "all plants (including those used in cosmetics) can be heavily contaminated with bacteria, and pesticides and chemical fertilizers are widely used to improve crop yields".

Some plants can also contain toxic ingredients. For example, comfrey (an ingredient in certain herbal cosmetics) which contain substances known as pyrrolizidine alkaloids, is potentially poisonous if absorbed through cracked or broken skin.

"Natural" or "Organic"

"Natural" can mean anything to anybody. Some manufacturers may use the term to imply that the product will not mouldy, or is harmless. The term however, is more commonly used to describe ingredients which are extracted directly from plants or animal products, as opposed to being produced synthetically.

But in what concentration the "natural" ingredient occurs - Whether it's 100%, 80% or just 50% - is anyone's guess. As far as allergies or irritations go, "natural" is no better then synthetic. Some natural ingredients in cosmetics can cause allergic reactions. If you have an allergy to certain plants or animals, you could have an allergic reaction to cosmetics containing these ingresients.

DON'T BE FOOLED BY COSMETIC CLAIMS

The label on a cosmetic product may reassure you that the product is natural and caring, free of harsh and unwanted ingredients, or has special or gentle properties, but the terms used can be downright misleading as they have no standard meaning.

CAP decodes some questionable claims to reveal the plain truth.

Preface

While the other guide looked at cancer causing in chemicals, this volume looks at the other dangers and side-effects which are equally serious in their implications to our health. Even children and babies are not spared of the ill-effects of these chemical concoctions.

We also looked at the claims made, many of which are hypes and lure us to buy and use these products, thinking that they are safe and effective. Worse, the dangers of these products are often hidden from us.

Cosmetics are the least regulated products and as a result of minimal regulation, products that are plainly dangerous to your health can be on the market.

John Bailey who heads the US Food and Drug Administration's cosmetics division, acknowledges that he cannot guarantee that the hair dyes, lipsticks, hair sprays and the other items sold today are safe.

The research done for this book, based on surveys of local products, clearly shows how unsafe they are.

This guide is based on articles which appeared in the Utusan Konsumer (from January 1997 to May 1999).

Consumers should boycott unsafe products and make our voices heard!

-S M Mohd Idris, President, Consumers' Association of Penang

Source: This blog is refer from companion volume book to the CAP GUIDE on "Cancer-causing
Chemicals in Cosmetics and Daily Use Products"