Free-Reprint Article Written by: Carla Donnelly
See Terms of Reprint Below.


*****************************************************************
*
* This email is being delivered directly to members of the group:
*
* health-articles@yahoogroups.com
*
*****************************************************************



Article Title: Chemicals in Personal Care Products
Article Author: Carla Donnelly
Article Copyright: 2005

Article URL:

http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/d/reacting-to-personal-care-products\
.shtml

Article Autoresponder:
mailto:reacting-to-personal-care-products@...

Author Contact Email:
mailto:carla.donnelly@...

Formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Word Count: 520 words



-----------------------------------------------------------------

This article was written by Carla Donnelly.

The only role of http://thePhantomWriters.com and
http://Article-Distribution.com is in the actual
distribution of this article to you.

At TPW, we are providing an additional free tool for
webmasters who reprint the articles we distribute. If your
software does not automatically hyperlink the URL's in your
site copy, please use our Text-to-Hyperlink Conversion Tool
to convert all URL's and Mailto addresses to the required
hyperlinked format:

http://thephantomwriters.com/link-builder.pl

-----------------------------------------------------------------

TERMS OF REPRINT - Publication Rules

This is a Free-Reprint article. The only requirements for
publishing this article are:

* You must leave the article and resource box unedited. You are
not allowed to change our recommendations, nor are you allowed
to change the context of the article.

* You may not use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email).
Email distribution of this article MUST be opt-in email only.

* We ask that you forward a copy of the ezine or newsletter
that contains the article inside to the author at:
mailto:carla.donnelly@...

* If you post this article on a website, you MUST set any URL's
or Mailto addresses in the body of the article and most
especially in the Author's Resource Box as hyperlinks. We
request that you also send us a copy of the URL where you
have posted this article.

We are providing free Text-to-Hyperlink Conversion Tool for
webmasters who need an easy way to convert the plain text in
this article to hyperlinks where required, for the purpose of
meeting our hyperlink requirements:

http://thephantomwriters.com/link-builder.pl


If you find any of the rules to be unsavory or unacceptable, please
do not publish this article. While we are happy to make the content
available to you for your own use, we must insist on having our rules
and *Terms of Reprint* honored in full.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

Chemicals in Personal Care Products
Copyright © 2005 Carla Donnelly
MangoLife Wellness Website
http://www.mangolife.com/miracle2webpage2.html



A recent epidemiologic survey in the UK revealed that 23% of
women and 13.8% of men experience some sort of adverse reaction
to a personal care product over the course of a year. Although
some of these reactions may be due to subjective sensory
irritation, various studies reveal that up to 10% of dermatologic
patients who are patch tested are allergic to cosmetic products
or their constituent ingredients. Causative products include
deodorants and perfumes, skin care products, hair care products,
and nail cosmetics. Allergic contact dermatitis mainly results
from fragrance chemicals and preservatives.

Recent work has suggested that additional fragrance chemicals may
need to be tested in order to identify those patients ‘missed’ by
the current fragrance mix; in particular, hydroxy-isohexyl-3-
cyclohexene carboxaldehyde has been singled out as an important
sensitizing agent. The increased usage of natural fragrances and
botanic extracts can also cause problems in their own right or
through co-reactivity. The preservative
methyldibromoglutaronitrile has also been recognized as an
increasingly important sensitizer in Europe, which has led to the
recent recommendation that it should be prohibited from ‘leave-
on’ products until information on ‘safe’ consumer levels becomes
available. Other emerging allergens include UV filters,
tosylamide/formaldehyde resin, and nail acrylates.

Fragrance ingredients are the most frequent cause of cosmetic
allergy, accounting for up to 30–45% of allergic reactions to
cosmetics in eczema patients. As well as being found in products
marketed to provide a scent they are also incorporated into the
majority of other skin care products. Fragrance ingredients can
cause dermatitis at the sites of application and also volatile or
photosensitive patterns of contact dermatitis, but may involve
other sites by direct transfer or even connubial contact.
Managing patients with proven fragrance allergy often proves
extremely difficult. Advising patients to use products labeled as
‘fragrance free’ will not necessary avoid all contact with
fragrance materials due to a discrepancy in the accepted
definition of the term. Fragrance is defined as any substance,
natural or synthetic, used solely to impart an odor to a cosmetic
product. However, if a fragrance material has more than one
function (e.g. preservative or emollient) it could legally still
be included in a fragrance-free product. Although these masking
fragrances are uncommon sensitizers, fragrance-allergic patients
should avoid them wherever possible. These substances include
benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, and cyclopentadecanolamide.
Consumers may also be unaware that rose oil, sandalwood oil, and
cedarwood oil are all fragrances and that other essential oils,
flower plant extracts, and flavorings are also usually
fragrances. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge that
natural fragrances and botanical extracts may also cause problems
for the fragrance-allergic individual.

Though further research is needed, a recent study has found that
a common group of chemicals used to preserve deodorants have been
detected in breast-cancer tissue. Researchers at the University
of Reading in England found traces of these chemicals, called
parabens, in 18 out of 20 samples, suggesting that they may be
absorbed by the body after they are applied to the skin. By
reading the ingredients of the products you purchase you can
become educated on what they contain and be able to reduce
unwanted substances.




-----------------------------------------------------------------
Carla Donnelly is a writer on environmental and health
issues at the MangoLife Wellness Website . Sign up for the
free monthly newsletter and get a free vegetarian ecookbook
plus a chance to win a chemical-free soap that raises the
body ph and is good for the environment:
http://www.mangolife.com/miracle2webpage2.html




--- END ARTICLE ---


Distribution Date and Time: Fri Jan 28 03:12:33 EST 2005


For more articles by this author, please visit:

http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/index.shtml#Carla_Donnelly