Sunday, July 04, 2004

Chemical Preservatives in Body Care Products Release Formaldehyde a Known Carcinogen!


Read your "natural" and "organic" body care product ingredient labels to see if they contain any of the following toxic chemicals: imidazolidinyl or imadazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, sodium hydroxymethyl glycinate or hydroxymethyl glycinate or benzylhemiformal.

In response to negative publicity surrounding new scientific evidence of the endocrine disruption potential of the paraben family of preservatives (methyl, butyl, propyl) parabens and the new UK report announcing the discovery of parabens in breast cancer tumors, many slick chemical manufacturers have been quietly removing parabens from their ingredient panels and replacing them with other toxic chemical preservatives. This is a common maneuvering trick in the personal care and household products industries. When too much negative press appears about one particular chemical, many companies switch to different chemicals and then (now, here's the tricky part) begin to advertise that their products are "paraben-free" or "sodium lauryl sulfate-free" or "propylene glycol-free," etc., for example. Consumers think, Wow! - I've found a healthy product.

The chemicals imidazolidinyl or imadazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, sodium hydroxymethyl glycinate and benzylhemiformal have been identified as releasing formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, by the European Union Working Party's (WP) Scientific Committee on Cosmetic Products and Non-food Products in their Methods of Chemical Analysis of Cosmetic Products report.

According to the National Institutes of Health's "Household Products Database," (sodium) hydroxymethyl glycinate is also known as: N-(Hydroxymethyl)glycine, monosodium salt; Glycine, N-(hydroxymethyl)-, monosodium salt or Sodium N-(hydroxymethyl)glycinate. The NIH could not locate any health studies for sodium hydroxymethyl glycinate.

Just days ago, the World Health Organization confirmed the carcinogenicity of formaledhyde. Read the report.

Here is the link from the European Union identifying the chemical preservatives as formaldehyde donors/releasers: Read the report.