Almost all 'natural' skin care cosmetics can cause allergies

November 15, 2022  14:01

Almost all "natural" cosmetics for skin care contain allergens, dermatologists from Stanford University have found. The work of scientists was published in the journal JAMA Dermatology.

They studied 1,651 skin care products based on natural ingredients. The researchers compared the ingredients of the products with an online database that lists allergens that cause contact dermatitis. It turned out that 90% of cosmetics contain at least one of the 100 most common allergens.

On average, natural cosmetics contain four to five known allergens in their composition. A total of 73 different allergens were listed 7,500 times in the 1,651 products studied. Many were fragrances, such as lavender and other plant extracts.

Natural cosmetics are just a marketing slogan that plays on people's belief that naturally occurring drugs and cosmetics are safer than synthetic ones. In reality, however, this is not the case, and natural ingredients can be strong allergens, the scientists noted.

According to dermatologists, this can lead to an epidemic of contact allergies, which once happened. Back then, manufacturers began using the natural preservative methylisothiazolinone instead of the safer parabens after reports of the harms of parabens surfaced.

Scientists advise people with sensitive skin prone to allergies to carefully study the composition of cosmetic products.

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