Could your facial powder aggravate your allergies? It’s very possible that it does – depending on what product you’re using.
The Environmental Working Group rated the safety of 470 different facial powders, and only 97 received low hazard ratings. The other powders – 324 moderate hazards and 47 high hazards include ingredients that aggravate allergies.
Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The highly hazardous facial powders include a variety of the following toxic ingredients:
- Benzyl Salicylate: Known to aggravate allergies, benzyl salicylate disrupts your endocrine system and is an ecotoxin.
- Coumarin: A known human immune system toxicant, coumarin is banned from use in the European Union.
- Eugenol: Toxic to human organs, eugenol aggravates allergies.
- Hydroxycitronellal: Hydroxycitronellal is known to aggravate allergies.
- Lilial: An endocrine system disruptor, lilial aggravates allergies, is toxic to your organs and bioaccumulates.
- Limonene: Toxic to reproductive systems, limonene also is an ecotoxin, allergy aggravator – and it irritates skin and eyes. (Just the kind of ingredient you want in facial powder, right?)
- Parabens, including propylparaben, butylparaben, and isobutyl paraben: Known reproductive system and developmental toxins, parabens disrupt your endocrine system. Parabens also have been found in breast tumors.
- Quaternium-15: Aside from acting as a preservative and disinfectant, quaternium-15 releases formaldehyde, a known human immune system toxicant as well as a human skin toxicant. Specifically, quaternium-15 can trigger blistering, burning, itchy, scaly skin and hives – and respiratory reactions. It also triggers allergies and is toxic to your organs.
- Retinyl Acetate (Vitamin A Acetate): Classified as known reproductive toxicants by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, retinyl acetate (or Vitamin A scetate) causes changes at the cellular level.
An incorrect advertising claim
Interestingly, two of the highly hazardous facial powders are Neutrogena’s Healthy Skin Loose Powders. These products demonstrate how advertising and labeling claims are not monitored, because dusting your face with retinyl palmitate, propylparaben and butylparaben will not create healthy skin.
The 3 most hazardous powders
Three products (3 different shades of Anna Sui Loose Powder – pearl beige, light beige, and medium beige) actually received a 10, the EWG’s most dangerous rating. The powders include fragrance and geraniol – both ingredients aggravate allergies and are ecotoxins. They also include octinoxate, a chemical that encourages enhanced skin absorption, disrupts the endocrine system, is toxic to the reproductive system and organs, causes changes at a cellular level, aggravates allergies, and bioaccumulates. The powders also include the immune toxicant and human allergen BHT (a toluene-based preservative), and the allergy aggravating ingredients citronellol and linalool.
Talk back
If you use facial powder, what kind is your favorite?
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