About Skin Care Products with Petroleum

Most skin care formulas contain petroleum byproducts.

Most people want to look beautiful and refreshed as they go about their day. Many skincare products contain petroleum, so understanding the issues with these choices is important.

Origin

Petroleum jelly is a byproduct of petroleum or oil production. The product is classified as a hydrocarbon and can be listed on labels as mineral oil, PEG, sodium laureth sulfate and ingredients that contain "oleth" and "xynol" in their spelling.

Risks

Petroleum-based skincare products are known to contain substances that are potentially carcinogenic to humans. One such substance is 1,4-dioxane; almost a quarter of skincare products contain this chemical.

Function

Skincare options with petroleum are able to retain moisture well. In fact, straight petroleum jelly has been used as a basic facial moisturizer for over a century, since its introduction in 1870. Robert Chesebrough, the chemist who discovered the substance, also found that the petroleum byproduct helped speed the healing of cuts and burns.

References

• Natural News: Petroleum-based Cosmetics and Skin Care Products Found to Contain Cancer-causing Chemical 1,4-dioxane
• Mindfully.org: Polyethylene Glycols (PEGs)
• Vaseline: History of Vaseline