Why should you care about the bioaccumulation of your cosmetics?

MYTHOSDon't be mistaken, the fact that a product has the word free or clean on its label does not presuppose that it is better than the one that does not. The important thing is to know the cumulative impact of its ingredients on your health

By Carmen Lanchares

Do you really know what you apply to your skin? Reading the product label is not enough. What you should assess is the possible bioaccumulation of the cosmetics you use, or rather, of their ingredients. And not only in cosmetics, but in a multitude of products that are part of our lifestyle. But do you know what bioaccumulation is? "It is about the gradual accumulation and during a certain period of a chemical substance in our organism, either because the product is absorbed more quickly than it can be used or because it cannot be metabolized (that is, assimilated and transformed by the body). organism)”, explains Hanna Azirar, biochemist and founder of Konse Beauty, the new cosmetics and wellness platform focused on slow beauty.

With the growing interest in self-care and health, everything from what we eat to what we put on our skin is put through new filters. We scrutinize labels, 'google' ingredients and download apps, such as Yuka, Myrealfood or Nutriscore, to decipher everything a product hides. Our purchasing acts are becoming more conscious and for this reason we want to know, and are concerned about, everything that directly or indirectly can affect our well-being (and, incidentally, also that of the planet). All this has given rise to a movement that advocates transparency and that, sometimes unjustifiably, feeds a growing wave of chemophobia, despite the fact that chemistry is at the base of our very existence. The truth is that between the pandemic, pollution and certain industrial practices we are somewhat alarmed (and confused) by the damage we impose on our bodies. But, nevertheless, we do not usually take into account the bioaccumulation to which we subject them. For better or worse. Hanna Azirar helps us clarify what this is about.

Bioaccumulation isn't always bad

It doesn't have to be a concern if the accumulated substance is not harmful. In fact, it can be a good thing. For example, it allows us to take medicine just once a day instead of constantly needing it. The important thing is to understand which are the chemical substances that can cause problems to our health. Many are synthetic products derived from petroleum such as ethylene (water bottles, polyester), phthalates and parabens in cosmetics. According to Dr. Nicolas Olea, 85% of the oil produced in the world goes to combustion and the other 15% goes to fine chemicals (and no more than 7% goes to plastics).

Harmful bioaccumulation comes from toxins that enter our bodies through various means: they can be ingested, absorbed through the skin, or inhaled. To bioaccumulate, a substance must be lipid soluble (can be dissolved in fats or oils), durable, biologically active, and mobile, capable of being absorbed by organisms.

Gestures that promote harmful bioaccumulation

Diet, environmental pollution or certain toxic substances that we can find in our homes (paint, Wi-Fi, water, fabrics, cleaning products) are part of our daily lives and can favor the harmful bioaccumulation of certain ingredients.

From cosmetics to the water we drink or the fabrics of our clothes can contain contaminants that certain regulations allow in 'safe doses'. For example, lead in lipstick (FDA 'excuses' it at low levels) or common preservatives such as controversial parabens (legally allowed in certain countries under the notion of 'safe dose'). Certain regulations accept them, considering that the contained dose of the chemical substance should not pose a problem.

It is not the ingredient, but the sum

The problem does not come from the cosmetic ingredient, which appears in a safe dose, but when a person uses several products a day that contain the chemical in question, every day, for decades. This is where bioaccumulation begins to take place. Many personal care products use these same acceptable chemicals in low doses. According to Greenpeace, it is estimated that every day, a woman can consume a daily average of twelve cosmetic products with 160 different ingredients. In the case of men, half the products. Of the 150,000 chemical substances that are used, 8,000 end up in cosmetics (which does not imply that they are harmful), many with the complicated names that appear in the INCI, the international nomenclature of cosmetic ingredients.

Bioaccumulation and endocrine disruptors

Many of those substances with which we are in daily contact in one way or another are endocrine disruptors (environmental polluting chemical substances that within the body alter the message of hormones and are linked to allergies, cancer and other new-onset pathologies such as chemical hypersensitivity syndrome). According to Hanna Azirar, some of the components that we should avoid are petroleum derivatives in lip balms such as petrolatum, mineral oils, paraffins (parafinum liquidum); triclosan, an antibacterial ingredient widely used in soaps or toothpastes; parabens or phthalates, present in some creams; laureth sulfate, which is included in some nail polishes or lipsticks; sodium lauryl sulfate, typical of shampoos or certain nanoparticles (nano. A long list that you can consult at konsebeauty.com

How Endocrine Disruptors Affect Us

Many of these pollutants can have damaging effects on the body's endocrine (hormone) system. Hormones act in very small amounts and at precise times to regulate the development, growth, reproduction, metabolism, immunity, and behavior of the body. Endocrine disruptors interfere with natural hormonal systems, and the health effects can be felt long after exposure has ceased. For example, exposure to endocrine disruptors in utero can have lifelong effects. Growing concern about the negative impact of these substances has led the European Union to introduce specific legislative obligations aimed at phasing out endocrine disruptors from water, industrial chemicals and cosmetics.

Can we avoid endocrine disruptors?

The answer should be quite simple, try to change our habits and be aware of the products we use, go for an eco/organic diet, reduce the amount of plastic PET both in water bottles, plastic used in supermarkets, reduce or change certain cleaning products with questionable ingredients or avoid polyester in our clothes. In fact, UC Berkeley researchers conducted a study, Teen girls see big drop in chemical exposure with switch in cosmetics, in which they asked a group of teens not to use personal care products with parabens, phthalates, and other substances for three days. worrisome chemicals. After just three days, the levels of all chemicals dropped in the girls' urine samples by between 27 and 45%.

Don't fall for chemophobia

All matter is chemical. Water, for example, is chemical. But companies use terms like clean beauty or toxic free to reinforce the idea that there are no synthetic or harmful ingredients. This has created a lot of confusion and that is why you have to focus more on the ingredients that they contain and not on those that they do not have.

Cosmetic products are regulated under European regulation 1223 of 2009, which together with its annexes exposes the substances that are not allowed, the permitted concentrations of others, preservatives... Most cosmetics are approved and regulated by the European Union and conventional cosmetics may contain synthetic chemicals but at levels that are not toxic according to that regulation

Natural cosmetics are good for the ingredients they contain, not for discrediting conventional cosmetics, which are not necessarily toxic if manufacturers comply with European regulations. What must be taken into account are the concentrations of certain substances when applying them daily, for many years and combined with other harmful substances that we encounter in our daily lives.

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