Stiftung Warentest Cancer-causing substances in cosmetic products

Cosmetics based on mineral oil are contaminated with carcinogenic substances?
Stiftung Warentest has found potentially carcinogenic pollutants in 25 cosmetic and care products based on mineral oil. About the aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH, "Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons") has been discussed so far mainly in connection food. The investigation of the consumer advocates makes it clear that there is also a need for further action with regard to cosmetics.

Many cosmetics contain MOAH-based substances
Mineral oil-based substances are durable, inexpensive and do not cause allergies. Unfortunately, carcinogens could also be included in the substance mixture. All 25 tested products, which included creams, hair waxes, baby and lip care products, body oils and vaselines, included MOAH, Stiftung Warentest reports. Their salary varied between 0.005 and 9 percent. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), in a similar investigation on a MOAH share of up to 5 percent.

Some cosmetics products found with questionable substances. (Image: These are the cancer signs: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia)

So far, MOAH has been a concern, especially in food, as it is consumed. But also lip care products, the substances can enter the mouth. "Therefore, we advise against mineral oil-based lip care products. Vaseline should not be used on the mouth either. Even creams can reach the mouth through the hands, "write the testers on the website of Stiftung Warentest. Thanks to a refinement of their analytical technique, it had been possible to prove this problematic group of substances. The purity test procedure, which is mandatory for all manufacturers, is not sufficient because not all critical substances are detected.

MOAH have so far only been considered critical in foods
Especially in connection with food, the mineral oil-based substances were previously considered questionable. For example, MOAH can migrate from the printing inks on the packaging to the food.

Both the European Food Safety Authority and the BfR come to the conclusion that MOAH could promote the development of cancer. "The MOAH Group (...) may also include carcinogenic substances. Basically, such contamination in food is undesirable, "writes the BfR on the occasion of a study by Stiftung Warentest in 2012, in which MOQA was proven in Advendskalender chocolate.

The EU Cosmetics Directive prohibits the use of carcinogens, with a few exceptions. Also, potentially carcinogenic substances such as MOAH should not be used in cosmetics, but there are currently no limits for the substances in care products.

MOSH are also suspected to be harmful to health
The testers found in addition to the MOAH so-called MOSH (Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons), saturated hydrocarbons, which should not be carcinogenic according to current study lawsuit. However, according to Efsa, MOSH can be deposited in small globules in the liver, spleen, lymph nodes and other organs. In humans, however, according to the current state of knowledge, this would not result in inflammatory reactions or other damage.

The extent to which MOSH and especially MOAH are absorbed through the skin and thus cause health problems is still unclear. However, the BfR considers damage unlikely. According to Stiftung Warentest Andreas Luch from the BfR, "Health risks from the absorption of mineral oils in cosmetics through the skin are not to be expected for consumers according to the current state of knowledge." However, there are "larger data gaps" that would make the "evaluation more difficult", especially with oral ingestion of cosmetics. With regard to its own investigations into polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in consumer products, the BfR had said at the end of 2010: "It has also been shown that alkylated polycyclic aromatics migrate MOAH into the skin on direct contact and may therefore also contribute to a health risk."

Effects of mineral oils on humans have not been sufficiently researched
For Dr. med. Konrad Grob, analyst at the Cantonal Laboratory in Zurich, mineral oils are probably the strongest contaminant of the human body. "The levels of MOSH in the liver, spleen and lymph nodes are often alarmingly high," says Grob. "It would be important to know how much comes from food, cosmetics or the environment. Because we can not rule out that the skin is also a source of entry, there is an urgent need for further research. "

All mineral based cosmetics contain MOSH. "We generally know too little about the possible consequences of mineral oils on humans, including MOSH," says Konrad Grob. "We have been too careless for too long. We should not use what we are not sure about. "(Ag)