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Linked to skin irritation, gastro-intestinal disturbances, nausea, headaches and vomiting, overexposure to propylene glycol can cause liver abnormalities and kidney damage. These warnings are clearly stated on the Material Safety Data Sheet for this compound, so why aren't there any warnings on our personal ‘care' products? IS NEW DIRECTIONS INTENDING TO FIND NATURAL ALTERNATIVES TO USING THESE CHEMICALS? leonnie Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 11:55 AM   Let me say at first I am concerned that there are consumers out there that have been totally ill-informed by publications that are misleading for the sake of sensationalism or market advantage, in that they take information on the MSDS that concerns a 100% pure raw material and think that this data applies to the skin or hair care products containing only 1 – 5 %, not even considering the rest of the formulation that has emollients or other skin protection components that again dilute any adverse effects a material such as Propylene Glycol may have. It is fair to say that I do have some concerns when the level of Propylene Glycol exceeds 50% (notably by excessive drying causing minor skin irritation) but to be equally fair I also have concerns about Glycerine used at levels well below 50% (ie. above 30% Glycerine is considered to have dangerous skin dehydration effects) or the occlusive effect, causing a reduction of skin respiration, by using some vegetable oils at greater than 50%, just to name a few. The propagation of such misinformation shows gullibility in believing, in isolation, any “bad publicity” that is printed and not considering the vast body of knowledge that supports the safe use of these materials. Let me state a few FACTS about Propylene Glycol. • the material can be obtained in such pure state that it is an accepted ingredient by the worldwide Regulatory, Pharmaceutical and Medical industry as a safe and effective additive. Propylene Glycol has probably had more than its share of studies about safety in use (probably more safety studies than the majority of “natural” chemicals being used) and still accepted for common use. • Propylene Glycol was originally created for the personal care industry (over 50 years ago) and only later taken up by industrial chemical producers that wanted the same effect of humectancy as we were achieving in personal care products. It is true that nowadays there are two grades of Propylene Glycol, one for personal care and therapeutics and another for industrial applications, the difference being in the degree of absolute purity, the pharmaceutical grade being greater than 99.9% pure. So to use the comment that it is used in industrial applications as a derogatory phrase meaning we use nasty industrial chemicals in our products has no foundation whatsoever and may even be considered offensive. You should be complementing the Industrial sector for using safe and pure materials. • A few minor errors in fact from the customers comments are that Propylene Glycol is not used in anti-freeze (Antifreeze uses Ethylene Glycol – a completely different chemical entity); it is NOT found in most Shampoos, Conditioners or Body Lotions; humectants should NOT be described as a “moisture carrying” as this is meaningless and incorrect – a humectant’s effect is to reduce the rate of evaporation of water from the product or skin. Let me state a few FACTS about regulatory controls in Australia. • Regulatory authorities insist, by law, that if there is anything dangerous then we MUST label it accordingly and this is why we have the Occupational Health & Safety Code (OH&S) and Poisons control labeling. Remember the Hazard Statements with Risk and Safety Phrases (eg “Keep out of the Reach of Children”); the Poison Codes such as S2, S6, etc. with childproof packaging that actually has “POISON” imprinted into the bottle, well this is there by law and if we do not use this appropriately then we will be prosecuted. Any pack that does not contain dangerous materials need not contain these warnings and it would even be misleading to the public if we put warnings on the pack when they were not needed. At New Directions • New Directions Australia are always improving our technology base and will always attempt to find materials that are natural, safe and effective. • New Directions Australia do NOT use any material in its products that is considered dangerous to the user and while we believe in the ethics of promoting natural, organic products, we believe in providing the best materials for the benefit of our customers, hence reserve the right to use materials that we consider safe in use and superior to natural alternatives, at prices that are not a burden to our customers. • One also realizes that the term “Natural”, used in today’s advertising, infers that the material or product is safer than a synthetic chemical. This cannot be further from the truth. We believe that because it is “natural” does not mean it is always safe and the corollary being because it is “synthetic” does not mean it is always dangerous.. This is important since the two words – safe and natural - are not synonymous – some natural materials are safe, but many may be quite hazardous or even fatal if incorrectly or inappropriately used. Belladonna extract is a known deadly poison, “Rotten Egg Gas” (or Hydrogen Sulfide) is far more deadly a gas than Hydrogen Cyanide – the only reason they use Hydrogen Cyanide in gas chambers is that it is odourless (a little more humane?), almost all the pure essential oils, we use, are considered poisons by the government regulatory authorities; water kills more people per year than any other cause – the list goes on. The corollary is also false – it is a fact that many synthetic chemicals used in cosmetics are amongst the safest (with respect to toxicology, skin irritation or allergic reactions) as they have been scientifically engineered to be so, also undergoing some of the most stringent testing – something a lot of natural ingredients have not. It is considered that things such as aspirin, or the humble coffee, tea or alcohol would not be permitted to be introduced now, under current government controls of safety in use, only being introduced, many years ago, when laws were more lax and nowadays becoming “acceptable” under what is called “grandfather” clauses. Be assured New Directions will continue to provide accurate information about all materials we sell and are only too willing to answer concerns about information customers may have come across. • If the customer specifies materials that they do not wish to use, we can (and do) also accommodate this by arrangement, as exampled by our recent development of a Sulfate Free – Paraben Free Shampoo base. While we also believe that neither of these materials used at normal levels have any adverse effects we have had to, due to market pressure from the ill-informed public, spend considerable time and effort for this sector that requires these products. Again be reassured that New Directions is caring for its customers and would never knowingly put any user at risk in any way. Armin Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:26 PM   Thank you Armin for taking time to answer my concerns with such detail I appriciate that very much Leonnie leonnie displaying 1 to 2 (of 2 messages)   Home | Specifications | Recipes | Forum | Links Copyright © 2006 ndaroma.com