Skin Absorption ** Reality

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

I mentioned a while back that I would share posts I made on other lists

if I thought it would be of interest to folks on this list .. and we do

have a lot of new folks here. Following is one made today .. it is only

for inquiring minds .. those who already have their minds made up and

don't want to be confused with facts should delete this now .. ;-p

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Two of the many remaining mysteries that aren't likely to become facts

anytime soon are what effect does saponification have on this or that

chemical component and which chemical components absorb into the skin.

 

Keep in mind that modern testing equipment has been able to identify

almost 400 chemical constituents in Rose Otto .. but the scientists

believe that this is a drop in the bucket .. that there are many, many

hundreds of other trace chemicals that will be identified in time.

 

Somebody wrote:

 

> You are so right. A lot of research has been conducting indicating

> that SLS contains carcinogenic properties. Whatever we apply to our

> skin penetrates into our blood stream, and, if toxic, stores toxins in

> our organs.

 

In fact, there is no scientific proof .. nor even a supposition .. that

everything we apply to our skin absorbs and gets into the bloodstream.

This is a subject that has bounced around the professional aromatherapy

and chemistry community for years .. and it's not likely to be resolved

anytime soon due to the elaborate and expensive testing requirements to

prove WHICH chemical components of a substance can absorb and what is

the percentage of absorption. I am speaking of healthy, unbroken skin

when I make this statement .. obviously, placing any chemical on broken

skin can allow it to reach the blood stream .. something to keep in mind

when using essential oils or moreso, fragrance oils because only Gawd

knows what is in those rascals.

 

There are SOME chemicals that are accepted as rapidly absorbing, some

that can make it through the outer layers only, and others that are

proven to not absorb at all. The reasons for the major controversy on

this is that a test to determine absorption would require the person's

head to be in one room while the body was in another. That is a little

extreme but it gets the point across that researchers would have to

ensure that the olfactory system was not able to pick up volatile

chemicals that were applied to the skin .. because it is accepted

without question that ALL chemical components EXCEPT those with very

large molecular structures DO enter the bloodstream through the

olfactory system .. thus the practice of aromatherapy.

 

Why has this research not been conducted? Because there is no

commercial need to know and the time and money it would take to tackle

the known chemicals, one by one, in an academic environment, is

prohibitive. And if they did learn, the real world would then say

something like, " That's nice - now tell us something we can use. "

 

The results of testing that has been conducted on dermal application of

chemicals used in the soaping, cosmetics and aromatherapy world have

been collected in a central clearing house for over 30 years .. that

clearing house is the R.I.F.M. (Research Institute for Fragrance

Materials) and their sister organisation the I.F.R.A. (International

Fragrance Research Association). However, the data maintained by these

organizations is mainly concerned with irritation, sensitization,

photo-sensitization and toxicity .. not with absorption, though there

are references on chemicals that are known to be readily absorbing.

 

We are lucky that the body's largest organ, the skin, does not allow the

absorption of all chemicals we come into contact with on a daily basis -

if that were not the case, we would likely be sick most of the time - or

even drown in the bathtub .. ;-p It is just another of Mama Nature's

evolutionary protective measures for us human critters.

 

Likewise, the cleansing organs of our body are able to handle MOST of

the chemicals and/or contaminates that enter our body via absorption,

ingestion or olfactory introduction .. so most don't store in our

organs. There are some that do store in the liver and can cause serious

problems. Some information on these can be found in the reference

publication by Martin Watts, " Plant Aromatics " .

 

I am totally convinced that there are some folks on this (and every)

list who are totally convinced that all chemicals absorb .. and some

folks will give me examples like skin patches, garlic on the feet and

others that have been beaten to death and put asunder on aromatherapy

lists for many years .. so I'm not willing to go too far to try to

convert folks who want to believe otherwise. I'm just laying it out

that no scientist will agree with those who want to believe in total

absorption and just believing something doesn't make it right unless you

can form your own believers club and reject the rest of the world's

opinions .. :-(

 

I present this information because we have enough misinformation in the

cottage-industry of aromatherapy and natural healing and that bleeds

over into soap and cosmetic preparations. IF you believe in total

absorption, you are not alone because there are many others who do too.

But if you can find proof of it, you will be famous .. and if you

believe in it, then you have to be real careful of what you touch the

rest of your life.

 

> We should all be concentrating on natural bases for our products.

 

I agree somewhere around forty-eleven thousand percent .. ;-p

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

Wholesale/Retail GC Tested EOs, Rose Otto, Hydrosols and other goodies

shipped from our Maryland operation. Plant Aromatics is offered now.