Do Cosmetics Cause Arthritis?

You might assume that cosmetics are thoroughly tested by a government agency so that they would be guaranteed safe before being allowed on merchants' shelves. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate cosmetic safety. Fortunately, there is more than corporate responsibility standing between you and toxic chemicals. Independent scientists sometimes test commercial products, and one of their recent studies implicates mineral-oil products as a possible cause of arthritis.

Mineral oil, commonly used in various consumer products, is a refined distillate of petroleum. Swedish scientists suspected that mineral oil might play a role in the causation of arthritis, so they set up a study in which arthritis-susceptible rats were exposed to seven different commercial skin products likely to contain mineral oil (exact product ingredients are usually not publicly available). The products tested included commonly available skin creams, body lotions and baby oils.

The products were administered individually to animals by one single intradermal injection. Five out of seven of these products produced arthritis in the animals, with the episode of illness lasting from five to almost nine weeks. One of the baby oils was applied to test animals' skins for 10 out of the 12 days. The application site was lightly abraded at 3–4 day intervals during the 12-day test period. These animals experienced mild and transient joint inflammations.

While this study makes it clear that some commercial cosmetic products can induce arthritis and joint inflammation in animals, it is unknown whether this effect would occur in humans during typical use. The researchers recommended further testing.

[Editor: These experimental conditions were designed to produce dramatic results in a short time. Considering that people usually apply cosmetics and bodycare products on a daily basis over a lifetime, is it not farfetched to suppose that disease in humans could be induced? Why not play it safe and use products without synthetic chemicals? It's wise to check labels, even on the brands available in health food stores.]
Based on information in: Environmental Health Perspectives, Jan 1998