Cosmetics; Is It Deeper Than Just Skin Deep?

Ashley Uyeta

When it comes to cosmetics, I have plenty that I apply and only look for surface level results. I've never thought about the lasting effects or some of the harmful chemicals that are used in products. To be honest, I always skim through the ingredients, not really taking a second glance. Before finding out about the Environmental Working Group's online database of chemical safety information, I always thought I did fairly well at finding the best possible products, especially for facial cosmetic products. I always try to research any specific product I am looking for, as well as other alternative products. Whether good or bad, I can sometimes spend hours debating on which product I should buy and whether it's the right choice. This doesn't mean I researched all, or any, of the different ingredients, it's the exact opposite actually. I generally only compare how much better or how much worse a product is to other products, when really, I should be looking for the best product with zero hazardous ingredients!

Using the EWG Skin Deep website, I decided to focus on one product that I use on a daily basis, La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer. The La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer, despite it's long name, is simply sunscreen that I apply to my face every morning. Since it is a product that I use daily and one that I put on my face, I wanted to take a deeper dive of the ingredients of this product. The website rates products on a scale of 1 to 10. With 1 being the least hazardous and 10 being the most hazardous, my La Roche-Posay sunscreen was ranked a 2, which I am genuinely happy about. It's a good feeling knowing that the time I spent researching different products, in some ways have paid off. Granted I didn't necessarily look at the active ingredients, it's nice to see my money was invested in a pretty decent product that's on the more toxic-free side. 

Despite the sunscreen being rated as a 2, there were still some health concerns relating to the ingredients. The ingredients that causes the most concern are active ingredients, homosalate, octisalate, and octocrylene. These ingredients and a few more were ranked between a 3 - 4. While they are on the lower end of the scale, it's still very concerning. Especially since there are other sunscreens out there that don't have any ingredients in the hazardous area. I decided to take a closer look at octocrylene because it is on the higher end of active ingredients. 

After doing some research, it seems like octocrylene is a very common ingredient in sunscreens. It's commonly used in sunscreen because of its ability to absorb UVA and UVB radiation. Despite being considered a hazardous ingredient, in moderation, it isn't as bad for you. Information that I would like to highlight about octocrylene is: 

• organ system toxicity are classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful 
• produces damaging reactive oxygen species upon exposure to sunlight 
• ingredient suspected or measured to accumulate in people
• not suspected to be an environmental toxin

While there are some positives, there are still negatives. For one, I'm surprised that octocrylene is used in sunscreen if it produces damaging reactive oxygen species upon exposure to sunlight. The whole point of sunscreen is to wear in when sunlight is out! But great news, overall, octocrylene is in the green when it comes to cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, and allergies!

But is it really great news? 

In the end, it's still considered a hazardous toxic ingredient. While octocrylene might be not AS harmful, what about the other active ingredients that got flagged as somewhat hazardous? Is that really something that I want to continue using in the future? 

After much consideration, as much as I love this facial sunscreen, I would definitely switch it out for a better alternative. I would prefer to use a product that has zero hazardous ingredients and so should you! Now that I know there are amazing option to choose from without doing as much research as I usually do, I'll be making great use of the Environmental Working Group's website when it comes to products that I use frequently and just in general. 

My next step is to check all of my other frequently used products like shampoo, deodorant, lotion, and so much more. In the future, once I used up whatever products I have left, I'll definitely be switching to ones that don't have any toxic, hazardous ingredients!

References

Ewg Skin Deep®: What is octocrylene. EWG. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredients/704206-OCTOCRYLENE/

National Service Center for Environmental Publications. (n.d.). Sun Screen The Burning Facts. EPA. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/00000LX8.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=2000+Thru+2005&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX+DATA%5C00THRU05%5CTXT%5C00000002%5C00000LX8.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8%2Fr75g8%2Fx150y150g16%2Fi425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results+page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=4

Sunscreens, E. W. G. G. to. (n.d.). EWG's guide to safer sunscreens. EWG. Retrieved April 7, 2022, fromhttps://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/about-the sunscreens/929107/La_RochePosay_Toleriane_Double_Repair_Face_Moisturizer_UV_SPF_30/