It’s an infuriating thought – particularly if you’ve gone to the trouble of sourcing a natural skincare product that’s free from a range of toxins that can be harmful to your health.
The fact is however that even the purest skincare products can fall victim to chemicals leached from plastic containers – meaning that not only the skincare product, but harmful chemicals such as Biphisenol A are applied directly to the skin.
While there is no hard and fast data about the impact of a single application of product from a plastic bottle, it’s important to think about the cumulative effect of continued exposure to chemicals leached into your skincare products, when applied day after day.
Given that we know that the skin absorbs lotions and creams – complete with all their natural and chemical ingredients – just as if they were food eaten and absorbed by the body (read our post on that here), it’s important to know what impact your skincare packaging can have on your health.
For example, plastic bottles made from PETE or PET (polyethylene terephthalate) can leach phthalates into the product they contain when the plastic is heated, exposed to sun or reused. Phthalates are known hormone disruptors and have been linked to reproductive issues, liver damage and are suspected of being toxic to the foetus in pregnancy.
Many plastic containers also contain bisphenol-A (BPA) which has been widely linked to human breast cancer cell growth, while plastics made from polyvinyl chloride is thought to leach the hormone-disrupting chemical DEHP.
So what’s the moral of the story?
Be informed about your skincare purchase and the potential impact of its packaging on your health.
If you’re concerned about your product’s container leaching toxins into the product, it’s best to purchase a natural skincare alternative that uses containers other than plastic.
This blog post appeared first on the Bee Loved Skincare blog.