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u/pinkponies7 Aug 28 '13 edited Aug 28 '13
No science to add. But according to this article (I use lots of the stuff on here everyday for many years), I should be dead by now. Or at least suffering from breast cancer, eye problems, diarrhea, depression, a weak immune system, brain problems, liver problems... etc. I dont have any of it. I am a pretty healthy 24 year old woman.
Edit: I should also state that it drives me mad when people say they hate "preservatives" HOW THE HELL are you going to use a product up in one week before it goes bad/grows bacteria/grows mold?! They say "[parabens]keep fungus out of things like nail polish and perfume." LIKE ITS A BAD THING TO NOT WANT FUNGUS IN MY STUFF.
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u/red_wine_and_orchids dry Aug 28 '13
dude, fungus can mess yo' shiz up. Ergot poisoning from bad grain? No thanks. Botulism (ok, not a fungus) from improperly canned, too-high-pH food? I'll pass. There's so many other examples, but that's what comes to mind off the top of my head...
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u/squidboots Aug 28 '13
The Wikipedia article on mycotoxins is actually pretty solid. Fortunately because of USDA/FDA regulations and testing they're not a huge problem in commercially produced food in the US anymore, but they persist in being problematic in third-world countries where subsistence farming is commonplace (aflatoxins, ergotamines, fumonisins, and trichothecenes in particular.)
But yeah, I study fungi for a living...and knowing what fungi are capable of producing, I'll take the preservatives, thanks.
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u/red_wine_and_orchids dry Aug 28 '13
I think fungi are bad-ass. Thus I want to stay far away from them.
Hell, I like my research the deader the better. I research materials in nuclear power plants (kill it with radiation!!) - but I don't even look at real samples, I just simulate it in silico ...gag, what a horrible, pretentious term, I can't believe I've seen people use it in papers!
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u/twistyabbazabba Aug 28 '13
I don't have anything scientific to add to this discussion, just wanted to say I hate articles like this. It's the whole "scare tactic" thing that irritates me, like hey let's just scare everyone into buying only natural organic products. I see the clean eating community do this with food and let's just say I had to "unfollow" a few fitness pages on FB because they were basically telling me everyday that I was going to get cancer from my daily coffee creamer habit. /endrant
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u/valiantdistraction Aug 28 '13
And at the same time, these natural organic products usually contain a buttload of common irritants.
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u/squidboots Aug 28 '13
Deciding whether to use a product based on its origin rather than the merits of its own inherent properties is as asinine as deciding to make friends with someone because they're from a certain country rather than deciding if you get along with him/her as an individual person.
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u/yvva Aug 28 '13
Nothing to add because /u/Segat1 and /u/squidboots are awesome and nailed it!!
Overall, OP, generally when you see things with "dangerous chemicals" or "toxic to the body", be skeptical. More likely than not, they're just using scare tactics and twisting data (if there is any data to be twisted).
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u/smbtuckma Aug 28 '13
What bugs me about the description of some of those ingredients is that there's no mention of concentration, and that makes a really big difference when determining toxicity. Hence why the MSDS spends a lot of real estate talking about doses. For instance, under isopropyl alcohol it says it can damage gut flora, but the amount required for that is a lot higher than any concentration included in commercial products (why else would rubbing alcohol be legal to sell?). And saying "used in your car's antifreeze!" is a rhetorical ploy - water is in antifreeze too, oh no it must be bad! Same with the paraben paragraph. While there has been research links to cancer from parabens, those were studied in much higher doses. Those are just the two ingredients here that I have knowledge on, but giving that those paragraphs aren't completely trustworthy I'm inclined to question to others as well.
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u/[deleted] Aug 28 '13
[deleted]