Is All-Natural Really All-Safe?
"Natural" is a widely misunderstood and misused term. Many people who prefer "Natural" ingredients to "Synthetic" ones are under the impression that one is safer than the other, even though toxicological evidence often shows that whether an ingredient is "Natural" or not, has no relevance to its safety.
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Understanding terms commonly used in labelling:
Natural: Having had minimum processing or preservative treatment.
Organic: A set of farming practices used to describe agricultural produce. There are no proven health benefits compared to non-organic counterparts.
Chemical: All things are actually chemicals (e.g. water) or a mixture of chemicals (e.g. moisturizer, olive oil).
Looking Beyond the Label
- A “natural” or “synthetic” label tells us only about ingredient origin
- Based on the definition of "chemical”, it is impossible for personal care products to be "chemical-free”
- Not all natural ingredients are beneficial. Some natural ingredients can be known skin irritants including lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. D-limonene found in oranges, and Oleic acid found in some plant oils are also common skin irritants. Additionally, some potentially effective natural ingredients may provide no measurable benefits at the low levels that are present in products.
The Marketing Myth of “Chemical-Free”
A chemical is defined as anything made out of matter; they can occur naturally or be created synthetically. The public interpretation of the term “chemical-free” has become synonymous with “free from chemicals of synthetic origin” which is misleading as all commercial cosmetic products contain chemicals. “Chemical-free” is misleading marketing term that is being used as proxy for “safe” and tells us nothing about the product ingredients. The only sure way to determine the safety and efficacy of a product is through clinical trials and evidence-based results.
Chemical safety of a product or ingredient depends on three key facts:
- Subject exposed to the chemical (adult, baby etc.)
- Method of exposure of chemical to subject (ingestion, inhalation etc.)
- Quantity of chemical the subject is exposed to (dosage. volume etc.)
The dose makes a difference. We all know that too much of anything is a bad thing. Even seemingly harmless substances we expose ourselves to everyday can be lethal in excess.
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