Welcome to the mission-essentials blog!
Little did we know when we took this picture of our daughter some 16 years ago that the mosquito on the brim of her hat would play an important role and become part of the reason for creating our company years later. Now we want to share with you information about the natural personal care products industry, regulatory challenges, current day issues and more. Please let us know what topics you would like to see and we will do our best to keep you informed.
Here is some useful information as Fall approaches and we get ready to protect our families from the outdoor elements.
We are all becoming more health conscious with what we consume or put into our bodies but what about what we put on our bodies. Remember, your skin is a filter for harmful insults, such as sun, dirt, bacteria and insect bites. It is also very porous and absorbs most anything we apply. Many of the products on the market today to protect us from those annoying insects contain effective but harmful ingredients. DEET, for example is a chemical that has been around since the 1950’s. DEET at certain levels has been proven to be a health hazard but the vast majority of commercially sold products still contain some level of the chemical. The most serious concerns about DEET are its effects on the central nervous system. DEET is absorbed through the skin and passes into the bloodstream. The Medical Sciences Bulletin, published by Pharmaceutical Information Associates Ltd. reports, “Up to 56% of DEET applied topically penetrates intact human skin and 17% is absorbed into the bloodstream.” Blood concentrations of about 3 mg per liter have been reported several hours after a DEET repellent was applied to skin in the prescribed fashion.
EPA characterizes the active ingredients DEET and Picaridin as “conventional repellents” and Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, PMD (a synthetic version), and IR3535 as “biopesticide repellents”, which are derived from natural materials. Oil of lemon eucalyptus, a plant- based repellent, is also registered with EPA. In two recent scientific publications, when oil of lemon eucalyptus was tested against mosquitos found in the US it provided protection similar to repellents with low concentrations of DEET. For more information on insect repellent active ingredients see (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/ai_insectrp.htm).
This goes to show that there are effective natural alternatives to be considered when choosing products to protect your family. Always take the time to read and understand product labels.