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Pourquoi nous sommes contre le sodium benzoate dans les soins enfants ?

Why are we against benzoate sodium in children's care?

Why are we against benzoate sodium in children's care?
When you read your cosmetic care products labels, you will find that this duo is often found: benzoate sodium and sorbate potassium. Everywhere, in children or adult products, and even more since the trend of organic or “clean” products. This conservative duo is the perfect solution to pass an organic product, at “clean” for really cheap. In this article, we express our concerns about the (sometimes abusive) use of benzoate sodium and we will explain why we have banished it from our ingredient lists.

Before starting:

First of all, each time we talk about ingredients, we should specify certain things:

  • All the ingredients authorized by the EU (1223/2009) are considered to be "safe" (except for neurotoxicity and ecotoxicity) in the limit of use.
  • The “risks” of the ingredients are “risks”, for example an ingredient that has a CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic) activity will not necessarily give cancer to consumers.

Our goal is to identify the various risks for children in order to awaken you.

What is Benzoate sodium?

Benzoic acid

In reality, benzoate sodium is benzoic acid salt. Benzoic acid which is the active form preventing the growth of bacteria, only, it dissolves badly in water, which is why the industry uses it in the form of salt to ease its integration.

In the presence of water at acid pH, benzoate sodium will transform (partly) into benzoic acid.

It is naturally found in cheeses and certain fruits, and its dosage is regulated:

In cosmetics:

The maximum concentration authorized in finished preparations is:

  • 2.5 % for rinsed products, with the exception of oral products
  • 1.7 % for oral products
  • 0.5 % for non -rinsed products

In foodstuffs:

In the United States, the dose cannot exceed 0.1 %.

But in Europe, this limit is more strict and determined according to the type of food 0.015 % in drinks and 0.5 % for the product based on liquid egg.

On the other hand, it is an extremely popular curator that is found in drugs, food supplements, food ...

prepared food

But also now in many cosmetics with the trend of organic cosmetics.

And even if each one respects the authorized doses well, by accumulating several types of products: the cocktail effect is very worrying for us, we explain why.

Why avoid benzoic acid?

Benzoic acid has a neurotoxic activity

According to a study carried out in mice, scientists have established a neurotoxic effect of benzoate sodium:

For 4 weeks, the subjects that have ingested between 130 to 225 mg/kg and per day have an aggressive behavior, a much lower level of learning and coordination which evokes obvious oxidative stress in the brain. (1)

In just 4 weeks, we bristle the hair isn't you?

In 2007 the link between hyperactivity in those under 9 and the consumption of sodium benzoate was well published in the newspaper "The Lancet" by Dr McCann. (2)

Adhd tdah

Benzoic acid penetrates the skin barrier

There you say, the food ok, we ingest it goes into our body, but in the moisturizer?

Indeed, one does not eat his cosmetics (normally) one could therefore believe that the presence of benzoic acid (sodium benzoate) in the care products is "less serious".

Only benzoic acid is a set of small liposoluble molecules (which dissolves badly in water), which worries us with this kind of chemical structure: it is that it quickly penetrates the skin ...

Its absorption is 6.54 to 11.87 mg/cm2 per hour. Or 70.7 % absorption in the blood (according to 8 laboratories).

So no need to eat your shower gel so that it is dangerous ...

Reaction with other ingredients

Benzoic acid can be reduced (transformed) by certain reducing acids, such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in benzene (a carcinogenic molecule).

It is for this reason that the fruit juice industry often excludes benzoate sodium from its products.

On the other hand, in cosmetics, we have already seen the benzoate sodium associated with very fresh fruit extracts, or vitamin C derivatives which we find more than worrying for consumers ...

benzene

The more we use it, the less effective it is ...

Perhaps you know the concern of multi-relief bacteria in antibiotics? By using them, bacteria have developed resistance to certain antibiotics.

Well, for the Conservatives: it's the same! (3)

If we use and abuse the same family of conservatives, microorganisms will end up developing resistance…

Due to its very low cost, the cosmetic industry has abused Benzoate sodium, and the organic cosmetics industry continues to add this curator to their formulas to the authorized limit.

And another bad news for consumers ...

Even if it is well noted in Yuka and other scan apps, even if it is massively used in organic cosmetics, We exclude it in all our products.

If you have more questions about this curator (or another) do not hesitate to write to us: coucou@lilikiwi.frWe will be happy to answer you!

Take good care of yourself and watch your labels.

Sources: 

(1) Javad Khoshnoud et al. *JBIOCHEMMOLTOXICOL.*2017; 22022. ****
(2) https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(07)61306-3/abstract
(3)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030297761800
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