Do you wear make-up or sunscreen? Do you know what is in it? Nanoparticules are smaller than many of the molecules that make up your body tissues . There is NO research showing their safety.

Nanoparticles may often be present in processed food and cosmetic products such as creams and lotions.

From an NIH (national institute of health) publication:

“It has been found out from different surveys that almost all the major cosmetic manufacturers use nanotechnology in their various products. Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder entered the NanoMarket in 2006 with a range of products containing “NanoParticles”. L’Oreal, the world’s largest cosmetics company, is devoting about $600 million dollars, of its $17 billion dollar revenues, to Nano patents, and has patented the use of dozens of “nanosome particles”. ..

“In sunscreen products, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, in the size range of 20 nm, are used….

“Some manufacturers are already producing underarm deodorants with claims that the silver in the product will provide up to 24-hour antibacterial protection. Nano-sized gold, like nanosilver, is claimed to be highly effective in disinfecting the bacteria in the mouth and has also been added to toothpaste….

“Because of their size, these nanoparticles can easily gain access to the blood stream via skin or inhalation and from there they will be transported to the various organs. The high dose and long residence time of the nanoparticles in the vital organs can lead to their dysfunction.[30,31] Carbon nanotubes have been shown to cause the death of kidney cells and to inhibit further cell growth.[32] Whereas 500 nm titanium dioxide particles have only a small ability to cause DNA strand breakage, 20 nm particles of titanium dioxide are capable of causing complete destruction of super-coiled DNA, even at low doses and in the absence of exposure to UV.[33] In another study, it was found that mice which were subacutely exposed to 2–5 nm TiO2 nanoparticles showed a significant but moderate inflammatory response….

“Scientific studies have shown that nanoparticles can penetrate skin, especially if skin is flexed.[37] Broken skin is a direct route for the penetration of particles even up to a size of 7000 nm. The presence of acne, eczema and wounds may enhance the absorption of nanoparticles into the blood stream and may lead to further complications…

“zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles used in sunscreens can damage or kill the stem cells in the brains of mice.

“One of the major problems is that there is no much evidence about how much or what type of safety assessments are done by the various cosmetic manufacturers on their products.

Though there are increasing number of cosmetics and personal care products containing nanomaterials in the market, there are no specific regulations regarding their safety assessment. In Australia, the National Industry Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) regulates the safety of ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulates sunscreens. However these regulators fail to distinguish between nanoparticles and larger sized particles….

“But all these nanocosmetics have raised a great concern regarding their safety for humans and environment. In order to ensure the safety and efficacy of such products, the European Union has incorporated a new amendment in its Cosmetics Directive which will become active from 2012 onwards. This new regulation will allow only the safer nanocosmetic products to enter into the market, safeguarding the beauty and health of the consumers. »

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Note that the American govt is not mentioned here as taking measures even to investigate the safety or dangerousness of nano cosmetics. Also note that women are the targets for these products. Sound familiar? Now I  am not a make-up user nor someone who has ever believed sunscreens are safe but I have long had concerns about this insertion of sub-molecular particles into what are essentially vanity products. My fear, and I dont think it is baseless,  is that these ingredients are far more dangerous than we have any inkling about . 

Whether or not you use cosmetics or sunscreen is up to you but I just wanted to post this because we are not being warned and the appropriate research is NOT being done .