PETROLEUM - What Is It & Why Is It Everywhere?
Petrolatum, aka “petroleum jelly”, derived from petroleum, is often used in personal care products as a moisturizing agent. You can expect to find petroleum and petroleum byproducts in everything that is cosmetics and health care, from shampoos and conditioners to anti-aging creams, body lotions, mascaras, perfumes, lipsticks, lip balms, foundations, hair relaxers, conditioners, eye shadows, and nail polishes.
However, did you know that in order for petroleum to be safe it must be properly refined in order to be considered “safe”. So how safe is petroleum?
Or is it better not to place petroleum in our health and cosmetic products at all?
Let’s find out!
But first a quick history check!
In 1859 in Titusville, Pennsylvania, crude oil (petroleum) was discovered by a man named Edwin Drake when he was drilling in his backyard. So It is no surprise that soon after this led to the opening of the Bradford oil field, which, by the 1880s, produced 77 percent of the global oil supply.
This was what some people called "Drake's Folly" and it was the birth of the modern petroleum industry. Almost immediately, chemist Robert Chesebrough started the process of distilling and cleaning the thick gel found on oil wells. And By 1870, petroleum was being sold in the United States as vaseline.
So how safe is distilled petroleum?
Most commercial petroleum jelly products should be made from pure, refined petroleum jelly. And one way to tell if it’s refined is based on the color. It should be a clear white color and not green, black nor yellow. In Europe in order for petroleum to be used in cosmetics they mandate for a complete history of the refining. In addition the petroleum must be known and proven to be non-carcinogenic. But here in the US there are no sets of requirements on refinement history nor for the non-carcinogens like PAH in personal care products.
So while the US FDA does require for petroleum to be USP grade petroleum jelly aka the “purest grade” of white jelly not all manufactures choose to refine their petroleum or even worse use a low-grade refinery process, where there is potential for PAHs to still be present.
A huge health concern with petroleum products is that they can generate 1,4-dioxane, dioxane for short; A substance known to potentially contribute to some cancers.
According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Dioxane can be found in small amounts in certain cosmetics and off-the-shelf products such as hair relaxers, baby soaps, and skin deep products. It is yet an unregulated substance used in cosmetics in both China and the U.S.
So how can you make sure that your petroleum jelly is safe?
You can either make sure to check the ingredients list on your products to see if there is any 1,4-dioxane present or petroleum present. You can also check for the level of grade petroleum it is (USP) seal showing.