Embryo Toxic Chemicals
Aside from the estrogen like chemicals, embryo toxic chemicals are the most common chemicals found in skin products. Most toxicity studies on products are evaluated on adults. Adults are pretty tough organisms and can tolerate much high levels of toxins. Embryos are very delicate and are affected by very small amounts of chemicals or disturbances.
I try not to get too technical on this site, but here is one area where it is important, so take a minute and read on....Let's look at an example of how sensitive embryos are. One group of toxins that we get exposed to every day are volatile organic compounds (VOC's) such as benzene, hexane, and isopropanol. Isopropanol is commonly known as isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing alcohol that we all have in our medicine cabinet. VOCs are also commonly used in glues and adhesives. They are what you smell in an IKEA store, as all the furniture there is made of particle board, which is basically sawdust held together by glue. The toxic level of hexane (commonly used in glues) for humans is about 400 parts per million in air. The embryo toxic level of hexane is 0.5 parts per million. So, an embryo is 800 times more sensitive to hexane than an adult. So, the absorption level of a chemical in a skin cream may be safe for an adult, but not for an embryo.
Probably the most common embryo toxic chemical found in skin creams is Vitamin A. Vitamin A also goes by the names: retinol, retinoic acid, retinol palmitate, and tretinoin. Just about any skin product that advertises itself as "Anti-Aging" contains some form of Vitamin A. Why is this? Because Vitamin A is a very effective wrinkle reducer. It promotes collagen production and healing. It is an excellent chemical for anti-aging purposes. How does it affect fertility? Well, Vitamin A is one of the most powerful birth-defect producing agents on the planet. You have probably heard of Accutane? The best anti-acne drug on the market, that also causes major birth defects in pregnant women. It is basically Vitamin A.
A potentially embryo toxic levels of Vitamin A (retinol) for the typical woman can be reached by consuming about 8 mg per day. A typical fish oil pill made from fish livers has about 4mg of Vitamin A in it and the typical instructions on a bottle of fish oil is to take two or three capsules a day. Fish oil pills made from fish liver are not a good idea for women trying to get pregnant, or who are pregnant.
The typical anti-aging skin cream with retinol contains around 50mg of vitamin A per ounce. Approximately 10% of this is absorbed through the skin, resulting in a daily absorption of 5mg of Vitamin A per ounce placed on the skin. So, you could easily take in a high level of vitamin A and that is assuming it is only applied once per day. If you read the labels on most anti-aging skin creams, they state they are not to be used in pregnancy. But, they do not speak about the possibility that it could impair you from getting pregnant in the first place.
Keep in mind that most people get an adequate amount of vitamin A in their diet if you eat a well balanced diet. You do not want to exclude vitamin A from your diet, as it is necessary for normal function and is important in pregnancy. If you can eat a well balanced diet, you do not need any vitamin A supplements either in pills or skin creams. It is truly amazing that the FDA regulates Accutane to the nth degree, but other sources of vitamin A for pregnant women are hardly watched.
The problem with most animal studies is that animal embryos are stronger than human embryos. If you speak to embryologists who work in animal labs, they have much better success rates than human IVF centers. In addition, weaker eggs produce weaker embryos which are more likely to be affected by toxins.
Home Page
1. Estrogen-Like Chemicals
2. Embryo toxic chemicals
3. Abortive chemicals
Conclusion
Please read more about these on our Skin Products and Fertility page. If you would like more information on the Fertility specialist who approved the ingredients in this product please click here...
