Have you ever read the ingredients on a tube of lip balm? If you haven’t, you may be intrigued to discover the words “Petroleum” or “Petrolatum” listed as one of the primary ingredients. And yes, this is derived from the same “petrol” you put in your car!
This was actually brought to my attention some time ago, causing me to promptly ditch my extensive lip balm collection and replace it with eco-friendly varieties that use beeswax, coconut oil, sunflower oil, lanolin, and even pomegranate oil to keep my pucker happy.
The folks over at Ideal Bite have issued a warning that “researchers have linked impurities in petrolatum (a common ingredient in many lip balms) to breast cancer.” Petrolatum is already listed as a probable human carcinogen, but it’s found in one out of 14 body-care products in the United States. Petrolatum can also be found in moisturizers, body waxes, and (of course) the household staple petroleum jelly.
The switch is fairly easy and painless. Non-petrol products have increased in popularity and are available at most local pharmacies and health & beauty care aisles. Burt’s Bees is one of my personal favorites, it is a little pricier than the average tube of lip balm, but peace of mind is worth a couple extra dollars (and no, unfortunately, I am not being paid to endorse their fine products…though I would not be philosophically opposed to doing so).
Petrol in your personal care products? That isn’t just Bitter, it’s downright dangerous!
