The medicine is or may be worse than the disease…
Normally we prefer to talk about how good and natural our formula is rather than how bad other products are. But in recent weeks there have been many messages from America regarding benzene in cosmetics products and therefore this blog.
As the reader who follows us regularly knows, the Anna is Clear formula only contains so-called ‘goodies’. Ingredients that strengthen the skin and improve the skin’s important processes to prevent or resolve irregularities. Anna is Clear contains absolutely no aggressive or skin-drying substances.
Background of the ‘problems’ in America
Benzene is a chemical used in the production of many dyes, glues and other industrial products and is a known carcinogen. Much research has been conducted in recent years and it has been learned that it can also occur as an impurity in cosmetic products (including sunscreen and dry shampoo). In small doses, experts say, it doesn’t do much harm. But if you use these products daily or consistently, limits may be exceeded. Hence the many investigations, but no action has yet been requested.
Products based on Benzoyl peroxide
Many products used for blemished impure skin contain benzoyl peroxide (check the ingredients list on the product you are using). These products can often also be recognized by warnings on the packaging such as: “Whitens clothing and bedding” or “Avoid the sun when using this product”. It is an aggressive substance that kills the c.acnes bacteria, but at the same time also removes many good bacteria and important fats, often resulting in dehydrated and irritated skin. Some people are more sensitive than others.
Valisure, a pharmaceutical quality assurance company, discovered through extensive testing that well-known products available on the U.S. market can exceed the FDA* concentration limit of 2 parts per million (ppm) for benzene by more than 800 times(!). Benzoyl peroxide, it now appears, disintegrates and is converted into benzene.
The degradation mechanism from benzoylperoxide to benzene (C6H6):
Valisure analyzed 175 acne treatment products – a mix of creams, lotions, gels, detergents, liquids – and more than half, 99 of them, contained benzoyl peroxide. The other 76 products tested were those that contained other possible acne-fighting ingredients, such as salicylic acid and adapalene. Data showed that the acne products containing salicylic acid or adapalene “do not appear to have this problem.”
The company is therefore asking the FDA on March 5, 2023 to remove benzoyl peroxide-based products from the market through a petition**. In addition, they also shared a report “Environmental Health Perspectives” on March 14 ***.
The report shows that at higher (storage) temperatures, products emit benzene into the air through the packaging. An example: In 1 of the tests, prolonged inhalation of a Proactiv product**** lying in a hot compact car resulted in approximately 1,270 times the threshold for increased cancer risk calculated by the Environmental Protection Agency!
Previously, the company had tested sunscreens, hand sanitizers and other consumer products but had never found these percentages. David Light, co-founder and president of Valisure said in a press release. “The benzene we found in sunscreens and other consumer products were impurities that came from contaminated ingredients. However, the benzene in benzoyl peroxide products comes from the benzoyl peroxide itself. Sometimes hundreds of times the conditional FDA limit.”
Please note: there has been criticism from people because the tests were carried out at high temperatures. According to the critics, temperatures that rarely occur. Valisure responds that they do not know where the products are stored, how transport in a truck takes place at high temperatures and how consumers handle products. This story is to be continued.
Anna is Clear, a revolutionary development
We are proud of our globally patented formula based on fermented rye. It is estimated that you carry as many as 10 to 100 trillion (!) microbes in and on your body. This means that on average there are ten times more microbial cells than human cells in and on the body. These microbes are microscopic life forms – invisible to the naked eye. And there are different microbes: fungi, mites, protozoa and bacteria to name a few.
The word “bacteria” can automatically conjure up unpleasant images of illness and germs. But now we know that many bacteria on and in the skin are good and each play a very important role in healthy skin. You don’t want to destroy that.
Many products on the market attempt to combat the appearance of blemished skin with harsh pharmaceutical ingredients. These products do not look for the cause.
Anna is Clear® 24/7 serum was created from a revolutionary discovery by two world-famous chemists. They discovered that a rye ferment has the unique properties to strengthen the microbiome and normalize C. acnes, the main bacteria responsible for impure skin with pimples and blackheads.
Happy skin, happy life!
* The FDA is the American Food and Drug Administration.
** https://assets-global.website-files.com/6215052733f8bb8fea016220/65e8560962ed23f744902a7b_Valisure%20Citizen%20Petition%20on%20Benzene%20in%20Benzoyl%20Peroxide%20Drug%20Products.pdf
*** https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP13984
**** A well-known American direct-sales brand developed by Guthy-Renker (also known for “JLo Beauty” and Cindy Crawford’s “Meaningful beauty”) and sold in 2022 to the Israeli/Indian company Taro Pharmaceuticals.
