What is methylisothiazolinone (MI ) - and why should we find out ?

What is methylisothiazolinone (MI ) - and why should we find out ?

Methylisothiazolinone (MI ) is a chemical preservative found in many common skincare products including liquid soaps, moisturisers, make-up , baby wipes and sunscreens and also more widely in paints, laundry products and even in paper used for wrapping food.

There have been concerns about it as  an  allergen in the UK press since 2013 .

It was named "Contact Allergen of the Year 2013" by the American Contact Dermatitis Society.

Allergy to MI manifests itself in different ways, from an obvious  red, raised itchy rash which may blister to a longer term contact dermatitis/eczematous reaction where the skin is chronically red and irritated. 

The most commonly affected areas are the face following use of liquid soaps and shampoos, hands and the buttocks and genital areas from use of pre moistened wipes, such as  when changing baby’s nappies or after using the bathroom . It may even be the person who changes the nappies who has the allergy, not the baby!

For example, in the event that an allergy to MI is suspected  Dr Zirwas says “If someone suspects an allergy to moistened wipes, they need to stop using them for at least one month. A week or two isn’t enough time. ”

MI is so widely present that it is really important for the consumer to be aware of it when they make a purchase. 

It is important to note that the majority of the population are not sensitive to this chemical but if you suspect that it may at the root of your problems, or if you wish to avoid it, you do need to become an “allergen-detective ” making the effort to check for Methylisothiazolinone , usually at or near the end of the ingredients listing when you are making a purchase.

Wash Products Containing MI :

MI is present in so many wash products that it is unrealistic  to think of compiling a comprehensive  listing but we have given pointers to some of the most popular ranges in which it is found, some of which were quite surprising . 

Shampoos containing MI :

It is almost impossible to avoid MI when it comes to shampoos but  a look around the shelves in Boots turned up the following which do not contain MI: L'Oreal, Schwarzkopf, Dr Wolf, Garnier and Trevor Sorbie are all MI – free as far as I could see, and Johnson and Johnson’s Baby Shampoo is  also MI-free. 

Nonetheless, it is very important to check for yourself as, since this information became available last year, many companies have been making a big effort to eliminate MI from their ranges and things are changing fast. 

With regard to baby wipes many wipes are now manufactured without MI and it is possible to get a 100% natural option but do check the packaging before buying.

Found on a recent shopping trip :  

All the following companies have skincare/hand/bodywash products which contain MI , so do look at the labels if you are considering a purchase and want to avoid it.

Baylis and Harding

Boots own brand

Champneys

Cussons Baby range

Clarins

Clinique

Dettol

Disney Princess

Dove

FCUK

Imperial Leather

Marks and Spencer

Sanctuary Spa

Soap and Glory

Ted Baker

Tesco own brand

TOPMAN

Treacle Moon

This is not an exhaustive list, merely products on the shelves on an ordinary day and there are many others  which I could not track down, I am sure. Nonetheless it is an illustration of how hard it is to avoid MI when you are shopping for your skincare . 

It is likely that long term most companies will remove this chemical from their products, but it may take some time and in the meantime those of us who are concerned need to take the initiative and do our own homework.

Background information :

The chemical preservative methylisothiazolinone, (used to prevent bacterial growth in water-containing commercial cleaning products) also known as MI , was previously mixed with another preservative, Methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI) in a three-to-one ratio ( as it still is in the USA )  in a product called Kathon CG. (They are still commonly found together in skincare products but not in this single product in the EU.)

However in the EU, growing concerns in the mid-2000s about MCI causing allergies meant some manufacturers started using MI as a single agent but at a much higher concentration than before.

When the two compounds were used, MI it was found in concentrations of around four parts per million (ppm). On its own a level of up to 100ppm, a 25-fold increase, is allowed under European regulations introduced in 2005.

Experts believe there is a link between the serious rise in cases of contact dermatitis and the increase in its concentration in skincare products  particularly in the last two years. While a 1 -2% rate of allergy to any product might be expected, the rate of allergy to MI can be 10%.

In January 2013  Margarida Gonçalo, the president of the European Society of Contact Dermatitis (ESCD,  wrote to the European Commission calling for an investigation into what levels of MI are safe.

She said: “This new epidemic of allergic contact dermatitis from isothiazolinones is causing harm to European citizens; urgent action is required.”

In July 2013 Dr John McFadden, consultant dermatologist at St John’s Institute of Dermatology in London said about MI,  “We are in the midst of an outbreak of allergy to a preservative which we have not seen before in terms of scale in our lifetime. Many of our patients have suffered acute dermatitis with redness and swelling of the face. I would ask the cosmetics industry not to wait for legislation but to get on and address the problem before the situation gets worse.”

This is not a new scenario, methyl­dibromo glutaronitrile, another preservative, was banned from use in cosmetics in 2005 after it was linked to an increase in eczema cases.

However, experts believe that the increase in eczema cases is happening even faster with MI and some specialists have been even more outspoken : Consultant dermatologist  Dr Ian White, has been reported as saying : “Bluntly, I think the European Commission has been negligent over this, they have had warning after warning. If it was food there would have been action.”

In his  response at that time Dr Chris Flower, director general of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association, the UK cosmetic trade association, said : “Human safety is the cosmetic industry’s number one priority; in fact it is the law. Every cosmetic product must undergo a rigorous safety assessment before it is placed on the market. The assessment covers all of the ingredients, the final product, how and where the product is to be used, how often and by whom and must be carried out by qualified assessors.”

On 12^th December 2013  Cosmetics Europe, the personal care association, issued an industry-wide recommendation to discontinue the use of the preservative MI  in leave-on skin cosmetics and personal care products.  The recommendation was made in the interests of consumer health and in response to recent clinical data showing an increase in adverse skin reactions to MI.

Until 2013 the worries about MI focused on its presence in “leave-on” products , those products which are designed to remain on the skin such as as creams or lotions .

However in the US, the director of the contact dermatitis center at Ohio State University’s  Wexner Medical Center, Dr Matthew Zirwas has identified MI as being linked to a dramatic rise in allergic reactions in other common skincare products as well .

 Dr Zirwas says : “In the last two or three years, we’ve suddenly seen a big increase in people with this type of allergy. For some patients, their rash has been unexplained and going on for years.”

MI is found in many water-based products like liquid soaps, hair products, sunscreen, cosmetics, laundry products and cleaners as well as pre-moistened personal hygiene products and baby wipes.

The irony is that many people are developing these reactions to products which they are using to clean themselves and in our modern search for total hygiene may even inadvertently increase their use in the mistaken belief that they may be able to help them clear up the very allergy they are causing!

Disclaimer : This blog represents my own views and are not intended as medical advice. If you have any concerns about skin/health problems , please contact your own doctor who will be able to advise you .

What’s Really In Your Skin Care Products?

Many people are concerned about the skin care products they use : they read all the reports about allergies and dermatitis or maybe they want to avoid added preservatives or fragrances.

It can be hard to keep up to speed with all the options out there and sometimes it is difficult to recognise all the ingredients on the list!

Once a week I will be taking a topic and looking into it to provide an interesting snapshot of some of the live issues in skin care. It may be an individual company, an overview of a product area  or  a specific ingredient.

This week I will be putting the preservative methylisothiazolinone (MI ) under the microscope.

What is it, what does it do and where is it found?  Watch this space to find out!

Sleep your way to exam success.

Don't let this happen!

As we go through the next few months many of our teens and young adults will be facing important exams.

Being in good shape physically and mentally is vital for both revision and exam-time itself and getting into a good work routine, eating a good diet and fitting in both exercise and sleep all play their part.

It is very hard to think about sleeping in the 24 hour world we live in today.

TV’s in bedrooms, computer games and apps such as Snapchat, Skype and What’s App? make staying up too late very tempting but failing to make time for sleep and, surprisingly, failing to sleep at the right time itself can do serious damage to the effectiveness of study periods.

Why do we sleep?

All mammals sleep and sleep has been seen in most other species including insects and fish.

Sleep deprivation has very serious consequences. Rats deprived of sleep for 2-3 weeks die just as they would if they had been starved for the same period.

Our body clocks are designed for us to be awake during the day and sleep at night when it is dark. Research has shown that we sleep better and are healthier when we fall in with our own inbuilt routines. As light levels decline towards night the pineal gland secretes increasing amounts of melatonin which is associated with drowsiness and sleep. As we sleep our brain goes into well defined activity patterns all of which are necessary for normal function and as night is followed by morning cortisol levels rise and we waken. Muscle repair and memory consolidation occur during sleep and growth hormone released. Appetite regulation is affected by lack of sleep.  And when you sleep less your body has less time to produce cytokines, hormones which help the body’s immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to common infections.

Sleep Cleans the Brain!

Because the brain uses 20% of our energy there is debris requiring removal produced every day and probably the most important recent sleep-related discovery has been the “glymphatic system” which is being suggested as the body’s cerebral clean-up service. Recent research indicates that this is similar to the lymphatic system, present only in the central nervous system and a bodily resource which clears this residue of cellular activity from the brain and which is active during sleep. As one scientist said “you don’t clear up during the party” and it is once we have settle down to rest and we enter the phases of sleep that the business of clearing away proteins such as beta-amyloids and the tau proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease can take place. Failure to sleep enough to allow this process to take place may actually have long term consequences and so we can see that there are very good reasons to make time for enough healthful sleep throughout our lives.

Getting Sleep Right

We need different amounts of sleep at different stages of life, teenagers need between 8 1/2 to 9 1/4 hours per night to be at their peak and it turns out that the old adage “Sleep on it“is in fact very good advice. People who have had a good night’s sleep beforehand learn tasks better and retain the learning better if they also have a good night’s sleep afterwards. Secondly, lack of sleep slows thinking, makes it harder to focus and pay attention.

There are many guides to good sleeping habits but I think that these, adapted from the Mayo Clinic’s advice are very clear and easy to follow.

           7 Top Tips for Healthy Sleep

1.      Stick to a sleep schedule: Go to bed and get up at the same time every day.

2.      Be careful with what you eat and drink: Neither overeat nor go to bed hungry. Alcohol and caffeine can disrupt sleep but nicotine can too, so it is important to avoid these chemical stimulants particularly close to bedtime. Cola drinks, cocoa, tea and coffee all contain caffeine so they are best avoided after 6 pm. Drinking too much of anything is going to make nocturnal trips to the toilet a necessity, too.

3.      Get into a bedtime ritual: Stop studying and unwind before you get ready for bed. Get into habits that your body recognizes as cues for sleep. Avoid stimulation, and be aware that screens -including TV - can inhibit relaxation. The blue light emitted by Smartphone’s has been shown recently to be particularly disruptive and it is recommended that they are not used after 9 p.m.

4.      Get comfortable: Try and make your bedroom as sleep friendly as possible. Cooler is better for bedrooms and try to cut out light and noise.

5.      Limit daytime naps: Although a nap can be refreshing particularly if you have been studying very intensively it is better not to nap for too long as it can interfere with night time sleeping. It is recommended to stick to 10- 30 minutes in the mid-afternoon.

6.      Take time to exercise:  Physical activity improves mood and can help you to fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply. Avoid vigorous exercise late in the evening as it can make you too energized to fall asleep.

7.      Manage stress: The basics include getting organized and setting priorities. Take a break when you need one and make time to relax. It may help to jot down what’s on your mind before you go to bed and then set it aside until the next day.

Sleep well and good luck!

Use Soap to wash your Hands

Hands Up for Health!

Keep your hands clean and stop infection spreading

Washing with Marble Hill's Neem Oil Soap

Good old-fashioned soap and water received a boost last month from the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. It describes hand washing as being like a “DIY Vaccine”.

 Involving only five simple steps – Wet, Lather, Scrub, Rinse and Dry this most basic of activities can help reduce the spread of not only diarrhea-type diseases but also respiratory illness such as ‘flu, helping you and everyone around you to stay healthy. Getting into the habit of regular effective handwashing is one of the best ways to keep your hands free of germs so that you reduce your own likelihood of getting sick and also the risk of you spreading germs and disease around to other people.

A detailed study revealed that using bar soap and clean running water was the most effective way to clean hands. There was no benefit seen from using antibacterial products or even hot water. There is some suggestion that hot water might actually be unhelpful as it is more likely to cause skin irritation.

When Should I wash my Hands?

The CDC report lists ten indicators for thorough handwashing:

1. Before, during and after preparing food

2. Before eating food

3. Before and after caring for someone who is sick

4. Before and after treating a cut or wound

5. After using the toilet

6. After changing nappies or cleaning a child’s bottom

7. After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing

8. After touching animals, animal feed or animal waste

9. After handling pet food or pet treats

10. After handling rubbish

How?

Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap and apply bar soap.

Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under the nails.

Scrub your hands for 20 seconds. This does not mean that you need to use a brush. It means the rubbing of your fingers and hands in a methodical way ensuring that all surfaces are rubbed with soap and water. (I have added a link to a very good New Zealand website on hand hygiene at the end of this article).

Humming “Happy Birthday “twice is a good guide to time.

Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.

Dry thoroughly using a clean towel or air dry.

How can I clean my hands if I don’t have access to bar soap and clean running water?

Washing with   soap and water is the best way to clean your hands, but if they are not available an alcohol-based sanitizer is an option.

A 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations but they do not kill all germs and if hands are visibly dirty or greasy their effectiveness is limited. To get the best out of hand sanitisers, apply the product to the palm of one hand and then rub your hands together, making sure the whole surface of hands and fingers are coated until your hands are dry.

While hand sanitisers are very convenient it has been shown that those alcohol based products with an alcohol concentration of 60% or over are more effective than non alcohol based or lower concentration products.

Soap and water are better at reducing or inactivating more germs than sanitisers, including serious types such as Clostridium Difficile, Cryptosporidium and norovirus.

Drying properly helps prevent sore hands

Having washed your hands it is important to dry them thoroughly to prevent irritation and cracking or “hacks”. Many people complain of dryness and soreness on the backs of their hands which can be very itchy and unsightly. Surprisingly enough this is often not a result of allergy or eczema but simply a failure to dry the backs of the hands properly after washing.

We often feel that the washing is the important part and that we can rush the drying stage  but it is important to use a dry towel, not a manky wet one which hardly dries at all and may indeed be full of germs. Do not focus solely on the palms and fingers but extend your drying to the backs of your hands and all the areas left wet after washing so that they are not left damp and vulnerable to the cold which can cause inflammation.

When is soap not a soap?

While many of us call bottled hand and bodywash products “liquid soaps”, they are in fact “syndets” which is the user-friendly term coined by the chemical industry for synthetic detergents, not unlike washing-up liquid.

The Centre for Disease Control specifies the use of soap for handwashing and illustrates its instructions with bar soaps. Soap is recognized by the CDC as being the most effective agent for hand cleansing.

Before the introduction of these liquid wash products dermatitis was much more rarely seen than it is now. The sale of moisturisers has rocketed since syndets were introduced.

Some solid cleansers which look like bar soaps also contain syndets so be aware.

Helpful websites: This is a link to a very well laid-out website with good detailed diagrams showing the best way to wash your hands http://www.handhygiene.org.nz  You can of course also view Marble Hill’s website at www.marblehillonline.co.uk

Name the largest organ in your body?

Pub quizzers will all be sitting looking smug because this is one of the classic trick questions. No, it’s not your liver, although the liver performs the most diverse variety of functions, it is actually the skin which is the largest in terms of physical mass.

And it does more than making sure that everything else is tucked away and keeping the rain out; maintaining body temperature, expressing emotion, forming a barrier to the elements, our skin is perfectly adapted to help our bodies stay in equilibrium with our surroundings and because it has to also be able to cope with every movement we make and sudden changes in our environment it is stressed in the most direct way, every minute of every day.

Anyone who has come off a sports pitch after playing 90 minutes in the freezing cold and wet only to jump into the shower or a hot bath can immediately attest to the ability of the skin to cope with sudden changes in temperature and humidity.

So how is this achieved? The answer to this question lies in the very nature of the skin itself.  Skin is composed of two primary layers, the epidermis, which contains no blood vessels but provides waterproofing and serves as a barrier to infection, (the “cling film”) and the dermis which contains the blood vessels and provides the cushioning we need from the outside world as well as containing the blood vessels and glands.

Treat your skin like quality leather?

Our skin is mammalian, differing from that of animals in that it does not have fur - the human equivalent of the cow’s hide, and if we don’t care for it that is exactly what it’s going to look and feel like. Whether shoes, jackets, handbags or furniture we all know that natural materials need a bit of TLC to stay at their best.  Ensuring that it is not exposed to intense direct light for long periods, that it is kept supple and not allowed to dry out and crack due to lack of moisturizing leather conditioner.  If you are lucky enough to have a pair of Manolos or Louboutins, I bet you don’t just wear them out in the wet to go shopping for your groceries!

Your skin is the same; it needs that care and maintenance that you would not hesitate to give an expensive pair of shoes, whether by protecting them from damaging conditions or maintaining their flexibility and appearance with a specialist shoe cream.  So you should use a specialist natural moisturising cream to give your skin the treatment it deserves.

               

Get some ‘lip service’ over winter

As winter approaches we need to change our approach to skincare, cold temperatures and drying winds can be very wearing and particular attention needs to be paid to the delicate areas.  Many people find that their lips can become badly chapped and sore, for a very good reason. The skin of the lips is much thinner than that on the rest of the face and of course it is under tremendous strain accommodating the sudden stretches and puckering from speaking, smiling and eating. Regular application of moisturisers and barrier creams are very helpful and men need to realize that they are not immune and a little pot or tube of lip balm can make the difference between comfort and misery. It doesn’t have to come in grapefruit or cherry flavour, there are many neutral options and there is definitely something out there to suit everyone.  Anyone of Marble Hill’s moisturising creams also act as great natural non fragranced lip balms.

Moisturise, Moisturise, Moisturise

A good moisturiser is vital for exposed faces and hands to help maintain skin at its best and minimize the likelihood of eczema and hacks. If your skin is prone to eczema try to avoid extremes of temperature- too hot and dry indoors or intense cold while you are out and about.. Remember to wear well-insulating gloves, avoiding wool as it can cause irritation. Fingers are very vulnerable to becoming cold quicker than other parts of the body and as anyone who has eczema knows it only takes moments to trigger a flare –up but it can take months to get back to normal. Sore, cracked hands are a real source of misery so do take care.

To find out more visit our website at www.marblehillonline.co.uk