Beauty

[suzyQ3]

---

@SilleeMee wrote:

---

@decaf wrote:

@SilleeMee  I'm reading they're an independent testing lab, they've sent the results of this study to the FDA asking them to recall these products. I use Target UP and UP Clear Aloe Gel (at the end of this list) to make Vitamin C serum so I'll be following this story.

---

@decaf 

There are hundreds of independent testing labs all over the place. Many are funded by private corp in order to use the data to launch new products. I'm leery when that kind of stuff goes on b/c much of it is not completely transparent when it comes to why the testing is being done to begin with. Just sounds fishy.

I'm more concerned about the use of sodium benzoate, a preservative used today in place of parabens. SB converts to benzene in the presence of other ingredients such as ascorbic acid  as well as other food/cosmetic acids.

---

You should be concerned about supposedly independent testing labs. This one in particular is partners with some pharmacies.

Valisure Certified Medications available through a new pharmacy partnership. Valisure Certified Medications available through a new pharmacy partnership.

Also, no medical experts on their Board.

[decaf]

@suzyQ3  I don't disagree at all, too bad for all of us it's such an unethical industry.

[NYCLatinaMe]

---

@decaf wrote:

@SilleeMee  I'm reading they're an independent testing lab, they've sent the results of this study to the FDA asking them to recall these products. I use Target UP and UP Clear Aloe Gel (at the end of this list) to make Vitamin C serum so I'll be following this story.

---

@decaf @SilleeMee The valisure report was surely very technical and complex.  They want the FDA to recall some products.  Reading it together with the Shape article, the Shape article stated that the items at Table 2 (page 12) were the ones they recommended consumers discard because Valisure detected benzene at 2 ppm or higher, which is the FDA max limit when unavoidable.  I think the other tables represented products with levels of benzene below this, which would be less risky, and Up and Up is in one of the other tables.  Valisure's advocacy extends against these products because they claim that the benzene is avoidable because some products do not have benzene.  So products in Tables other than 2, raised, if I understood correctly, a lower level of risk.  

Do not take my word for any of this, I am just trying to understand.  If anyone thinks I am wrong feel free to correct me.

[SeaMaiden]

I have enough to worry about... not going to stop using my sunscreen now.. I use both brands in this concern. 

[decaf]

---

@NYCLatinaMe wrote:

---

@decaf wrote:

@SilleeMee  I'm reading they're an independent testing lab, they've sent the results of this study to the FDA asking them to recall these products. I use Target UP and UP Clear Aloe Gel (at the end of this list) to make Vitamin C serum so I'll be following this story.

---

@decaf @SilleeMee The valisure report was surely very technical and complex.  They want the FDA to recall some products.  Reading it together with the Shape article, the Shape article stated that the items at Table 2 (page 12) were the ones they recommended consumers discard because Valisure detected benzene at 2 ppm or higher, which is the FDA max limit when unavoidable.  I think the other tables represented products with levels of benzene below this, which would be less risky, and Up and Up is in one of the other tables.  Valisure's advocacy extends against these products because they claim that the benzene is avoidable because some products do not have benzene.  So products in Tables other than 2, raised, if I understood correctly, a lower level of risk.  

Do not take my word for any of this, I am just trying to understand.  If anyone thinks I am wrong feel free to correct me.

---

@NYCLatinaMe  Thanks for deciphering that study so much better than I could.  I suspect these companies don't properly test the raw materials they're putting in these products. Probably just take the word of a third party lab (partner).. The FDA should get involved in this, regardless of Valisure's motivation here. This may be the tip of an iceberg, Valisure only tested a tiny percentage of the spf products we all can buy in the US. Someone mentioned all the face makeup with spf too. We deserve better than these mega companies basically being left alone to regulate themselves.  JMO

[RedRedHair]

There were many more safe sunscreens than unsafe ones listed in the study and petition.  You can go to the valisure.com site and read the "about us" to see how the organization came to be and who is on their board.  Lots of Phd's and a doctor.  

[gertrudecloset]

---

@suzyQ3 wrote:

---

@SilleeMee wrote:

---

@decaf wrote:

@SilleeMee  I'm reading they're an independent testing lab, they've sent the results of this study to the FDA asking them to recall these products. I use Target UP and UP Clear Aloe Gel (at the end of this list) to make Vitamin C serum so I'll be following this story.

---

@decaf 

There are hundreds of independent testing labs all over the place. Many are funded by private corp in order to use the data to launch new products. I'm leery when that kind of stuff goes on b/c much of it is not completely transparent when it comes to why the testing is being done to begin with. Just sounds fishy.

I'm more concerned about the use of sodium benzoate, a preservative used today in place of parabens. SB converts to benzene in the presence of other ingredients such as ascorbic acid  as well as other food/cosmetic acids.

---

You should be concerned about supposedly independent testing labs. This one in particular is partners with some pharmacies.

Valisure Certified Medications available through a new pharmacy partnership. Valisure Certified Medications available through a new pharmacy partnership.

Also, no medical experts on their Board.

---

@suzyQ3If this is what YOU think is appropriate, then of course by all means you do what's best for you.  However, this company is "not in bed with big pharma" as you put it.  It's just the opposite.  Another example of what this company has done for consumers.

A tiny pharmacy is identifying big problems with common drugs, including Zantac

By

Carolyn Y. Johnson

November 8, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. EST

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The escalating global recall of Zantac, the heartburn pill that once ranked as the world’s best-selling drug , has its roots not in government oversight or a high-profile lawsuit but in a tiny online pharmacy here whose founders feared that U.S. drugs might not be as safe as people think.

The pharmacy, Valisure, is a start-up with only 14 full-time employees. But since its scientists alerted American regulators that Zantac and its generic form, ranitidine, contained a chemical thought to cause cancer, more than 40 countries from Australia to Vietnam have either stopped sales, launched investigations or otherwise stepped in to protect consumers from possible health risks.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration this month confirmed unacceptable levels of the chemical, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), in some ranitidine products —

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/a-tiny-pharmacy-is-identifying-big-problems-with-common-drugs...

[gertrudecloset]

---

@NYCLatinaMe wrote:

---

@decaf wrote:

@SilleeMee  I'm reading they're an independent testing lab, they've sent the results of this study to the FDA asking them to recall these products. I use Target UP and UP Clear Aloe Gel (at the end of this list) to make Vitamin C serum so I'll be following this story.

---

@decaf @SilleeMee The valisure report was surely very technical and complex.  They want the FDA to recall some products.  Reading it together with the Shape article, the Shape article stated that the items at Table 2 (page 12) were the ones they recommended consumers discard because Valisure detected benzene at 2 ppm or higher, which is the FDA max limit when unavoidable.  I think the other tables represented products with levels of benzene below this, which would be less risky, and Up and Up is in one of the other tables.  Valisure's advocacy extends against these products because they claim that the benzene is avoidable because some products do not have benzene.  So products in Tables other than 2, raised, if I understood correctly, a lower level of risk.  

Do not take my word for any of this, I am just trying to understand.  If anyone thinks I am wrong feel free to correct me.

---

@NYCLatinaMeExactly right.  Some people don't read and then come in and criticize.  But here's the thing: read it first ~ then make a decision that is best for you.

If people don't want to worry about this, I don't blame them.  I put this information here for people who might care.  My job is done.

[gertrudecloset]

---

@RedRedHair wrote:

There were many more safe sunscreens than unsafe ones listed in the study and petition.  You can go to the valisure.com site and read the "about us" to see how they came to be and who is on their board.  Lots of Phd's and a doctor.  

---

Of course @RedRedHair .  The rallied on behalf of Zantac and the public.  That's a benefit to the consumer.

[NYCLatinaMe]

---

@decaf wrote:

---

@NYCLatinaMe wrote:

---

@decaf wrote:

@SilleeMee  I'm reading they're an independent testing lab, they've sent the results of this study to the FDA asking them to recall these products. I use Target UP and UP Clear Aloe Gel (at the end of this list) to make Vitamin C serum so I'll be following this story.

---

@decaf @SilleeMee The valisure report was surely very technical and complex.  They want the FDA to recall some products.  Reading it together with the Shape article, the Shape article stated that the items at Table 2 (page 12) were the ones they recommended consumers discard because Valisure detected benzene at 2 ppm or higher, which is the FDA max limit when unavoidable.  I think the other tables represented products with levels of benzene below this, which would be less risky, and Up and Up is in one of the other tables.  Valisure's advocacy extends against these products because they claim that the benzene is avoidable because some products do not have benzene.  So products in Tables other than 2, raised, if I understood correctly, a lower level of risk.  

Do not take my word for any of this, I am just trying to understand.  If anyone thinks I am wrong feel free to correct me.

---

@NYCLatinaMe  Thanks for deciphering that study so much better than I could.  I suspect these companies don't properly test the raw materials they're putting in these products. Probably just take the word of a third party lab (partner).. The FDA should get involved in this, regardless of Valisure's motivation here. This may be the tip of an iceberg, Valisure only tested a tiny percentage of the spf products we all can buy in the US. Someone mentioned all the face makeup with spf too. We deserve better than these mega companies basically being left alone to regulate themselves.  JMO

---

@decaf What I understood, which may or may not be correct is that the benzene is not associated with any one ingredient, but that it was the result of the manufacturing process.  So they claim the issue was not the ingredients.