Does your Lip Balm cause Cancer?

Lip balms, everyone uses them, in fact daily. Especially when it’s cold outside, our lips become dry and then we reach often for a lip balm to protect our lips.

Not all lip balms are so to say “healthy”. In mainstream lip balms such as trusted brands; Carmex and Blistex contain questionable ingredients such as Mineral Oil and Mosh. Carmex has for example 31.7 % of Mosh and Blistex 30%.

What is MOSH?

Mosh stands for Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons come from Crude Oil also known as Petroleum Oil. Mosh is a potential cancer causing ingredient and in fact is difficult for the body to dispose of says Dr. Konrad Grob, a Chemical Expert in Switzerland.

MOSH ingredient concentration rate

Carmex and Blistex use only on an average of 30% MOSH. It’s 1/3 of the ingredients contained in their lip balms/chapsticks. It cannot be that dangerous or? Wrong, MOSH can be dangerous especially in lip balms and chapsticks due to it’s high rate of consumption and entering the body through the mouth not to mention it’s accumulation rate. 

European Food Safety Authority writes: "Mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) comprise a diverse group of mixtures of hydrocarbons containing thousands of chemical compounds of different structures and size, derived mainly from crude oil but also produced synthetically from coal, natural gas and biomass. The chemical composition of most MOH mixtures is unknown and usually varies from batch to batch; specifications are often expressed in terms of viscosity, or ‘thickness’, as related to the applications of the products and not in terms of chemical composition. These highly complex mixtures have a wide variety of industrial and domestic uses. There are several possible sources of MOH in food: mainly food packaging materials, food additives, processing aids and environmental contaminants such as lubricants.

The potential human health impact of MOH varies widely; so-called ‘aromatic’ MOH may act as genotoxic carcinogens (that is they may damage DNA, the genetic material of cells, as well as cause cancer), while some ‘saturated’ MOH can accumulate in human tissue and may cause adverse effects in the liver. In the European Union, some low- and medium-viscosity MOH are authorised for use as food additives.” For more information visit: www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/mineraloilhydrocarbons

So why is MOSH so bad even if its in a lip balm at small rates?

According to Dr. Konrad, when MOSH enters the body, the body changes it and then MOSH combines itself into clumps doubling its amount in the body. Firstly, MOSH is very difficult to breakdown says Dr. Konrad. The body tries to dispose of the ingredient but it cannot. The result, MOSH, a by product of crude/petroleum oil stays in the body. Experts show that MOSH tends to build up in certain body parts like the Spleen, Liver, and Lymph Nodes. So after day by day and year by year use of lip balms containing mineral oil hydrocarbons, the amount in your body will be quite large, putting you at risk of DNA damage and maybe even cancer.

So what to do?

Discontinue your use of lip balms containing these “questionable ingredients”. Cancer causing ingredients are only needed in small amounts to cause disruption in the body. At first this may come to you as a shock especially if you have been using brands such as Carmex and Blistex. Even Chapstick brand contains ingredients such as mineral oil and methylparaben. Paraben is another BAD ingredient and often found in tumors in women. Try switching over to natural lip balms without any mineral containing ingredients. You’ll lips will be softer, taken care of, and you can feel good about your change to a healthier you.

Check out our variety of lip balms, there’s something for everyone. Our lip balms contain high quality all natural ingredients, NO paraffins, NO mineral oil, NO parabens.