The Left Brain’s lesson:
Here at the Beauty Brains we get tons of comments and emails telling us how all-natural ingredients are the best thing you can use on your hair and skin. We’ve previously explored the topic and have explained why we believe “natural” ingredients are neither superior nor inferior to “synthetic” ones. Both sources can provide good and bad ingredients. 
Being a biologist at heart, I thought this list of natural ingredients to avoid was interesting.
Naturally Toxic Ingredients
10. Patulin: The patulin toxin produced by fungi found on rotting apples. It’s not especially dangerous but a few studies have shown it can cause DNA mutations.
Watch out if you’re making your own apple juice to put in your DIY personal care products
9. Aflatoxin: Another toxin naturally produced by our fungi friends. Aflatoxins make their way into food crops like corn and peanuts. The compound has been shown to cause liver cancer in lab animals & has been associated with live cancer in humans. Governments monitor and regulate food for acceptable amounts of aflatoxin.
Be careful about contaminated corn or peanut compounds in your cosmetics
8. Ergotamine: This is an alkaloid produced naturally by a food fungus that grows on rye and wheat plants. If not properly processed grains contaminated with ergotamine can end up in your bread and cause the disease ergotism. Not a problem if you don’t mind gangrenous infections of the limbs and hallucinations.
This toxin is the starting point for making the drug LSD.
7. Mistletoe Lectin: People love mistletoe at Christmas but did you know this naturally growing plant is extremely toxic to humans? Any part of the plant can poison you and if ingested can cause vomiting, hallucinations, and blurred vision.
Avoid any product said to contain Mistletoe extract. Unless hallucinating & vomiting is your idea of a good time.
6. Saxitoxin: This is a toxic material naturally produced by a common algae found in oceans around the world. When conditions are right, the little microscopic organisms produce saxitoxin, or red tide. If enough of it is introduced into your body, it causes paralysis and death. On occasion, people can get exposed to the poison by eating contaminated shellfish.
Apparently algae extracts aren’t always advisable.
5. Batrachotoxin: Frogs are cute except for maybe the poison dart frog that makes one of the most toxic compounds known. Batrachotoxins are naturally produced by certain species of frogs, beetles and birds. If you get some of the compound in you, expect paralysis of your breathing muscles followed by death soon afterwards.
Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment to stop the nasty effects of this natural substance.
4. Ricin: With a natural sounding name like ricin it’s got to be good right? Wrong. Ricin is a protein toxin that comes from castor beans. Yeah, this is the same plant that gives us the beneficial castor oil. If you’re exposed to enough ricin, it’ll cause diarrhea and death.
Thankfully, man-made, synthetic purification processes can separate the good parts of the castor bean from the toxic ones.
3. Alpha-Amanitin: This is a simple, natural, toxic peptide produced by a mushroom. If you happen to eat some alpha-amanitin laced mushrooms you’ll feel cramps & diarrhea within 24 hours. Left untreated your kidneys and liver will be damaged beyond repair and you will die. This little natural molecule is considered one of the deadliest compounds known.
Synthetic chemicals have nothing on this natural killer.
2. Anthrax Toxin: This natural ingredient is one you’ve probably heard about. This toxin is a combination of three proteins produced by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis). It most often kills domestic animals like sheep and cattle but it can kill humans too. And you only need to be exposed to it on your skin. Anthrax ultimately causes death by respiratory and cardiac failure.
And you thought protein was always good.
1. Botulinum Toxin: No list of natural toxins would be complete on a cosmetic site without the mention of this neurotoxic protein. While deadly, this compound can be used in small doses to remove wrinkles. Botox treatments are all the rage and are one of the most popular & profitable forms of cosmetic surgery. If you ingest this toxin however, you can expect paralysis, blurred vision, vomiting, among other symptoms. Ultimately, this natural compound will lead to respiratory failure and death.
But in the hands of a good cosmetic surgeon, there’s not much to worry about. Yikes!
So, the next time you hear someone droning on and on about how much better natural ingredients are than synthetics just remind them of these 10 All-Natural Nasties.
Natural does not = good.
Synthetic does not = bad.
You have to look at each compound on an individual basis to make a judgment about them. And as Botox demonstrates, there is a safe way to use “toxic” ingredients no matter where they come from.
Have we missed any natural toxins? Leave a comment and the Beauty Brains community know.
Loading ...
{ 4 trackbacks }
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
it’s true that the label “natural” is often used in a gimmicky green-washing sort of way, and I understand that synthetic chemicals may sometimes provide superior beauty benefits, but I think it is worth considering the impact the manufacturing of these products has on the environment. Performance is a consideration, obviously, but I’d be interested on your take on some of these products when considered in a slightly more dynamic context.
I’m glad you posted this. People always say ‘it’s all natural, it’s gotta be good,’ and I always quip back, ‘Suuuuure, and arsenic is all natural, you know.’
Mmmmmm … I’m still not all that hot on getting anything injected into my face that effectively destroys my facial nerves and has the syllable “tox” in it …
It’s true that not all natural and organic things are safe and wonderful. Always read the nutrition information labels, use good judgement and common sense, that’s my motto.
Please, SOMEbrain, reply to Michelle! This is sort of ridiculous – I haven’t seen you guys post a “Top Ten List of Dangerous Synthetics,” either – why not go the fair and balanced route? You claim to be objective, but there’s a pretty heavy bias, here. Besides, how many POISON DART FROGS and/or RED FREAKING TIDE ALGAE end up in home-made cosmetic products, anyway?? Seriously.
I think the reason they haven’t done that is because people already assume that there are dangerous synthetics, and there are, there’s no denying that. Furthermore, there are some that assumes ALL synthetics are unsafe, and that’s untrue.
There are people who assume that everything natural is safe; CLEARLY, from the FIRST PARAGRAPH of their post, the Brains say they’ve received A LOT of e-mails/comments about this and they also CLEARLY say, that they neither think that NATURAL INGREDIENTS ARE NEITHER SUPERIOR NOR INFERIOR. Clearly, they’re not biased, just responding the e-mails/comments.
I think the point of the post was to:
1. provide examples such that the statement “natural ingredients are always safe” is false.
2. make people think about the ingredients they use.
I mean, a little thinking can never hurt you. Think about this, lead is natural and people use to use it on their face in the old days.
You make good points! But while they claim that their stance is “neither superior nor inferior,” the overall trends of the blog would appear otherwise.
I mean, I get just as riled up as anyone when someone makes the claim that “anything natural must be good.” But I do so because nearly ALL blanket statements are false! I mean, I guess I just want more cynicism on BOTH sides of the natural/synthetic issue, you know?
I don’t think anyone with half a neuron would say that lead/arsenic/frog poison is both natural AND extremely unsafe. So why tell us what we already know? Why point out that “stuff is dangerous that happens in nature OH NO” when the vast majority of the chemicals mentioned have NOTHING to do with cosmetics?
A little thinking can never hurt anyone, and I’ve done my fair share of it, thank you very much. But people should think EQUALLY about synthetics and natural products, not just the one. Equally ridiculous claims are made on both sides of the fence.
Uh, up there, I meant that no one with a brain would say that frog poison is natural AND safe. Not unsafe. I do not think that frog poison is safe. I think the little buggers are cute, but you wouldn’t catch me within 20 feet of one. Scary little amphibians!
Gaaack, you know what? The BBs do a fantastic job of bashing marketing stupidity on BOTH sides of the debate. It’s true. I guess I just hope to see a post on consumer awareness of the practices of some of these huge cosmetic companies (and, by extension, major companies cross-industry) so that we can make choices that aren’t, say, increasing our dependence on oil, or killing small birds somewhere. And it’s not just Proctor n’ Gamble that are responsible. Product efficacy, I think we ALL ought to be reminded (unless it somehow compromises your bodily health), should absolutely come second to overall ecological responsibility. There, I said it. They react strongly because “all-natural, all the time” people are stupid. And they’re right. I react because much of the time, choosing smaller companies (who are often on the “natural” side of the fence, for better or worse) can often be a better decision for the health of all of us, in a planetary sense.
“But people should think EQUALLY about synthetics and natural products, not just the one. Equally ridiculous claims are made on both sides of the fence.”
With all due respect, if you’re only thinking about only one side, you’re not really thinking. (not you personally, people in general)
Anyway, in regards to choosing “natural” products over synthetic products since it’s better for the environment, well, I’m not so sure I believe that (it may be true or not, I know nothing about manufacturing so I can’t really argue it); however, I’ll say this, I think people like to think that they’re doing the planet a favour by choosing “natural” cosmetics, but I really think that as long as you consume anything, you’re producing garbage and waste –> hurting the planet.
One of the biggest things that rile me up (although it has nothing to do with cosmetics) is that people are willing to detroy forests so they can build a house (and then complain when bears come and attack them).
Ok, that’s enough from me.
As my toxicology prof used to say – Everything is toxic. Dosage is everything. Remember, you can die from drinking too much water regardless of whether it is Fiji or came from a tap after being piped for 500 miles in the Califrnia aqueduct. Of course toxins exist in nature but those are also the devils we “mostly” know. And even then arsenic was used as a beauty product for the face in several cultures for centuries. The problem with many synthetics is the fact that they haven’t been around long enough for us to see long-term harm AND they are usually produced and distributed in quantities that are not remotely “natural.” Yes, poison dart frogs are incredibly poisonous – but only when in the rainforest – bring them into captivity on a diet of non-rainforest insects and you just have a pretty frog. Aflatoxin – highly toxic and cancer-causing if you are ingesting it, but probably not if you are rubbing it in your hair to remove chewing gum. It also happens to be a very tightly regulated toxin – EPA has very strict guidelines on how much aflatoxin on peanuts ends up in Skippy. Afraid of red tide algae? Pass on the seafood. It has NOTHING to do with the kelp extracts in your shampoo, toothpaste, whatever. Educate yourself – there’s no substitute for that. Steer clear of castor beans (and international assassins) if you don’t want ricin. Stay away from eating wild mushrooms gathered by foreigners and amateurs if you don’t want alpha-amanitin (which is unlikely to be in any beauty products anyway!) And lastly botulinum toxin causes neurons to not be able to conduct signals – hence paralysis. I would never get this injected in my face but then again some people would never get their nose pierced. To each her own.
I agree with a previous poster. You list obvious poisons, but you rarely point out where these toxins are used. Kind of pointless, really.
Umm…you are discrediting yourself with this post. I’m going to go ahead and pretend I never read it. Scare-mongering never helped anyone. Sorry for you.
Actually, the point they are making is that natural doesn’t equal safe. I don’t think the point is that natural equals unsafe–but no one thinks that anyway. Lots of people these days do think that natural is automatically safe, and it would take some scary counter-examples to illustrate why this assumption is incorrect.