WASHINGTON — Don’t depend too much on “hypoallergenic” labels at the
store. A new study finds they might not be accurate.
Researchers from Loma Linda University School of Medicine tested 187 cosmetic
products found in six different stores in California, to see if they contained
any of the 80 most common known allergens, Reuters reports.
What they found is that 89 percent of the products contained at least one
allergen, while 63 percent contained two or more. Eleven 11 percent contained
five or more of the allergens the North American Contact Dermatitis Group
considers the most common.
The researchers tested products that might be used by kids with eczema. The
products had labels, such as “hypoallergenic,” “dermatologist
recommended/tested,” “fragrance-free” or “paraben free.”
Preservatives were in 58 percent of the products, and 29 percent contained
fragrances.
But the problem may not be that bad, according to Dr. Donald Belsito, the
Leonard C. Harber Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University Medical
Center in New York.
He tells Reuters the study “really misrepresents a lot of these chemicals
because they’re listing the frequency with which they were found in a product,
not the frequency at which they cause allergy.”
The research in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
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