Transdermal absorption

Should I eat my face cream?? Or transdermal absorption of toxins

When we talk about toxic chemicals in cosmetics, many people say “I think you are overreacting….”

Why is it SO important to be careful with the products we put on our skin? There are specific ways of exposure to harmful or beneficial elements. They are either consumed with food/liquids or absorbed through the skin (transdermally) or inhaled or passed directly into the circulation by injection.

For the sake of comparison, let's consider absorbing toxins through the skin compared to ingesting toxins through our food.

We start with the food case.

Let us assume that the chicken we cooked for dinner contains unacceptable amounts of toxin A. When the chicken bites reach our stomach, they are mashed and passed to the stomach and then the intestine. There, thanks to the enzymes that are released, the food is broken down into its essential components (good or bad), which are then absorbed from the gut and distributed to the rest of the body.

But our body is smart. In our liver, the detoxification core of the body, the first phase of detoxification takes place and luckily it is the first organ to deal with the blood coming from the gut. Before the blood from our gut (an toxin A) has any opportunity to reach another organ or body system, the liver filters the blood and removes toxins, but keeps in the nutrients.

Phew, we got away with it! Goodbye, toxin A! 

Let's review our day cream case.

This cream, which happens to contain the same unacceptable amounts of toxin A, is absorbed into our skin. It moisturizes and nourishes the skin, but many ingredients pass through the microvessels of the skin into the general blood circulation.

The problem is that here, the blood collected from the skin does NOT go through the liver first, but the other way around! That is, it is first distributed to all the organs and systems of the body and then it passes through the liver, to filter out toxins and poisons. Thus, the toxin A that was in the day cream will manage to reach the whole body, and then whatever amount is left out of the cells will be removed by the liver.

When it's too late...

Toxins of any type that are absorbed through the skin have an unprecedented opportunity to reach anywhere in the body, accumulate or cause some disturbance in cellular and body functions.

This is why at ATUA LAB we insist SO much on pure ingredients. Choosing clean, non-toxic cosmetics and personal hygiene products is the only way to safeguard your health, when it comes to exposure through the skin.