What’s up with nanoparticles and their effects on our bodies and health? Well nobody seems to know and that’s the problem.

We do know that they are increasingly being used in cosmetics and body care products and you may want to start looking out for them on your labels.

Almost 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, these micronized particles are marketed as being small enough to penetrate deep into the skin where they deliver ingredients to the sublayers of the skin. Sounds great right? Well these particles don’t just stop there. Unfortunately, our body’s defense and filtering systems are not equipped to handle particles of this size. These particles keep going through to the cellular level where they can deliver unintended consequences.  Ingredients like zinc oxide which are perfectly safe when in their normal state can cause cellular damage and toxicity when they are micronized into nanoparticles. Zinc oxide creams make for great natural and effective sunblocks (think the awesome colored “Zinka” sunblocks that were so darn cool in the ’80s), well when consumer preferences demanded a sunblock that couldn’t be “seen” (sorry Zinka, we still love you!), micronized zinc and titanium oxides seemed like a great solution. Fast forward a few years and what do they find? Nanoparticle zinc oxide shows signs that it reduces cellular proliferation, never a good thing.

As of right now, the FDA and other governing bodies are on the fence regarding the use of nanoparticles in sunscreens, cosmetics and other body care products. They have acknowledged that they warrant further study, probably not a good sign.

Play it safe and start scanning your labels for ingredients, listed as ultrafine or micronized. Like many of the other tongue twisting ingredients that are found in most mass marketed products we say when in doubt, go without. Common sense is your best defense against harmful products. Keep it simple and use products with well known, natural ingredients that have not been chemically altered. Mother nature in all her wisdom has provided us with everything we need to stay beautiful and healthy at the same time, it’s probably best not to try and outsmart her.

~CP