Yesterday we talked about Baby wipes.
How is it that medical people a world away from each other would discover the allergens in baby wipes?
I looked at the ingredients and preservatives in my Equate Baby Wipes from Walmart, and the culprit identified in Australia was not in my baby wipes.
http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/allergies_al0/Moistened-Toiletry-Wipes-Cause-Rash-Of-Problems.shtml
Dr. Zirwas in Ohio is described as a good allergy detective.
Zirwas says the chemical preservative is MI (methylisothiazolinon) and it has been around for years. MI is found in many water-based products like liquid soaps, hair products, sunscreen, cosmetics, laundry products and cleaners as well as pre-moistened personal hygiene products and baby wipes.
This report reveals the nature of the problem–it is an allergy, not a sensitivity (some would say a distinction without a difference) and the MI is the culprit. Some other chemical in some other brand may soon be discovered to be an allergen–allergens are all around us, causing skin and respiratory problems mostly. The mediator is histamine–which causes itching and blood vessel reactions, but also fluid expanding in tissues under the influence of the histamine.
Life threatening allergic reactions occur, for example from hymenoptera (bees, wasps, hornets) and sudden loss of blood pressure can occur–anaphylactic shock–a very impressive event indeed, and too often fatal. More people die from bees than rattlesnakes, for example, by far.
I understand the desire for allergen labelling, at least in dangerous allergies (I once knew a young lady who had a sever reaction to a pie because the baker failed to identify the 5% egg white wash used on the crust), but other than that, why should the 99+% have to change their lives in any way to accommodate the unfortunate minority?
Call me cold-hearted, but individual mitigation just makes more sense practically, politically, and economically.
I don’t care for baby wipes, they make my hands itch. I have started carrying a small plastic 3 oz. bottle (the kind that has a pop-up for dispensing the liquid) with ordinary water in it. I can then moisten whatever is convenient (tissue, toilet paper, etc.) for cleaning stuff. Very easy to refill from any faucet, too.