Allergen of the Year!

Allergen of the Year!

Posted by Courtney Henslee on Jan 20th 2019

Every year the dermatology community gets together to name an Allergen of the Year so they can all learn a bit more about common ingredients that could be causing reactions in their patients. 

I will say that even as anti-soap as I am, 

I didn't expect this year's ingredient to be one 

that even I had come to think of as pretty innocuous. 

Decyl Glucoside is an extremely common surfactant (chemical soap) that is often listed as natural because it does come from sources like coconut. But what isn't said is that it undergoes several chemical processes before it is Decyl Glucoside. Some of the processes are more gentle than others. 

Studies of Decyl Glucoside showed a beginning allergy rate of 1.37% of people in the study. As the study went on, it rose to 2.2% before the study was over. While this number seems pretty inconsequential, it's a small number until it happens to you.

What we need to look at is that the number rose with further exposure. What this means is that allergy rates (which included eczematic skin reactions to swelling particularly in the upper body and face even if the product was not directly used on the face) rose with exposure and time. 

Many many people will not know that it's entirely possible 

to develop a reaction to a product they've been using for a year or even more. 

The chances of reaction will continue to rise not only with time, but with the number of products surrounding us that have forms of Decyl Glucoside and other Glucosides in them. I have been watching such a myriad of products start adding this surfactant- everything from baby wash to shampoo to body wash to face cleansers. Put it in everything, and everyone's chances of reaction raise significantly. 

In doing research on this ingredient for a few days, I ran across a forum where chemists were discussing with each other how and why they were seeing reactions to decyl glucoside. I found it alarming to hear one chemist talk about how it's even possible that people were reacting to plastic chemicals that the decyl glucoside had PULLED OUT FROM THE BOTTLE IT WAS CONTAINED IN.

Here we are trying to stay away plastic water bottles because we don't want to end up with those chemicals in our body, and no one is addressing these chemicals leaching PVC an other volatiles right into our skincare!!!

There is much more work to do around keeping topical products safe. That much is obvious.

My gears are going 100 miles an hour with this idea of volatile chemicals coming out into skincare. So, my own research of Decyl Glucoside has lead me into the next article I will be writing, but I am finding it quite hard to locate studies done on this! 

But CHEERS to you all! Keep yourself safe, check for this ingredient, and if you see a reaction in someone else, have them check their ingredients list and know that even a product that has been ok with your skin for a long time can go south eventually!!

Much Love, 

Courtney Henslee