Why is it common to use Vaseline in hygiene products?

Petrolatum/petroleum jelly comes from crude oil (oil industry) and has been purest to be used as vaseline/mineral oil in hygiene products for about 145 years. It is said to be risk-free and has been tested numerous times and meets pharmaceutical industry standards for use in baby care, beauty products, skin and hygiene products. Even the FDA, American Food and Drug Administration, has approved petrolatum.

The answer to the question why is it common to use vaseline in hygiene products is:

The moisturizing and protective properties vaseline gives the skin.
Also, vaseline is cheap to use for the manufacturer.

Our skin is our largest organ and everything we apply there* is quickly absorbed into the blood and body. We know that.

Why then do we lubricate ourselves with purified petroleum jelly?

If you want to be sustainable for the environment, you should avoid buying cosmetics and hygiene products made from fossil fuels, such as Vaseline.

There are environmentally friendly alternatives to Vaseline in natural biodegradable raw materials that are moisturizing and protective for the skin. There are even better alternatives as Vaseline clogs pores in the skin and reduces the skin's ability to breathe and delays the healing of damaged skin.

I believe that in the future there will be more hygiene products that are free of vaseline/petrolatum/petroleum jelly. Knowledge and information about what hygiene products contain increases and we become more people who are aware and can make new choices about what we want to lubricate ourselves and the animals with.

Personally, I think Vaseline is best for lubricating squeaky hinges, but you can have a different opinion 💚

• Sandra Kleinau is a professor of molecular immunology with research focusing on autoimmunity. In connection with her doctoral thesis, she made a remarkable discovery that was hushed up when it came out in the 1990s. The study was about vaseline/mineral oils. Read more at:

https://www.tidningenhalsa.se/artiklar/artiklar/20170524/hudvard-nder-lupp/