Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone

Don't worry: the words in the title aren't part of a spelling test.

In fact, I had never even heard of these chemicals before yesterday.

A friend of mine called me up and said that her daughter, who suffers from allergies, had been reacting badly to certain personal care products. Upon further research, she had found that a preservative, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, was responsible for her daughter's skin reactions, which included rashes and small red blisters on the skin.

Apparently, the chemical is in many products, including shampoo, soap, hair conditioner and suncream.

The chemical, also known as Kathon CG is highly irritating in its pure form, although it is used in very small quantities in products. this clearly is enough to harm some sensitive individuals though, which is why i thought it fair to warn my fellow TSW bunch, as we are a sensitive lot.

A similar preservative, Methylisothiazolinone, or MIT, is known to be allergenic and cytotoxic.

According to Wikipedia:

"In 2013, the American Contact Dermatitis Society named methylchloroisothiazolinone as the Contact Allergen of the Year.^[5] A common indication of an allergic reaction is eczema-like symptoms including redness and itching, and upon longer exposure also burning sensations and blisters on the part of the skin that is exposed to the allergen. Continued exposure can lead to high sensitization which will be triggered each time the individual comes in contact with the allergen due to the memory T-cells that will remain in the local skin area."

So I decided to check my kitchen and bathroom products to see which ones contained these potentially harmful chemicals....

Did not contain:

• Radox handwash
• All my Body Shop products (Body Shop refuse to use these dangerous chemicals in any of their products)
• Simpsons Sun lotion
• Right guard Shower gel
• Original Source Shower Gel
• Loreal Elvive shampoo and conditioner

Did contain:

• Asda Essentials Handwash
• Pantene conditioner
• Wilkinsons hair conditioner
• Asda Smartprice washing up liquid
• Rapunzel Disney bubble bath
• Asda 2 in 1 dandruff shampoo

So my investigation was interesting. A lot of the things that I had in the bathroom contained the chemical, especially hair products, which could explain why my scalp is always itchy when I use hair conditioner.

It is definitely something to bear in mind for those suffering from eczema or steroid withdrawal, because using irritants on our skin is only going to prolong the process. Readers; check your cupboards now and let me know whether you find any products containing this chemical. If so, are you happy to continue using them, or will you try something new? Maybe you have been using these products for years with absolutely no problems at all. I would love to hear about your experiences, both good and bad.