Makers of best-selling beauty products are removing preservatives that medical experts blame for a massive rise in allergic reactions. Skin experts say manufacturers should urgently remove the chemical – a preservative called methylisothiazolinone (MI) – from products that are left on the skin. It can cause rashes, lumps, blisters, itchy eyes and facial swelling

1. Wednesday, September 18, 2013 €1(60p NI)
cosmetics are
causing surge
in allergies
Makers of best-selling beauty products are removing preservative
that medical experts blame for a massive rise in allergic reactions
Did racist
bullies lead
to teenager
taking life?
A TEENAGER who received
taunts about his skin colour
and his hearing aid was later
found hanged by his friend,
an inquest heard yesterday.
Darren Hughes-Gibson, 17, was
receiving abuse on Facebook
before his death, his mother
said. Gardaí have contacted the
social networking giant.
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By Aisling Scally
A chemical used in
hundreds of beauty prod-
ucts is being blamed for a
massive rise in dangerous
allergic reactions.
Cosmetic giant Johnson & John-
son says it is so concerned that it is
taking the chemical out of its best-
selling Piz Buin sun cream and
other products.
Molton Brown is doing the same and
big brands such as Nivea, L’Oreal,
Clarins and Sanctuary are under pres-
sure to take action as doctors say
adverse reactions to the chemical have
reached ‘epidemic proportions’.
Skin experts say manufacturers should
urgently remove the chemical – a pre-
servative called methylisothiazolinone
(MI) – from products that are left on the
skin. It can cause rashes, lumps, blis-
ters, itchy eyes and facial swelling, with
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2. Page Irish Daily Mail, Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Cosmeticscausingan
epidemicofallergies
UKdoctorsurgefirmstoremovepreservativefromproducts
to this permitted preservative is now
of epidemic proportions. It is a new
phenomenon, and at this present
time, there is no suggestion that we
have reached the top of that frequen-
cy or that it is starting to drop.’
British medics called for a ban
after estimating that one in ten
patients they are seeing with ecze-
ma or dermatitis is allergic to MI,
which has been increasingly used in
products since 2005.
Dr Treacy said he agreed with his
British counterparts over the poten-
tial risks. ‘Many Irish dermatologists
would join our British colleagues in
the suspicion of linking MI with
eczema,’ Dr Treacy said.
‘There is definitely an allergy to MI
out there, and we would have con-
cerns it could be linked to the ecze-
ma or contact dermatitis epidemic.’
Sophie Holmes, a 26-year-old mar-
keting executive in London, said she
needed steroids to reduce the swell-
ing and inflammation that flared up
after using Piz Buin sun cream.
Ms Holmes began to feel unwell as
she drove back from a skiing holiday
in the French Alps. She said: ‘It
started to swell in my face and in my
neck, and so I went straight to AE,’
she said. ‘They prescribed me with
steroids to reduce the swelling as it
was a worry that it was restricting
my airways . . . and could become
fatal.’ Tests later revealed that she
had an allergy to MI.
Manufacturers started to use MI
seriously after it was approved by
the European Commission as a pre-
servative for products left on the
skin in 2005. At the time, the availa-
ble data suggested it was safe. How-
ever, some experts say the true scale
of the problem has only come to
light as a result of it being used by
millions of people.
Concerns about the chemical will
be highlighted tonight on BBC’s
Watchdog programme, which has
been contacted by more than 150
people who have suffered skin reac-
tions to the Piz Buin product.
In a statement to the Irish Daily
Mail last night, a spokesman for the
company said: ‘Piz Buin 1 Day Long
provides safe and effective sun pro-
tection. It contains only permitted
ingredients at levels well within EU
standards set by regulators. Many
substances in our daily life, includ-
ing ingredients in cosmetic prod-
ucts, may cause irritation in some
people with a particular sensitivity…
We are continuously seeking to
improve the effectiveness and con-
sumer experience of our products.
‘As part of this ongoing process we
are currently updating Piz Buin 1
Day Long and, from summer 2014, a
new formulation that does not con-
tain MI will be available in the UK
and Ireland.’
Johnson Johnson insists that
Piz Buin 1 Day Long is safe and ef-
fective and it will not be recalling
bottles from the high street, but it
will be changing the ingredients.
Luxury brand Molton Brown con-
firmed last night that it will remove
cases emerging internationally. In one case, a
woman’s head and face swelled up so much
that doctors feared she would have trouble
breathing without urgent treatment.
In another, a holidaymaker’s skin became
so inflamed that she spent two days in a
Spanish hospital and needed steroids and
antihistamines to calm the allergic reaction.
MI is a preservative designed to extend
shelf life and has no useful properties for
users of the products.
Experts say the scale of the allergic reac-
tions to the chemical, which has been used
increasingly since 2005, is alarming. Derma-
tologists expect a reaction to a cosmetic
product of 1 or 2 per cent, but clinics say the
rate for MI has been more than 10 per cent.
Dublin dermatologist Dr Patrick J Treacy
told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘Off the top of my
head, there has been an increase of about 50
per cent in eczema in Ireland in the last five
years, particularly in children. There is no
definite scientific fact, but dermatologists
are very suspicious that there is a link be-
tween some forms of eczema and MI.’
Leading dermatologist Dr Ian White from
St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, said he is
witnessing a ‘new phenomenon’.
He said: ‘The frequency of reactions to MI is
unprecedented in my experience. We’ve nev-
er seen anything quite like it. Contact allergy
‘They prescribed
me with steroids’
SomeofthecreamswithMI
1.Piz Buin
1 Day Long Lotion, 200ml €26.49
2.L’Oreal Paris
Triple Active Day
Multi-Protection
Moisturiser, 50ml €5.79
3.Sanctuary Spa
Mande Lunar Body
Soufflé, 475ml €14.50
4.Clarins Paris
Exfoliating Body Scrub
For Smooth Skin, 200ml €32.40
5.Olay
Professional Exfoliating
Cream Cleanser, 150ml €20.20
6.Nivea
Body Lotion Express
Hydration, 400ml €7.29
Continued from Page One
Source: Boots.ie and online retailer ICI PARIS XL
By Sara Smyth
That print looks familiar, Sienna …
Flower power: Naomi
Watts on May 19
who have all worn versions of the
floral appliqué Sicilian black lace
panel dress in recent months.
It’s not the first time a pattern by
the Italian fashion house has taken
bloom among stars. Earlier this year
at least ten were seen in different
versions of its lily of the valley print.
It reflects a wider trend of identi-
cal designer motifs cropping up on
the red carpet – said to be due to
fashion houses ‘gifting’ their new
looks to their most famous clients.
Page Daily Mail, Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Great Gatsby film in New York on
Sunday, was one of the edgiest to
date.
The 44-year-old wore the green,
white and black print as a silky
kimono-style top with matching
trousers – the night after attending
an event where socialite Nicky
Hilton, 29, was wearing the very
same print.
That occasion was the opening of
Dolce Gabbana’s new flagship
store on the city’s Fifth Avenue. So
it’s not too much of a leap to sug-
gest that Miss Hilton’s peplum-
style top may have prompted the
Australian singer to do a little
shopping while she was there. Of
course, Miss Minogue may equally
have been inspired by Penny Lan-
caster, who wore a low-cut shift
dress in the floral print the day
before that. The 42-year-old was
joined by husband Rod Stewart at
sleeved dress to a Prince’s Trust
awards ceremony in March, paired
a little oddly with white tights and
pearls.
Earlier that month, actress
Rachel Weisz, 43, chose the print
for an appearance on US television
show Good Morning America.
Less than a week earlier it had
been seen on these shores at the
Tesco mum of the year awards,
where 47-year-old TV presenter
Emma Forbes paired the peplum
top with trousers in the same
print.
The month before that model
Daisy Lowe, 24, had cut a rather
more glamorous figure at the Elle
style awards, in a strapless 50s-
style dress with a full skirt, again in
the distinctive print. Even former
Coronation Street star Helen Flan-
agan, who appeared in I’m A Celeb-
rity Get Me Out Of Here last year,
has got in on the act.
The 22-year-old wore a shift dress
like Miss Lancaster’s to the
National Television awards in
January.
And the print had been seen on
the red carpet at least twice before
that. First American actress Elisa-
beth Moss, 30, star of Mad Men and
West Wing, chose it for the Emmy
awards last September.
And last November, 35-year-old
Canadian actress Katheryn Win-
nick, best known for the TV series
Bones, wore a full-length dress in
the print for a film premiere.
By Paul BentleyIMITATION is supposed to
be the sincerest form of
flattery.
And when Kylie Minogue is
doing the imitating, it’s a pretty
big compliment.
Trouble is, she’s not the only one.
So many celebrities seem to have
taken a fancy to this Dolce Gab-
bana print that it’s getting hard to
work out exactly who should feel
flattered…
The lily of the valley design has
been spotted on at least ten differ-
ent stars in barely eight months –
including three in the past five
days.
Miss Minogue’s outfit, which she
wore to the screening of the new
One of the edgiest
outfits to date
A pretty Penny: Miss
Lancaster last Friday
Kimono
Kylie: Miss
Minogue in
the print on
Sunday
By royal approval: Actress
Helen Mirren on March 26
Mum’s the word: Emma
Forbes on March
Flower power: Daisy Lowe wears the
lily of the valley print in February
OhCanada!Katheryn
Winnick last year
TV choice: Mad Men star
Elisabeth Moss last year
Hotel heiress: Nicky
Hilton last Saturday
Street style: Helen
Flanagan, January
Bond’s girl: Daniel Craig’s
wife Rachel Weisz on March 8
Especially for you?
Er, no Kylie. That
design’s been around!
a charity dinner in Los Angeles last
Friday.
Then there’s Dame Helen Mirren,
who has been spotted in her ver-
sion of the outfit three times since
December. The 67-year-old actress
most recently wore the long-
Copycat: Kylie’s at it too
Blossoming: Olga
Kurylenko on June 2
Floral fanfare: Kylie
Minogue on June 19
Pop star: Rochelle
Humes last month
Repeat pattern: Sienna
Miller in London this week
IN FASHION jargon, it’s technically
known as a repeat pattern.
And this Dolce Gabbana poppy
print is living up to its name in
another sense, too.
This week Sienna Miller became
the latest celebrity to be spotted in
a version of the floral design.
The 31-year-old, who is rarely is
behind the times when it comes to
trends, was beaten to it by A-listers,
from Kylie Minogue to Naomi Watts,
Blooming lovely:
Isla Fisher on May 1
the substance from their products
on the British market this month,
but it did not respond when con-
tacted about the Irish market.
It is claimed that the scale of MI’s
harm is more than twice the level of
another ingredient called MDBGN
(methydibromo glutaronitrile),
which was banned by the European
Commission in 2008.
Jeannette Brazel, Eczema Patients
Advocate at The Irish Skin Founda-
tion said: ‘If you had eczema, asth-
ma or hay fever as a child, you could
be more prone to have a reaction to
this chemical. You could be more at
risk of allergic contact dermatitis.
‘It’s not something that we’ve ex-
perienced with Irish patients, but
the evidence from Britain and other
countries is has certainly alerted us
to this concern.’
aisling.scally@dailymail.ie