if mineral oil is supposed to cause cancer, why arent there more babies with cancer? i would think the government would at least issue a statement if not a ban on mineral oil products if it contained a known carcinogen. then again cigarettes come to mind. any thoughts?
Cancer isn't something you develop instantly... it generally takes about 20 years for cancer cells to develop. Sometimes it can happen faster, depending how much one is exposed to and how susceptible they are.
Mineral oil isn't toxic, it's an extremely low dose if anything. We are exposed to MANY more cancer causing agents just breathing in the dirty air these days.
Nothing to get extremely paranoid over. Also, just because it may cause cancer, doesn't mean it will in everyone. This is something that was developed to be gentle enough to use on babies. It just has an ingredient in it that is known to cause cancer, probably in very large amounts.
I agree we shouldn't use it--- we should get away from mineral oil and fossil fuels altogether. Plus, the company Johnson & Johnson that makes most baby oils and things, have done many terrible things to the environment and animal testing, etc. So I stay away from it anyway.
In the USA I believe that mineral oil is regulated by the FDA, who have found no reason to withdraw it from the consumer market. The onus is on the people who say that mineral oil's dangerous to find evidence that they are right and to present it to the FDA. Personally I'm not saying it's dangerous and I'm not saying it isn't. I'm just saying that so far it hasn't been proven to be dangerous, so therefore it continues to be sold.
