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.

FULL STORY Page 5

Are you ringing the changes Liz?

See Page ThReeTurn to Page 8

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

€1a big read fora small priceSee SPORT

Pressure is all on Mayo, says Dubs

star Cooper

Page � Irish Daily Mail, Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Cosmetics causing an epidemic of allergiesUK doctors urge firms to remove preservative from products

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 A&E,’ 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’

Some of the creamS with mi1.Piz Buin1 Day Long Lotion, 200ml €26.49

2.L’oreal ParisTriple Active DayMulti-Protection Moisturiser, 50ml €5.79

3.Sanctuary SpaMande Lunar BodySoufflé, 475ml €14.50

4.clarins ParisExfoliating Body Scrub For Smooth Skin, 200ml €32.40

5.olay Professional Exfoliating Cream Cleanser, 150ml €20.20

6.NiveaBody 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

Oh Canada! KatherynWinnick 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. Thatdesign’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