Talking Allergies

Ok, so just started using this new line of skin care for the face and I love it. It's natural, fresh, works well. I had been using samples and then finally got the full size bottles but my friend brought them to my house (she works at a spa). When I read the ingredients of everything they were good...except the cream: Arachidyl alcohol and Arachidyl glucoside.
I speak french so obvious those are derived from peanuts and I had a mini heart attack. So...what's the scoop? I had been using it for over two weeks and didn't know that. No reactions whatsoever but I know I am 100% ana to peanuts (challenged and went bad...albeit 7 yrs ago). But is it the same deal with peanut oil: that there prob isn't a lot of proteins or any in it? I am obviously fuming at the company because I feel that ALL (not just them) skin care, personal care, cosmetic companies should have to abide by the same labelling laws because who in their right mind understands those disgustingly long scientific words? But before I call them to yell at them...are those two ingredients maybe ok? Is it safe although odd to think about? I really don't know what to think or do. I hate to give up the products but obviously health comes first.

Would love some factual answers...I'm not a freaking out type of person so I'm trying to stay calm about this. I've been ok up till now so trying not to panic.

Merci beaucoup people!

Hi there, I'm pretty sure those are the same two ingredients I came across when hunting out a safe sunscreen for our son. I freaked as it sounds like a nut ingredient. I looked it up but found sites saying yes it was a peanut related product and others saying no it was not a nut ingredient. It is odd that there is nothing online (that I can easily find ) to clarify these ingredients.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A CHEMIST!

It would appear that it's not peanut derived, but I can't actually find out what plant it is. There are about a trillion hits for it but none say from peanut. This is what came up when I googled it:

arachidic acid. Derived from peanut oil and used as an emollient and thickening agent in cosmetics.

arachidonic acid. Produced from phospholipids and fatty acids. There is research showing that this is potentially unsafe and mutagenic when used topically, though more study is needed to decide this conclusively (Sources: Journal of Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, May 2002, pages 799–807; and Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology, and Oncology, 2002, volume 21, number 2, pages 183–191).

arachidyl alcohol. Waxy substance used as a thickening agent and emollient in cosmetics.

arachidyl propionate. Waxy substance used as a thickening agent and emollient in cosmetics.

Arachis hypogaea extract. Extract of the plant commonly known as the peanut. It can have emollient and anti-inflammatory properties for skin, although peanut allergy is one of the five most frequent food allergies in children and adults (Source: Allergy, 2002, volume 57, Supplemental 72, pages 88–93).

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Me- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
Husband- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
DD- Allergic to peanuts and pecans (avoiding all tree nuts)

I find it really annoying that we are having such a hard time finding out just what this substance is derived from!

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Yeah, it is annoying! If they can tell us that the first and last one are from peanut, why can't they tell us what the middle two are from? Obviously the waxy substance is derived from something!

_________________
Me- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
Husband- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
DD- Allergic to peanuts and pecans (avoiding all tree nuts)

Thanks guys! Hopefully more people will read this and maybe I'll get some more answers...

I sent an email to my girlfriend to see if she can shed some light on what exaclty
Arachidyl alcohol and Arachidyl glucoside are. She has her PHD in biology and has been a great help when I've needed to decipher other unknown ingredients in food and other products. I'll see what she can dig up.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Wow!! Thank you so much! Man, I can always count on the people here for real answers
Thx BC!!

I was really concerned about the nut oils in cosmetics, but I called and spoke with several of them and spoke with my grandfather (a chemist) and I am now very confident that these products do not contain the allergenic proteins that are necessary for a reaction. Now we've gone back to using Cetaphil and all that. Hopefully, you will be able to get a straight answer from somewhere about this particular product and these ingredients!

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Daughter, 10 - NKA

Daughter, 3 - peanut, tree nuts, crustacean, dust mites, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, mangoes, mustard, and very mild outdoor allergies, eczema, asthma

Son, 2 - asthma, mild eczema, peanut, mild soy, mild egg

Ok so it wasn't until BC2007 mentioned about her girlfriend studying Biology and ashley5473's grandfather being a chemist that I remembered that my cousin studied chemistry too haha! Sometimes I guess we forget the resources we have as well. So she confirmed all of her info from her chemistry books for me and here is her answer about arachidyl alcohol & glucoside and almond glyceride (I added this in my email to her because it is in a mask I bought). By the way, my question to her was whether they are or contain any proteins since that is what gives us an allergic reaction:

"for something to be classified as a protein it needs a carboxylic acid group attached to an amino acid group - chemically this is what makes a protein.

Arachidyl alcohol is indeed from peanuts. its an emolient which basically means its a moisturizer/... to synthesize it they process arachydic acid.. I did a quick internet reseach and chemically speaking it's just a fatty alcohol... definitely not a protein (chemically speaking)

Arachidyl glucoside - this one I cracked out my organic chemistry III textbook... its not exactly a sugar... it is a carbohydrate (its in that chapter!)... so basically its when you take a sugar (in this case glucose) which has an aldehyde group attached to it - when you react it with an alcohol then you form a glucoside ('ide' from aldehyde group which is just basically the end of a carbon chain with a double bond to oxygen)... so really chemically.... not a protein.

for it to be a protein - chemically you need to have an amino acid in the structure... neither of the above has this.

Almond glycerides.. this is a fat... generally in cosmetics when you have glycerides in the presence of an acid it makes soap... again in the presence of an acid you will just have a free fatty acid... not a protein."

I feel comfortable with this and also considering I haven't had any reactions I will continue using the products. Hope it also sheds some light for the rest of you. Thanks for your help guys!

Lisa,
Wow, that is great info.. Thanks so much for posting it, my girlfriend teaches as has been busy and I didn't want to pester her.
Keep those chemistry books around, we just might need you to help solve future mysteries. How odd though that there really isn't anything online regarding these ingredients.

= - )

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Hello Ashley 5473 - I just finished reading the Peanut Allergy Handout (2008) written by a prominent allergist in Ottawa which was posted by one of the moderators in an earlier thread and at the bottom of his 8 page document it lists products that contain tree nuts and Cetaphil was noted as containing Almond Oil. If you want me to link you to the handout just let me know. You may know this already but just in case I though I should pass this on.