Bad Breath, Bad Reputation

Today, I will be writing an honest review for BzzAgent, which is a program where I have the opportunity to get free stuff. BzzAgent have asked me to write a review for Crest Pro-Health Advanced Mouthwash. So, I am doing this out of the courtesy of BzzAgent and Crest, on their behalf.

This is my little snippet on my Amazon review:

 

For this review, I received the blue one for free, and I personally bought the purple one at one of my local grocery stores. It's the same thing, just different colors. I think I prefer the alcohol over the alcohol-free versions of these. Why? Let's take a look of the ingredients:
water, glycerin, cetylpyridinium chloride, flavor, sodium saccharin, phosphoric acid, methylparaben, sucralose, poloxamer 407, propylparaben, disodium phosphate, red 33, green 3

-- This isn't vegetarian/vegan friendly since it contains: glycerin -- commonly derived from animal fats.
-- Another dropped star: two ingredients contain parabens. The government allows very little to be consumed to be considered to be safe, but this chemical is known to cause breast cancer and respiratory problems. By the way, parabens are banned in Europe and Canada.
-- cetylpyridinium chloride is a chemical which fights plaque, but it causes mild staining on your teeth with the addition of artificial colors used in here. You will notice your tongue turning ocean blue or Concord grape purple, after you spit out the mouthwash.
-- I have no idea what's poloxamer 407 and it doesn't sound natural too. Lol.
-- One of the things I notice, once I spit out the mouthwash, I find these residues looking like little strings. I am not sure why's that happening. But I know my natural mouthwash (Dessert Essence) doesn't do that.


…All in all, definitely not for me to use with my high concerns about parabens and unnecessary colorings. I ended up giving my two bottles away, so someone else could enjoy it more than I would.

 

Let’s look at more ingredients closely that I have bolded… Aside from methylparaben and propylparaben which pose dangers in the family of parabens, there other ingredients I would like to discuss furthermore:

 

Ø  Sucralose (a.k.a. Splenda) and sodium saccharin are artificial sweeteners. You have may noticed by now that beverage companies are slowly removing these artificial sweeteners because clinical studies have proven that they do “300-600 times more harm than standard table sugars” (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262475.php). From that link, the Italian medical study group suggests that we should AVOID sodium saccharin, but be very cautious about sucralose, which may be harmful for children and adults over age 60. Another study done by toxicologists of The Compounder, said that they did a pre-approval study, which indicated that rats were 50x more likely to, cause “cancer or immune system or neurological problems after many years or decades of use” (http://thecompounder.com/splenda-can-kill-you/). So, having a “sugar free” beverage on special occasions or once in a while is fine. But in a mouthwash? You’re most likely to consume it accidentally since the instructions say not to rinse. The Compounder also mentions that even though the study was tested on lab rats, we have to take the numbers and divide by half. Rats are noticeably smaller than us, and we are more resistant to diseases than they are.

 

Ø  Poloxamer 407 is a surfactant (a substance that tends to reduce the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved [Oxford Dictionaries]). Poloxamer 407 has been noted that it has contributed to disrupting liver cells and natural producing cholesterol in our bodies (http://dangersofmouthwash.weebly.com/poloxamer-407.html). Even our U.S. government says to be very careful since it may be “responsible for lipidic profile alteration and possible renal toxicity, which compromises its development for parenteral applications” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17096184).

Ø  Glycerin is usually derived from animal fats, unless it is noted.

Ø  Flavor, we don’t know whether it is natural or not, but I am pretty sure it is synthetic which can cause allergic reactions or you are introducing foreign elements to your body where it can hurt you in the long run.

Ø  Red 33 is a synthetic dye, and as noted with EWG.org, they mentioned how this ingredient is commonly derived from coceal beetles, which they are grind up to make that red coloring (http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/701803/D%26C_RED_33/).

Ø  Green 3 is another synthetic dye. In the Europe Union, they have banned the use of green 3 since it contains “tumorigenic and mutagenic effects on both animals and humans” (http://www.drugs.com/inactive/fd-c-green-no-3-252.html).

Ø  Disodium phosphate is probably one of the least concern ingredient out of everything else, aside from phosphoric acid and water. Disodium phosphate is a salt element that is commonly used in foods to keep them moist. But in mouthwash, it is used as a flame retardant (hence, the non-burning sensation from Crest Pro-Health). Do note that, too much use or inducing, especially in foods, can cause “upset stomach, diarrhea, and constipation” (http://www.livestrong.com/article/138968-the-use-disodium-phosphate/). Those with heart failure or any similar conditions, disodium phosphate will lead to edema. Medline Plus suggested, disodium phosphate “potentially increase phosphorus levels too much in people who eat a lot of processed foods containing these additives. Conditions of concern include kidney disease, severe heart and lung disease, thyroid problems, liver disease and Addison's disease.”

 

If consumers know about these harmful effects, the government would do something about it. Unfortunately, the FDA has not concluding “enough evidence” to rule out that these chemicals added into our everyday foods and household products, are considered potentially hazardous. The European Union, Canada, Japan, and Australia, have done their research. They already implemented stricter rulers or banned these chemicals to help their consumers. Let me summarize Crest Pro-Health Advanced Mouthwash in a sentence. The bulk of the ingredients are listed as potentially dangerous to them human body, yet it is inexpensive to buy. I suggest that if you want to buy safer mouthwashes, I would go to http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ and see if your mouthwash, body care, cosmetic, food items, etc. are rated “safe” to use/eat. Currently, the mouthwashes I have used so far, and are labeled as “safe” or “EWG approved” are “JASON PowerSmile” and “Dessert Essence”. They are cruelty free, and have a green coloring on EWG’s website. As I wrap things up, thank you BzzAgent for letting me try out Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash, even though my research findings ended up to be quite a shocker.