How much germ is too much germ?

[KSL]

Hi there,
just wondering how much preservative is TOO MUCH preservative.
I know that you're supposed to add according to directions - I assume by weight (I have germall).

but what if you were to accidentally put too much preservative in a product? what would happen? Anything?

 

[Norai]

Well... its safety data sheet says that it's non-irritating on rat skin up to 5%
http://www.naturalingredient.org/Articles/msds_germall_plus.pdf, but I wouldn't ever use that much on purpose. :shock:

I mean, the stuff kills bacteria, so it only goes to follow that at higher concentrations it might kill skin cells too? I don't know. Who knows what it does in your body once it's absorbed, though the fact sheet says its relatively safe even if you ingest it. The LD50 (amount required to kill half of the experimental sample) is 2,500 mg/kg (*orally*, even) which is kind of surprising. I think salt is around that number too.

I don't think its a good thing to add too much regardless, especially to a leave-in product, but it appears as though it won't kill you.

 

[KSL]

Well as long as it doesn't hurt to accidentally put too much in by a percent or two I think its okay. Its just that I tried to add some to my scrub and the scale didn't seem to want to register the weight.. and then it started to seem like it was way too much.. I'm not sure how to figure out how much... unless I do it by volume.... but then i dont' know if i'm doing that right or not.

oh, and what if you use somethign natural like vitamin E?
Can you have too much vitamin e in a product?

Man.. somebody write a book just about preservatives please!!!!

 

[Norai]

Vit E doesn't keep germs from growing, it just keeps fats from oxidizing. The only semi-natural preservative for bacteria is grapefruit seed extract, and I've heard of more side-effects and problems with that than with the synthetic ones.

I don't think you can really have too much vit. E, since some people think its a good idea to put it almost straight on their face to prevent wrinkles (not to say that works). It's more that it would just be really expensive to use a lot.

 

[KSL]

I have heard that as well.
I have seen alot of recipes call for Vitamin E as a preservative.

It seems from what I've read around researching that anything that has water in it, or would come into contact with water should have a synthetic preservative in it, but other items that dont' contain water wouldn't need that, but something like Vitamin E would stop it from, like you said, oxidizing.

I don't know if that's right or not, but it seems like recipes which tout Vitamin E as a preservative (or other natural "preservatives") don't call for water.

I'd still like that book.. lol
I can't afford a University degree in Chemistry.. lol!!

Thanks for the advice!