Does mineral oil prevent excretion of toxins from skin?

[mejita]

This should be a fun one!

 

Does mineral oil prevent excretion of toxins from skin?

 

I know we excrete toxins from the skin, but that's after toxins are processed by the liver, kidneys and intestinal tract. I don't know the respective percentages of toxins dealt with by each organ (if you do, please share) , but I think it indicates you're most likely to excrete your toxins via urination and feces rather than via sweat.

 

I also know that mineral oil is used on the skin of ocean swimmers to prevent chill and that mineral oil is digested to aid with constipation because it coats the intestinal track, allowing for re-hydration of feces (oh yay!).

 

Anyway, can anyone confirm the percentage of toxins excreted from the skin? Are there studies showing that mineral oil prevents sweat? I can do a little test by putting mineral oil on my arms and legs and noting my own discoveries, but real scientific trials are waay more legit.

 

Thanks all!

 

M!

 

 

 

Oh, one more thing, if any of my underlying assumptions i.e "we excrete toxins via skin is wrong", please feel free to correct! I am new to biochem and appreciate that I have a forum where I can learn from experts!

 

-M

[Phi for All]

I think most of the claims about toxins being excreted through the skin are bogus. There's really not much of a mechanism for this in the body. Stuff we don't need is mostly evacuated through urine and feces. I think our skin would look pretty bad if we were constantly pushing toxins (poisons?) through our pores.

 

I know those detoxifying foot baths are a scam, claiming to pull toxins through the bottoms of your feet and into the water, making it cloudy. The electrolysis process is merely coloring the water brown or orange due to corrosion of the iron electrodes in the bath. It's not toxins you see in the water, it's rust. It would still do that even if your feet weren't in it.

 

I think if there is any efficacy in mineral oil helping to "detoxify" your body, it would be in helping soften and break up debris clogged in pores. That's not really toxins coming from inside your body, unless you consider dead cells, oils and dirt toxins. Perhaps that's where we'd need to start this discussion, defining exactly what is meant by "toxins".

[John Cuthber]

At least some toxic materials are excreted via the skin, but I don't think the presence of a layer of oil would stop this process.

[mejita]

Sorry, to clarify: I am not researching mineral oil as a detoxifier. I am researching mineral oil as preventing sweat from exiting the body along with assumption that sweat carries toxins or waste your body does not want/no longer needs.

 

I get a little puzzled because you can smell volatile aromatic compounds like curry when you sweat, but I am told that toxins or waste excreted via skin is not that significant. Can anyone explain this phenomena and cite it with studies or journals? It's for a paper and in order to take advantage of your assistance it will need to be cited.

 

Thank you to all who have responded thus far! Please feel free to contribute to this post if you can, as I dont have the answer as of yet.

[John Cuthber]

I don't think that mineral oil would do much to stop sweat escaping.

Excretion via the skin is an obscure way of dealing with toxins, but it does happen.

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/urea+frost

and

"Above this we risk selenium poisoning, the most obvious symptom of which is extremely foul breath and body odour"

from

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/science--molecule-of-the-nmmonth-too-much-of-a-good-thing-selenium-is-known-to-prevent-certain-types-of-heart-condition-and-can-ward-off-cancer-but-it-may-also-cause-foul-breath-says-john-emsley-1511573.html

[mejita]

John, these facts are great thank you so much for the response! It's gotten me on the right track!