Sun creams, lipsticks, foundations and more with shark oil. Squalene is the oil derived from the liver of sharks and is still widely used today, to the detriment of these fish that are at risk of extinction.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousSun creams, lipsticks, foundations and more with shark oil. Squalene is the oil derived from the liver of sharks and is still widely used today, to the detriment of these fish that are at risk of extinction.
Millions of flat-headed shark (Hexanchus griseus) are brutally killed every year to finance the cosmetics industry. Sharks that are listed as Endangered Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
A horrifying method of capture that occurs in tropical countries where fishermen kill sharks for their liver which contains an oil called squalene and which is then used in sunscreens, lipsticks, foundations, lotions and other cosmetic products.
Squalene is paradoxically very cheap and serves to make the product more emollient, it is no coincidence that 90% of this extracted oil is sold in the beauty products industry. To say it is a 2012 report compiled by BLOOM, a French non-profit that works for the conservation of the oceans.
Andriana Matsangou, spokesperson for the British-Dutch company Unilever, explains that the company "uses only squalene derived from plant sources in order not to resort to what comes from various shark species".
Even L'Oréal spokesperson Alexander Habib says the French company stopped using shark-derived squalene 10 years ago, and that L'Oréal has since "implemented stringent measures to control the squalene origin of its providers".
Squalene, check the inci!
Squalene can have a red dot in the bio dictionary for this very reason: because it can be of animal origin.
On the other hand, in certified cosmetics of plant origin, the label is green.
It is not necessary to kill sharks in order to have this precious natural substance.
Squalene is present, in fact, in extra virgin olive oil, wheat germ oil, amaranth oil, argan oil or sunflower oil, from which it is extracted by molecular distillation.
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Out of 60 species fished for oil, 26 sharks are considered vulnerable by the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Although organizations are calling for stricter controls, fishing continues. In 2006, the European Union imposed strict limits on fishing for these species in the Northeast Atlantic, but few countries have followed suit.
We can make a difference by choosing products that do not contain an ingredient derived from the killing of innocent creatures, also because the alternatives already exist.
Read also:
- Sun creams: here are the brands that have failed the protection tests
- The most toxic ingredients contained in cosmetics
- Eco-beauty: the 7 cosmetics that we could easily do without
Dominella Trunfio
