An oil manufactured from crude oil. It is a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons separated from petroleum. Dr. T.G. Randolph, an allergist, has found that this and many other cosmetic chemicals cause petrochemical hypersensitivity. The allergic reactions can become quite serious in time, leading to arthritis, migraine, hyperkinesis, epilepsy, and diabetes. Taken internally, mineral oil binds the fat soluble vitamins A, D, and E and carries them unabsorbed out of the body, and although little mineral oil is able to penetrate the skin, this tendency is so dangerous that Adelle Davis in Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit says that she “personally would be afraid to use this oil even in baby oils, cold creams, and other cosmetics” (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1970, p. 46). The fact that mineral oil does not penetrate the skin well makes it inappropriate for use in an absorption base in a skin cream of any kind. In fact, mineral oil-containing cosmetics can produce symptoms similar to dry skin by inhibiting the natural moisturizing factor of your skin. Because mineral oil comes from crude oil, many defend its use in natural cosmetics because it “comes from the earth,” but for the reasons listed, it is not considered to be beneficial to the hair or skin. Petrolatum, paraffin or paraffin oil, and propylene glycol are other common cosmetic forms of mineral oil. Toxic. Avoid them.
Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils.
The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise, having been used for many specific oils over the past few centuries. Other names, similarly imprecise, include 'white oil', 'paraffin oil', 'liquid paraffin' (a highly refined medical grade), paraffinum liquidum (Latin), and 'liquid petroleum'.
Most often, mineral oil is a liquid by-product of refining crude oil to make gasoline and other petroleum products. This type of mineral oil is a transparent, colorless oil, composed mainly of alkanes and cycloalkanes, related to petroleum jelly. It has a density of around 0.8–0.87 g/cm3 (0.029–0.031 lb/cu in).
