Lipoid Pneumonia And Oils: Important Health Information

Lipoid pneumonia is sometimes referred to online as a reason for not using cosmetic or food grade USP/BP mineral oil. I have extensively researched scientific literature on the subject and here are the results.

I first wrote about the topic in this blog post.
"Of the types of oils that can be aspirated, animal oil causes more problems than vegetable oil, which causes more than mineral oil."  
More details on oils and lipoid pneumonia can be found here. 

The abstract for the lip gloss reference, dated 1984, in other study references can be found here. While there is a second reference here for ChapStick, dated 1972, neither the full text nor an abstract for it is available online. The use of any formulation of lip balm, lipstick or lip gloss on a regular basis has not been reported in recent case studies in research articles, that I have seen for lipoid pneumonia. Here is an overview of lipoid pneumonia, dated 2010, that contains details not in the other links. It does not take the following into account.

This article dated 2005, this one dated 2008, this one, dated 2009, and this one dated 2010. They further illustrate that in a number of cultures, while mineral oil may be recognized to be a cause of lipoid pneumonia because it has been more publicized and studied more rigorously, vegetable and animal oils are still considered to be safe used as remedies for a number of conditions and traditional practices. That is simply not true and the evidence supports this fact.

Mineral oil like any other oil needs to be used with safety in mind. The fact is that any oil can be aspirated or taken into the lungs, by those with an impaired or temporarily impaired swallow response. Giving an oil by mouth, or by other methods to the very young, or the use of one by older individuals, the two most vulnerable categories for such a response can have serious medical consequences. However, the causes of lipoid pneumonia are not restricted to taking oils by mouth directly, or the other methods described in the links above.

Lipoid pneumonia caused by silicone injection for cosmetic enhancement: 2006

Lipoid pnemonia caused by silicon injection to the breast: 2010