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No return to cosmetics made from slaughtered whales |
Jojoba growers call for maintenance of commercial whaling moratorium |
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, Jun. 22 -/E-Wire/-- As the international conference to discuss the resumption of commercial whaling begins, the International Jojoba Export Council (IJEC) announces its strong opposition to lifting the moratorium on commercial whaling. The IJEC confirms its support for maximum and permanent restrictions on the production, trade, and use of whale-derived materials, including spermaceti - once a core ingredient of cosmetics.
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Jojoba oil is a common ingredient in cosmetics, sourced from the seeds of the desert shrub Simmondsia chinensis. Jojoba esters, a derivative of jojoba oil, are almost identical to spermaceti, a whale-derived material which was among the most profitable products of commercial whaling.
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However, jojoba esters and spermaceti are produced by very different means. Spermaceti is a product of commercial whaling, and requires a whale to be killed. In contrast, jojoba is a low-water desert crop, among the most environmentally friendly ingredients in cosmetics. Use of jojoba reduces the incentive to hunt whales.
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Steve Brown, secretary of the IJEC, stated, "We believe that lifting the ban on commercial whaling could facilitate renewed use of whale products". Moreover, the IJEC points out that a proposed DNA-tracking scheme for whales will not be effective in detecting hydrogenated whale oil, which has been traded as "spermaceti" in the past. Brown added "So, we are squarely on the same side of the barricade with the WDCS and the broader whale conservation community."
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Jonathan Regev, IJEC president, stated, "The IJEC is proud of the vital contribution that the cosmetic industry made to whale conservation by switching from spermaceti to jojoba decades ago. We continue to strongly support whale conservation and urge the International Whaling Commission to reject proposals to overturn the moratorium on commercial whaling."
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Editor's notes
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Jojoba oil and spermaceti are nearly identical, making them practical substitutes for each other in virtually every commercial application. In cosmetics, especially skincare, both provide a natural, elegant emolliency due to their similarity to the natural wax esters found in human skin sebum. There are no other substances with such a high affinity to human skin. Synthetic wax esters, for example cetyl palmitate, do not provide the same rich skinfeel – much in the same way that imitation orange juice does not match the quality of natural orange juice - only jojoba is a true alternative to spermaceti.
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Roughly 20 Jojoba plants will, over their lifetimes, produce an amount of oil equivalent to an adult sperm whale. Jojoba oil has a negative carbon footprint due to its chemical structure and low rate of biodegradation. Harvesting jojoba does not kill it. Jojoba plants can live and produce jojoba oil for over 100 years. Jojoba grows on arid land, giving desert-dwelling peoples worldwide an ecologically-friendly cash crop.
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The International Jojoba Export Council (IJEC) represents 15 jojoba growers and processors in 9 countries. Its homepage is found at www.jojoba.com
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The international Whaling Commission (IWC) introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 that reduced the number of whales being killed annually by tens of thousands. Three whaling nations have continued hunting whales through loopholes in the IWC's founding treaty and the IWC will discuss a proposal at its 62nd meeting (21-25 June 2010 in Agadir, Morocco) to suspend the moratorium to allow the three whaling nations to conduct legal commercial whaling albeit at lower levels than their current self-allocated quotas. The whaling nations oppose a clause within the proposal that would ban international commercial trade in whale products, such as spermaceti.
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