Posted by Spread the word!
by HunBabeBoss
We’ve all seen the multitude of MLM promises to cure our cancer with everything from essential oils to funny shakes and drinks. But there are some sly MLMs out there that promise to do the exact opposite and cause your cancer instead! And who wouldn’t enjoy some nice cancer to enhance their wellness objectives?!
While these MLMs don’t exactly say they’ll promise you Double-Cancer-Diamond-Status, you should really consider the high probability that this is going to be the one and only MLM you can join that will ever pay off as advertised!
If you’ve been paying attention there’s a MLM trend called the “pearl party”. These MLM companies provide raw, packaged, and preserved oysters with a pearl inside for their consultants to use as a marketing tool to sell the pearl and the jewelry accessories for setting these pearls. Consultants open the oysters at parties either in person or in online live party events, and buyers pay to receive the pearl inside the oyster and any additional jewelry accessories they would like to purchase.
But what exactly are in these raw, packaged, and preserved oysters that MLM consultants gleefully shuck with their bare hands on hundreds of live Facebook events everyday?
Well, the answer shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve had a round of high school biology: these raw, packaged oyster products are preserved with the most common biological specimen preservative known — formalin. Which contains exactly what it sounds like it contains: formaldehyde. A substance so toxic that it requires special handling at all times.
The way that the MLM pearl party is going to cause your cancer is by exposing you and your family to this biological specimen preservative, formalin. Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, is not safe to bring into contact with your skin and it is definitely not safe to breathe.
Consultants tell each other and the buyers of these pearl products, that the oysters are preserved in alcohol. This is simply not the case.
Alcohol alone is not powerful enough to preserve the tissue of these raw oysters so that the packages can remain stable for months or years. And because these oyster products are not intended for consumption, sellers are not required to disclose preservation ingredients like they would if this was a foodstuff or hygiene product.
Furthermore, the strength of the alcohol, if it were used alone in order to attempt to preserve raw oysters would damage the pearl inside before it ever got to the customer. Pearls are delicate and can be damaged by a number of chemicals, including concentrated alcohol. Only the biological preservative formalin would be able to preserve the oyster and not damage the pearl inside.
The raw, packaged, preserved oysters with a pearl inside always contain formaldehyde.
And the danger doesn’t stop with consultants shucking with their bare hands. The danger is also transferred to the customer who purchases the pearl product. Pearls, unlike mineral gems, are porous, and they absorb the formaldehyde from the preserved oyster they are contained within.
Having these pearls on or near your skin is a health hazard for the customer as well as the consultant.
Unless you are going for Double-Cancer-Diamond-Status, avoid pearl parties and the pearl products they sell!
10 Sept 2018 — Edited to add:
This link is from the pearl association in the UK which has researched the pearl parties. MLMers complaining that it’s “like pears” (which contain trace amounts of formaldehyde) simply do not want to read it.
If the pearl party oysters were to contain the amount of formaldehyde that is in pears (up to 60 mg/kilo — 0.006%), for example, they would rot. Pears rot. The amount in pears does not prevent rotting, mold, and bacteria. This is a ridiculous argument. Tested oysters have come in at 7.7% formaldehyde, truly toxic levels. OVER ONE THOUSAND TIMES MORE THAN THAT FOUND IN A PEAR.
This link that was posted above in the article is to another pearl professional who says that they won’t drill pearl party oyster pearls due to the amount of formaldehyde that is absorbed by the pearls which could be dangerous for the jeweler:
Pearl specialist organizations like myself will not be able to mount the pearls retrieved from a Wish Pearl — drilling them is a RISKY proposition due to their submersion in various agents, and most jewelers just can’t take on that liability. Usually these things come in special little “kits” that include a Sterling Silver PLATED “cage” pendant, so the manufacturers have already taken this issue into account — just pop that sucker into its cage, and bam: pretty pearl pendant.
The information below is on exactly how much is required to preserve mollusk specimens, as a standard rule.
Commonly Treated Items:
The most common animals to be preserved in fluid are aquatic invertebrates (mollusks, crustaceans, etc.),Herpetology (reptiles and amphibians), and Ichthyology (fish). Some entomology specimens may also be fluid preserved. Other materials may be stored in fluids, such as plants, and minerals.
Detection:
Storage jars should be monitored for deterioration of closures (e.g. lids and gaskets) that would lead to leakage of flammable chemical fumes into the storage area. Open containers will continuously leak fumes into the environment, so the storage area should be well ventilated.
Symptoms:
Exposure to formaldehyde and/or formalin can occur when initially immersing the specimen, handling the containers, topping off the fluid in the containers, or transferring the specimen to another solvent. Contact with lower concentrations may cause eye and skin irritations, while higher concentrations can cause more serious symptoms like pneumonia and pulmonary edema.
Spread the word!
Well, shit. I bought a pair of earrings at a Ren Faire from someone set up doing something like this a couple of years ago. They had the oysters in their booth, popped the pearls out, and set them in earring settings for me while I wandered around for a bit with my boyfriend at the time. I had no idea they were anything like this! (I mean, I did think it was kind of…erm…fishy (pun not intended) that *every* oyster they had had at least one pearl, if not two or more, and that the oysters looked kinda…weird. But I didn’t think this was why.)
Yes! Finally someone writes about a.