Eco Green Tips

photo credit: Yogi

Any shampoo bottle you pick up says “lather and rinse” but do you ever wonder what it is you actually put in your hair and on your skin? Has it ever occurred to you that rather than nourishing, clarifying, moisturizing or de-frizzing your favorite shampoo may in fact put harsh chemicals into your precious hair?

Researchers have found that every 6 out of 10 shampoos contained 1,4-dioxane (a by-product created, or ethoxylated, when certain ingredients are converted into other ingredients, for example, an irritating sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is often ethoxylated into the milder sodium laureth sulfate (SLES). Moreover, traces of dioxane (a chemical that causes cancer in humans) were found in nearly every shampoo sample tested, and 15 percent of the shampoos contained amounts above the FDA approved safety levels. What is most disturbing, however, is the fact that the only way to know whether any cosmetic contains dioxane is regular testing, which is not required by the FDA.

So what can you do to prevent the unnecessary exposure to those harmful chemicals? First of all, avoid personal care products that contain ethoxylated ingredients, for instance SLES (sodium myreth sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) compounds, including polyoxyethylene and phenoxyethanol. Secondly, watch out for hormone-disrupting phthalates (found in fragrances and polyvinyl chloride bottles caps) and preservatives that may break down into formaldehyde (known for causing cancer), such as diazolidinyl urea and quaternium compounds.

This all sounds a little like a nightmare from a chemistry lesson from long ago but unfortunately, nowadays we all must check the labels of nearly everything we buy to be safe… There is an increasing number of cosmetics and personal care products that are eco-friendly so that the task of finding something that won’t do you harm may not be as daunting as it seems. However, it is advisable to keep an eye out for all these harmful chemicals since some of the products labeled “natural” may be quite misleading. So be safe and lather up.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Products, Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.