Have you ever read the list of ingredients on the back of your shampoo bottle and wondered what kind of impact those those long difficult to pronounce chemicals may have on your health, especially after decades of daily use?
Also, what are the effects on the environment when these chemicals come out of the sewage system and go into our rivers, lakes, and oceans? What if they end up in another city’s water supply downstream? And this post only covers shampoo! What about other products that end up in the water system like cosmetics, hair gel, shaving creme, and laundry detergent?
Although I’m glad we have organizations like the FDA that are there to protect the consumer from harmful additives, I think we need to take it upon ourselves to do further research into the products we are consuming. After all, no one cares more about your own health (or your family’s health) than yourself.
Out of sheer curiosity, I’m going to examine the ingredients in my (Garnier Fructis) shampoo bottle and find out what the purpose is of each one and if they are known to be harmful to human health in any way. I should say that I’m not a chemist. This information has been taken from a variety of sources including Wikipedia, cosmeticsdatabase, and cosmeticsinfo. Cosmeticsinfo seems to be more in favor of promoting everything as safe, whereas cosmeticsdatabase will list even seemingly benign ingredients as possibly harmful. Wikipedia seems to take the middle ground.
The shampoo contains a total of 26 listed ingredients, the great majority of which have absolutely no meaning to me. Let’s see what we can find out:
1. Aqua
- Also the latin word for water
- An inexpensive detergent used as a foaming agent.
- According to Wikipedia, it’s considered safe (non-carcinogen), but can cause skin and eye irritation.
- According to the University of Oxford, some sources say that it is a potential carcinogen
- A synthetic surfactant
- Claimed to cause allergic reactions in some users
- Voted “Allergen of the year” in 2004
4. Dimethicone
- Makes hair shiny and slippery
- Low to moderate hazard
- Used for skin conditioning
- Low hazard
- Some sources list it as a suspected carcinogen
- Cosmetics database lists it as “low hazard”
- Also known as “table salt”
- Used as a thickener in cosmetics
- Low hazard
9. Laureth-2
- A synthetic surfactant
- “Moderate hazard” due to contamination concerns of 1,4-DIOXANE
10. Pyrus Malus
- Multiple uses
- Also known as the domestic apple
11. PPG-5-Ceteth-20
- “Moderate hazard” due to contamination concerns of 1,4-DIOXANE
- Enhances appearance of hair and reduces static electricity
- low hazard
- Prevents the growth of yeast and mold
- On FDA’s list “Generally Regarded as Safe”
- Cosmeticsdatabase lists it as a “moderate hazard”
14. Carbomer
- Used to control the consistency of personal care products
- Low hazard
15. DMDM Hydantoin
- Acts as a preservative to prevent microbial growth
- Cosmeticsdatabase rates it as a “high hazard”
16. Niacinamide
- Enhance the appearance and feel of the hair
- A water soluble vitamin. Part of the Vitamin B group
17. Pyridoxine HCI
- Acts as a hair conditioning agent
- A form of vitamin B6. Used in oral supplements
18. Citric Acid
- Used to preserve the product and to adjust the acid/base balance
- Found in organic fruits like limes and lemons
- Sugar cane
20. Methyl Cocoate
- Used for many purposes.
- Also known as Coconut oil
21. Linalool
- Found in many flowers and spice plants, it is used as a fragrance agent
- According to Wikipedia, “Linalool is used as a scent in 60-80% of perfumed hygiene products and cleaning agents”
- Cosmeticsdatabase lists it as a “moderate hazard”
22. Sodium Cocoate
- Used for many purposes
- A mixture of fatty acids of Coconut oil
23. Butylphenyl Methylpropional
- Acts as a fragrance agent
- It’s a skin irritant
- Cosmeticsdatabase lists it as a “moderate hazard”
24. Citrus Limonum
- Multiple uses
- Also known as a Lemon
25. Camellia Sinesis
- A plant used to produce Chinese Tea
26. Parfum
- Or “perfume” – derived from naturally occurring plants and animals or made synthetically.
After careful examination, it appears that some of those long and difficult to pronounce ingredients actually come from natural plants and fruits like limes and coconuts. So you would think that they wouldn’t have a negative impact on human health or the environment. However, cosmeticsdatabase lists some organic compounds as a low to moderate hazard.
Even though a lot of the ingredients are natural, there are quite a few synthetic compounds in shampoo that have been shown to cause ill effects in animals and the environment.
So should we ditch our shampoos and clean our hair more naturally? I would say yes, why not? The more we reduce our exposure to suspicious chemicals, the safer we will be.
The next step may be an investigation into Organic Shampoos.
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Tags: health, shampoo, Thoughts
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