The Cosmetic Mask: Coming Clean on Soaps & Shampoos
Kristin Ebbert
The Green Guide #31
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 16, 2008
How to get clean without harming yourself or the environment.
Many bar soaps are made from sodium tallowate – a combination of lye and cow, sheep or vegetable fat. If you want to avoid animal-based products, choose vegetable oil-based soaps: castile, usually made from olive oil; palm or coconut oil; or natural glycerin (synthetic glycerin can be made from propylene alcohol). Be wary of glycerin bars. You’ll often find that they, like regular soaps, are made mostly from sodium tallowate, with alcohol, fragrance and synthetic colors.
A major use of alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), which can disrupt normal hormone function, is in hair care products and spermicides. Children and pregnant women in particular should not use APEs-containing shampoos, conditioners, styling aids or hair dyes. Look on the label for ingredients identified with "octoxynol" or "nonoxynol," which signify APEs, and avoid products that contain either. Alternatives to APEs exist for most cosmetics uses, but unfortunately not for their use in spermicides.
The ubiquitous triethanolamine (TEA) and diethanolamine (DEA) compounds – surfactants found in a variety of shampoos and liquid soaps – are harmless on their own. But when combined with nitrites – often used as a preservative or present as contaminants – they create nitrosamines, a class of compounds found to be carcinogenic and absorbed through the skin. Because there is no way for a consumer to tell from the label whether a product is nitrosamine-contaminated, it’s best not to buy products containing DEA or TEA.
Shampoos can irritate scalp and skin and sting our eyes. Furthermore, absorption of chemicals in shampoos can be enhanced by hot water and detergents. Many shampoos made for babies contain fragrances, colors and surfactants like DEA, so watch out for these.
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