I should really be turning in for the night (especially on a school night) but, having mentioned SLS in yesterday's post, I didn't want to leave it too long before putting some information up about it so, here it is;
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate/Sulphate (SLS) is a very cheap detergent which is commonly used in cosmetic cleansers, hair shampoos, bath and shower gels, toothpastes, etc...
It is probably the most dangerous ingredient used in skin and hair care products, an ingredient which in the cleaning industry is used in garage floor cleaners, engine
degreasers & car wash soaps. It is very corrosive and readily attacks greasy surfaces, including the oils naturally present to protect the skin, and then irritates and erodes it.
Sodium lauryl sulfate is also used throughout the world for clinical testing as a primary skin irritant. Laboratories use it to irritate skin on test animals and humans so that they may then test healing agents to see how effective they are on the irritated skin.
Studies on SLS have shown that:" (Judi Vance, Beauty To Die For, Promotion Publishing, 1998)
1. "Shampoos with SLS could retard healing and keep children's eyes from developing properly. Children under six years old are especially vulnerable to improper eye development. (Summary of Report of Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc. conference."
2. "Sodium Lauryl Sulphate can cause cataracts in adults and delays the healing of wounds in the surface of the cornea."
3. "Sodium Lauryl Sulphate has a low molecular weight and so is easily absorbed by the body. It builds up in the heart, liver and brain and can cause major problems in these areas."
4. "Sodium Lauryl Sulphate causes skin to flake and to separate and causes roughness on the skin."
5. "Sodium Lauryl Sulphate causes dysfunction of the biological systems of the skin."
6. "Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is such a caustic cleanser that it actually corrodes the hair follicle and impairs the ability to grow hair."
7."Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is routinely used in clinical studies deliberately to irritate the skin so that the effects of other substances can be tested."
(Study cited by the Wall St Journal, 1st November 1998)
As a personal observation, since I stopped using commercial shampoos (I’m currently using the Bicarb & ACV system) I no longer have to dig huge clumps of hair out of the plug hole so that the water can go down. My hair also looks much bouncier and with much less frizz. I also haven’t lost any friends so the Bicarb must be cleaning effectively!!
Ethoxylation is the process that makes degreasing agents such as Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) less abrasive and gives them enhanced foaming properties. When SLS is ethoxylated, it forms Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES), a compound also used in many shampoos, toothpastes, bath gels, bubble baths, and industrial degreasers. SLES is also touted as a gentler, less abrasive alternative to SLS however, the problem is that the extremely harmful compound 1,4-dioxane may be created during the ethoxylation process, contaminating the product. 1,4-dioxane was one of the principal components of the chemical Agent Orange, used very effectively by the Americans during the Vietnam War to strip off the jungle canopy to reveal their enemy. 1,4-dioxane is a hormone disrupter believed to be the chief agent implicated in the many cancers suffered by military personnel after the war. It also mimics the hormone oestrogen which is thought to increase the chances of breast cancer and endometrial cancer, stress related illnesses and lower sperm counts. SLES can’t be properly synthesised by the liver meaning that it can stay in the body for far longer than SLS.
Dr Samuel Epstein, Author and research Scientist reported: "The best way to protect yourself is to recognise ingredients most likely to be contaminated with the 1,4-dioxane. These include ingredients with the prefix word, or syllable PEG, Polyethylene, Polyethylene Glycol, Polyoxyethylene, eth (as in sodium laureth sulphate) or oxynol. Both polysorbate 60 and polysorbate 80 (common preservatives in cosmetic products) may also be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane. (Epstein, Dr Samuel, Safe Shoppers Bible, P.190-191) Further Reading Article by Michael V Brooking and Naheed Zaman.
Even the manufacturer’s safety data sheet for SLS makes some scary reading! However, I haven’t put this information up to scare the pants off you although, when I first read this information I filled a black bin bag with bottles and tubes that filled my bathroom cabinets. I believe that we are entitled to know what ingredients are polluting everyday products that we deem to be safe, as we are assured that they are. If more consumers turned their backs on these products then maybe manufacturers will realise that using cheap, harmful chemicals in our daily cleansing products is not acceptable. Disgusting as it sounds, the tallow soap from yesteryear is probably far better for our skins and our health.
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