Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (and it's relatives)

Go look at all the foaming products you put on your skin. I bet most of them list Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (or any of it's relatives!) as an ingredient. In fact, it's usually one of the first.

I'm not the kind of person that gets hysterical about "all-natural" propaganda. I try to be very objective about the use of synthetics in our lives. They certainly have their place. They are not inherently evil.

But it really gets under my skin the more I learn about cosmetic manufacturing process and as I realize how cheaply made and potentially problematic the products we use on our skin every day really are.

There is a whole bouquet of synthetic chemicals out there for products you apply to your skin! It's all very mysterious isn't it?
I don't know what it is, I can't even pronounce it, but it will makes my hair soft and manageable, keeps beasties from growing in it, makes it smell nice and it looks pretty!!

Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS for simplicity sake from this point on) is used as a thickener and to create a copious lather. People love lots of lather! You really feel like you're getting really clean when there's lots of lather!

You may see Sodium Lauryl Sulfate listed as being derived from coconuts and this is true. But as a soaper, I know that using a lot of coconut oil in my soap is going to produce a harsh soap that will dry my skin and has the potential to irritate it. So I try not to use more than 10%.

Then I found the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)for SLS. An MSDS is a piece of paper that lists the physical properties, toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment and spill/leak procedures for materials used in a workplace and is required by OSHA. WOW! Here are some juicy exerpts:

CAUSES MILD IRRITATION ON CONTACT W/SKIN, EYES OR MUCOUS MEMBRANES.
SKIN CONTACT COULD CAUSE IRRITATION OR ALLERGIC REACTION. MODERATELY TOXIC BY INGESTION.
TESTS ON LAB ANIMALS INDICATE MATERIAL MAY CAUSE MUTAGENIC EFFECTS

SKIN:WASH THOROUGHLY W/SOAP & WATER. ~oh the irony!~

I thought that was quite interesting. Then I found this:

"MSDS's are not meant for consumers. An MSDS reflects the hazards of working with the material in an occupational fashion. For example, an MSDS for paint is not highly pertinent to someone who uses a can of paint once a year, but is extremely important to someone who does this in a confined space 40 hours a week"

Considering all the products you use on your skin that contain SLS and it's relatives every day, you ARE coming in contact with these chemicals 40+ hours a week.

Even companies that sing songs of great praise about the luxurious nature of their products put this stuff in there! It's cheap. That's the bottom line. SLS is cheap.

So how DO consumers learn about the products they use on their skin? Where is the warning label for me? The manufacturer just told us that it was derived from coconuts and that sounds nice enough, doesn't it?



A side note:

Even more annoying to me is when I see a non-food product that has "ORGANIC" on the label. There is no standard for the use of the word organic on anything except food. Soap is not natural, and therefore cannot be organic. Natural soap is an oxymoron. There is nothing natural passing electricity through salt water to obtain sodium hydroxide (lye), combining it with rendered fat and oils and rubbing the end result all over you body to remove sebum and dirt.
Wonderful! Yes. Natural? No.

A lot of these "organic" products have the gall to list SLS (and it's relatives) as an ingredient as well.

*Okay! Rant over!*

I am such a nerd.