Pink Is Pretty Series: Could Shampoo Cause Cancer?

This blog post is part of the Pink Is Pretty series that delves into the world of health and beauty to find safe products for those who are trying to avoid carcinogens.

Today’s target is shampoo and the ingredients to avoid. Let’s face it, when it comes to buying hair care products, most women buy what makes their hair look and feel the best. Some other concerns are price and smell. How many women have actually looked at the ingredients in their shampoo and actually understood the list? I would say very few, so today’s blog is all about the ingredients to avoid and why these ingredients are harmful.

I was shocked to realize every single shampoo, conditioner and body wash my husband and I had in our shower contained at least one of the harmful products discussed below. Ouch!

First, it’s interesting to understand the FDA’s regulation of these products because most people feel that any cosmetic they buy is safe if it’s sold in this country. I for one assumed the FDA regulated cosmetics, but here is the ugly truth straight from the horse’s mouth (www.fda.gov).

“FDA's legal authority over cosmetics is different from other products regulated by the agency, such as drugs, biologics and medical devices. Cosmetic products and ingredients are not subject to FDA premarket approval authority, with the exception of color additives.”

So essentially, the FDA does not scrutinize these products prior to them being sold.

So, who is in charge of checking cosmetics for safety? Here’s what the FDA says, “Cosmetic firms are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products and ingredients before marketing.”

How comforting to know that the same company that stands to benefit from production of a product also determines its safety to consumers. Maybe just maybe a little bit of conflict of interest here. 

But, not to worry, if a company puts an unsafe ingredient in their product, there is a remedy… they can put these 10 little words on the bottle “Warning: the safety of this product has not been determined.” Current FDA rules regarding the cosmetics industry have led to allowing nearly any chemical to be used in personal care products, misleading/incomplete ingredient labeling, so-required safety testing of products and their ingredients, and possible false claims about benefits of a product.

Now that you understand how unregulated cosmetics are, let's move into the chemicals you need to avoid and why. The ingredients that are to be avoided are as follows: DEA, DMDM Hydantoin, fragrance, Parabens, PEG’s and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.

As always some of these products have more than one name, so here is a list from www.savvyskin.com that gives the names you may see on your shampoo bottle that you should avoid in addition to the ones I listed above.

Extremely common ingredients
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
Ammonium Laureth Sulfate
Ammonium Xylene Sulfonate

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
 
Sulfur (in dandruff shampoos)
Selenium Sulfide (in dandruff shampoos)

TEA Lauryl Sulfate

Less common ingredients
Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate

Alkyl Sodium Sulfate

Magnesium Sulfate
Sodium Thiosulfate
Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
Sodium C12-15 Alkyl Sulfate
Sodium Dodecyl Sulfonate

TEA-Dodecylbenzene

Chemicals to Avoid:

DEA/Diethanolamine: This is an emulsifying agent that becomes harmful when mixed with other chemicals in personal care products. The compounds created by DEA are called NDEA and are known carcinogens (cause cancer) in the stomach, esophagus, liver and bladder.

DMDM hydantoin: This chemical is an antimicrobial formaldehyde releaser preservative. This product may cause allergies and skin sensitivity. 

Fragrance: This is a generic term and refers to synthetic chemicals that mimic smells found in nature. There are many carcinogenic (cancer causing) chemicals found in fragrances. The problem is the word fragrance can mean up to 4,000 different chemical ingredients.  

Parabens: These are preservatives used in cosmetics and many other products to prevent bacteria from building up in the products. Parabens used in cosmetics are mostly butylparaben, methylparaben and propylparaben. Parabens are known carcinogens and a study in the UK found five types of parabens in breast cancer specimens. The study does not prove the parabens caused the cancer, rather they just prove parabens where detected in breast tissue. The five parabens found in the breast cancer specimens were benzyl, butyl, ethyl, isobutyl, methyl and propylparaben. I have included a link to this article at the bottom of the blog.

PEG's or PG: Called Propylene Glycol (PG) and Polyethylene glycol (PEG): This product is used in anti-freeze, paint, brake fluid, airplane de-icer and, of course, many personal care products. The problems with PEG’s include: dermatitis, liver and kidney damage and have been shown to inhibit skin cell growth in human testing. They also damage cell membranes, which causes surface damage to skin and results in dryness and rashes.
 
Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate: Can be known as Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, Ammonium Xylene Sulfonate, or TEA Lauryl Sulfate. You may also here it called SLS or SLES too. This chemical is used as a foaming agent in shampoos and cleaning products/detergents. SLS has shown to cause mutagenic effects when used on animals, so should not be used in humans.

Now that you are armed with this information, what is the next step? There is an amazing group called The Environmental Working Group whose mission is to provide information to the public about personal care products and their safety. You may go to http://www.ewg.org/to see their site and check your personal care products at their skin-deep cosmetics database. The EWG has a product rating on almost every product out there with a list of its ingredients and a safety score of 0-9. This is a list of EWG’s worst offenders in the shampoo category:

Adult Shampoo

Bumble & Bumble Curl Conscious Shampoo, Nordic Angel

Bumble & Bumble Curl Conscious Shampoo, Wild Child

Halo Hydrating Shampoo

L'Oréal Kid's 2 in 1 Shampoo, Extra Gentle, Burst of Fruity Apricot

Michael Kors for Men Body Shampoo

Baby Shampoo

Baby Magic Hair & Body Wash with Vitamins

Baby Magic Gentle Hair & Body Wash

Johnson & Johnson Johnson's Soothing Naturals Gift Set

Mustela Bebe Baby Shampoo

Mustela Bebe Foam Shampoo for Newborns

I was shocked to look in my own bathroom and realize every shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion of mine had at least one of the ingredients discussed above. Even my toothpaste contained SLS! Please check back frequently, as I will be searching EWG’s database for safe shampoos and contacting a few companies to request samples of their products so you can look forward to an upcoming blog on safe shampoos with a review of their performance.

Don't forget to check out www.mybreastcanceranswers.com for factual breast cancer information, latest news in the breast cancer world, my wonderful blog and a friendly chat forum. Make sure you join our chat forum to connect with other women and discuss the subjects that are important to you. Don't worry; forum membership is completely free.

Questions for thought:

What shampoos do you use? Do you  have a “safe” shampoo that you love? If so, let us know.

Did you find this blog helpful?

Click link below to read study that found parabens in breast cancer specimens:

http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/newsletter/pdf/v9i1.pdf

Resources:

http://www.healthy-communications.com/5cancercausingchemicals.html

http://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productandingredientsafety/selectedcosmeticingredients/ucm128042.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/151270-ingredients-to-avoid-in-shampoos/#ixzz1ViDMQFtm

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep

http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ucm074162.htm

http://www.savvyskin.com/shampoo-ingredients-to-avoid

http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/newsletter/pdf/v9i1.pdf