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2009-1,4-dioxane
news |
Carcinogenic 1,4-Dioxane Found
in Leading "Organic" Brand Personal
Care Products
USDA Certified Products Test
Dioxane-Free
ANAHEIM,
CA - A newly released study
commissioned by the Organic
Consumers Association (OCA), a
watchdog group with over 500,000
members, and overseen by
environmental health consumer
advocate David Steinman (author of
The Safe Shopper's Bible),
analyzes leading "natural" and
"organic" brand shampoos, body
washes, lotions and other personal
care products for the presence of
the undisclosed carcinogenic
contaminant 1,4-Dioxane. A reputable
third-party laboratory known for
rigorous testing and
chain-of-custody protocols,
performed all testing.
Ethoxylation, a cheap short-cut
companies use to provide mildness to
harsh ingredients, requires the use
of the cancer-causing petrochemical
Ethylene Oxide, which generates
1,4-Dioxane as a by-product.
1,4-Dioxane is considered a chemical
"known to the State of California to
cause cancer" under proposition 65,
and has no place in "natural" or
"organic" branded personal care
products. 1,4-dioxane is also
suspected as a kidney toxicant,
neurotoxicant and respiratory
toxicant, among others, according to
the California EPA, and is a leading
groundwater contaminant. Although
previous studies have revealed
1,4-Dioxane is often present in
conventional personal care products,
this new study indicates the toxin
is also present in leading "natural"
and "organic" branded products, none
of which are certified under the
USDA National Organic Program. The
products/brands tested are listed on
the attached page with the level of
1,4-Dioxane detected, if any, along
with ethoxylated ingredients listed
on the label.
Some of the Leading Brands Found
to Contain 1,4-Dioxane:
Both the OCA and Steinman are
calling for misleadingly labeled
"Organic(s)" brands which include
ethoxylate ingredients or otherwise
utilize petrochemicals in their
ingredients, to drop all organic
claims from their branding and
labeling. "The practice of
ethoxylating ingredients or using
other petroleum compounds must end
for natural personal care, and is
that much more outrageous in
so-called 'organics' brand
products," says Ronnie Cummins,
Executive Director of the OCA.
"At a time when our nation is
dangerously dependent on foreign oil
and attempting to wean itself off
unnecessary dependence on
petroleum-based ingredients in major
consumer products for national
security reasons, it is
self-defeating that we are literally
bathing ourselves and our children
in toxic petroleum compounds," says
Steinman. "But consumers should also
take heart in the emergence of a
growing number of companies who've
received the message and who are
seeking to completely avoid
petrochemicals in their cosmetic and
personal care products. Your best
bet is to purchase products whose
ingredients you can pronounce or
better yet are certified under the
USDA National Organic Program."
Brands Found not to Contain
1,4-Dioxane:
All USDA Certified brands tested in
this study were 1,4-Dioxane-free,
including:
All German Natural "BDIH"
Certified brands tested
were found to be 1,4-Dioxane-free:
A visit to any health food store
unfortunately reveals the majority
of products in the personal care
section with "organic" brand claims
are not USDA certified, and contain
only cheap water extracts of organic
herbs and maybe a few other token
organic ingredients for organic
veneer. The core of such products
are composed of conventional
synthetic cleansers and conditioning
ingredients usually made in part
with petrochemicals. According to
market statistics, consumers are
willing to pay significantly more
for products branded "natural" or
"organic" which they believe do not
contain petrochemical-modified
ingredients or toxic contaminants
like 1,4-Dioxane.
To avoid 1,4-Dioxane, the OCA
urges consumers to search ingredient
lists for indications of
ethoxylation including: "myreth," "oleth,"
"laureth," "ceteareth," any other
"eth," "PEG," "polyethylene,"
"polyethylene glycol," "polyoxyethylene,"
or "oxynol," in ingredient names. In
general, the OCA urges consumers to
avoid products with unpronounceable
ingredients. "When it comes to
misbranding organic personal care
products in the US, it's almost
complete anarchy and buyer beware
unless the product is certified
under the USDA National Organic
Program," says Cummins.
The study builds on the extensive
survey conducted by Steinman for his
book
Safe Trip to Eden, in association with
the
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the
Breast Cancer Fund and the
Environmental Working Group,
which found that many mainstream
children's bubble bath and shampoo
products contain dangerous amounts
of this undisclosed carcinogen.
Very few, if any, cosmetics or personal care
products list 1,4-dioxane as an ingredient (i),
even though an analysis by Campaign for Safe
Cosmetics co-founder the Environmental
Working Group suggests that it may be found
in 22 percent of the more than 25,000
products in the Skin Deep database of
cosmetics products (ii). That's because
1,4-dioxane is a frequent contaminant of
common cosmetics ingredients (iii), but as a
contaminant it is not listed among
intentionally added ingredients.
Products That May Contain 1,4-dioxane
Because it is a contaminant produced during
manufacturing, the FDA does not require
1,4-dioxane to be listed as an ingredient on
product labels. Without labeling, there is
no way to know for certain how many products
contain 1,4-dioxane—and no guaranteed way
for consumers to avoid it.
Most commonly, 1,4-dioxane is found in
products that create suds, like shampoo,
liquid soap and bubble bath. Environmental
Working Group's analysis suggests that 97
percent of hair relaxers, 57 percent of baby
soaps and 22 percent of all products in Skin
Deep may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane
(iv). Independent lab tests co-released by
the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in 2007
showed that popular brands of
children's bubble bath and body wash
contained 1,4-dioxane.
Besides sodium laureth sulfate, other common
ingredients that may be contaminated by
1,4-dioxane include PEG compounds and
chemicals that include the clauses "xynol,"
"ceteareth" and "oleth."
Where It Comes From
1,4-dioxane is generated through a process
called ethoxylation, in which ethylene
oxide, a known breast carcinogen, is added
to other chemicals to make them less harsh.
This process creates 1,4-dioxane. For
example, sodium laurel sulfate, a chemical
that is harsh on the skin, is often
converted to the less-harsh chemical sodium
laureth sulfate (the “eth” denotes
ethoxylation), which can contaminate this
ingredient with 1,4-dioxane.
Alternatives do exist, but many companies
don't take advantage of them.
Vacuum-stripping can remove 1,4-dioxane from
an ethoxylated product, or manufacturers can
skip ethoxylation entirely by using
less-harsh ingredients to begin with (v).
Organic standards do not allow ethoxylation
at all. A study by the Organic Consumers
Association (vi) shows that 1,4-dioxane is
nonexistent in a variety of cosmetics
produced and certified under the USDA
National Organic Program, as well as other
products.
Health Concerns
Research shows that 1,4-dioxane readily
penetrates the skin (vii). 1,4-dioxane is
considered a probable human carcinogen by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(viii) and listed as an animal carcinogen by
the National Toxicology Program (ix). It is
included on California’s Proposition 65 list
of chemicals known or suspected by the state
to cause cancer or birth defects (x). The
California Environmental Protection Agency
also lists 1,4-dioxane as a suspected kidney
toxicant, neurotoxicant and respiratory
toxicant.
It is highly unlikely that any one product
containing 1,4-dioxane will cause harm on
its own. However, repeated exposures from
many different products add up. The same
baby could be exposed to 1,4-dioxane from
baby shampoo, bath bubbles and body wash in
a single bath, as well as from other
contaminated personal care products today,
tomorrow and the next day. Repeated
exposures to a single carcinogen,
synergistic effects from exposures to
multiple carcinogenic and mutagenic
ingredients, and concerns about exposures at
key points in development (such as
pregnancy, infancy and puberty) are cause
for concern even though little risk is
evident from a single small exposure.
Malkan, S.
2008. Panic in the Organic Aisle: How a
Dirty Scandle is Forcing the Natural
Products Industry to Come Clean. Conscious
Choice, August 2008. Available at http://seattle.consciouschoice.com/2008/08/organicpanic0808.html.
Accessed August 19, 2008.
ii Environmental Working Group (2007).
Impurities of Concern in Personal Care
Products. Available at
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/research/impurities.php.
Accessed August 19, 2008.
iii Environmental Working Group (2007).
Impurities of Concern in Personal Care
Products. Available at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/research/impurities.php.
Accessed July 28, 2008.
iv Environmental Working Group. 2008. EWG
Research Shows 22 Percent of All Cosmetics
May Be Contaminated With Cancer-Causing
Impurity. Available at http://www.ewg.org/node/21286.
Accessed August 19, 2008.
v Environmental Working Group (2007).
Impurities of Concern in Personal Care
Products. Available at
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/research/impurities.php.
Accessed July 28, 2008.
vi Organic Consumers Association. Results of
Testing for 1,4 Dioxane. Available at
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/DioxaneResults08.cfm.
Accessed August 19, 2008.
vii Spath, D.P. “1,4-Dioxane Action
Level.” March 24, 1998. Memorandum from
Spath, Chief of the Division of Drinking
Water and Environmental Management,
Department of Health Services, 601 North 7th
Street, Sacramento, California 95814 to
George Alexeeff, Deputy Director for
Scientific Affairs, Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment. Viewed at:
http://www.oehha.ca.gov/water/pals/pdf/PAL14DIOXAN.pdf
viii Environmental Protection Agency (2003).
1,4 Dioxane (CASRN 123-91-1). Integrated
Risk Information System. Available at
http://www.epa.gov/NCEA/iris/subst/0326.htm.
Accessed August 19, 2008.
ix National Toxicology Program (2005).
Report on Carcinogens, 11th Edition; U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services,
Public Health Service, National Toxicology
Program, January 2005. Available at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s080diox.pdf.
Accessed August 19, 2008.
x Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHAA) (2004). State of
California Environmental Protection Agency.
Chemicals known to the state to cause cancer
or reproductive toxicity. Available at
http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/files/41604list.html.
Accessed August 19, 2008.
Further Resources:
Downloads:
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65/prop65_list/files/41604list.html.
Accessed August 19, 2008. |
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