What's in a shampoo?

The most common shampoo ingredients are ammonium lauryl sulphate or ammonium laureth sulphate, which make your hair clean (stop the greasies or oil). The rest are feel good ingredients, part of the 'marketing ploy' to convince consumers that something beautiful happens to their hair.

These are shampoo's factors for 'feel good' effect:

• Shine: Mildly acidic substances such as citric acid are added
• Thickeners: Salt, glycol distearate, cetyl alcohol, and ammonium xylene sulfonate are added
• Lather: Chemicals like cocamide MEA (a toxic that works with the plastic PEG-7M)
• Colour: Some like red dye no. 3 have cancer-causing tendency (problem for humans/environment)
• Smell: Not specifically labeled, a combination of ingredients could be harmless/noxious
• Conditioner: Dimethicone is used to coat the hair (this is also found in herbicides)
• 'Special' ingredients: "Infused" with beer, exotic proteins, vitamins, antioxidants, or extracts are added
• Preservatives: All the above ingredients would go bad if not for sodium benzoate (it kills every living thing that might start to grow in a shampoo bottle)

Consumers be informed!
These chemicals are tough to track down because tracking chemical names is tricky as they have aliases and fake IDs, play a role in many different products, and are shifty when caught and questioned even if they have long toxicity records or are suspects in a range of problems.

Some argue that these toxins are permitted for use because of the small quantities used. In the long term with continued exposure, no one knows what is gonna happen. They also claim most of the ingredients "may" cause health concerns. The word "may" is used because most chemicals have NEVER been tested. Of the more than 80,000 chemicals registered and used in the U.S. since World War II, fewer than 500 have ever been properly studied for their effects on humans and the environment. So it's hard to say exactly how dangerous it is to use shampoo every day. Geez!

What is the big deal anyway?
When a man rinses his hair, all the ingredients wash down the drain, carrying the grease to boot. And as one man's shampoo travels down the pipe, it meets up with a woman's, and so on, and so on, and so on. At least 350 million gallons of shampoo and its unregulated ingredients flow down U.S. drains every year. And many of these chemicals flow straight into our freshwater systems! Now, think about it, how often are our freshwater systems maintained thoroughly? I rest my case.

Harmful health effects
Shampoo contributes to high levels of estrogen and estrogen-like substances (endocrine disrupters) in freshwater downstream of sewage treatment plants that damage fish populations and cause male fish to grow ovaries! One study by Calgary, Canada identifies more than 200 chemicals that are still present in wastewater even AFTER treatment! We're inadvertently dumping chemicals into the environment that have never been studied.

A good practice in Canada
Health Canada proposes concentration limits for two common shampoo ingredients, siloxanes D4 and D5, aka, Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane that make hair easier to dry, silky soft, and easier to work with (also used when making plastics and paint!).

How can we work with authorities?
One suggestion is to do a petition (collective power, people!) to get authorities to restrict such harmful ingredients from ending up in the ingredient list of shampoos our beloved family use almost daily 24/7, 365 days a year for practically a lifetime (as we are such nice loyal consumers to a particular brand we like right?).