Dangerous ingredients contained in common shampoos

Scientific study reports recently published have revealed the danger and toxicity of two common ingredients used in most shampoos (some of them being even presented and advertised as “natural”):
The surfactants named Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES).

What are they?
Is it true that they are carcinogenic?
Where are they found?
What can be done to protect oneself against this new danger born out of the synthetic cosmetic industry?

What are "surfactants"?

A simple but complete definition is: a substance with a deterging activity, able to “combine” with fat particles (namely the dirt accumulated on the hair) and to disperse them in the rinsing water.
The surfactants in other words are a large category of “soaps”, useful to clean and export dirt from surfaces, thanks to their capacity to raise the “wetting” power of water, making it more cleaning when applied to a surface.
Those substances are often foam makers.
The first surfactant used has been the common soap (alcaline salt of fatty acid)
In nature surfactants do exist, they are known as “saponines”. Their main characteristic is to produce foam when shaken. However all of them are unfortunately irritating for the skin (as for example the Quillaja o Panama wood or the Saponaria).
The synthetic surfactants defined as “anionic”(as for example SLS and SLES) are those mainly used to obtain a simple detergent effect.
Well, up to this point there would not seem to be any reason to worry and it could seem quite impossible to survive without exploiting the highly hygienic function of these substances.
Unfortunately….. there is a problem

Negative effects of anionic surfactants on health and ambient

Years ago already, Professor Gianni Proserpio, responsible for the cosmetic chemistry Department of the University of Turin, had underlined the negative aspects of the surfactants known as “alchyl sulfates” such as SLS and SLES: “The revolution” in the field of shampoos started with the appearance of detergents having a sulfonic or sulfate radical…
… Only recently pharmaco-toxicological researches and dermatological controls have started a critical re-examination of their prolonged use on the skin, bringing into light their physiologic limits.
… The initial enthusiasm was also re-dimensioned by the parallel study done about biodegradability and ecological damages caused by the excessive use (in the industrial, domestic and cosmetic fields). At the beginning it looked like the ideal detergent had been found: lots of foam, no problem with hard water or sea water, fast and complete cleaning. But soon the negative aspects appeared. If we consider the applications to the skin and hair, we can say that the continuous use of these surfactants has generated other problems which may be worse that the ones caused by soap…
Those surfactants, used in excessive doses compared to their detergent force (four times stronger that soap’s), stripped too much fat off the skin and hair, depleting all the skin natural protections…
Sebum, sweat, hydrating factor so eliminated cannot any longer protect the epidermis, which becomes permeable to foreign agents including the surfactant itself which penetrates the skin and generates further damages.
One of the most negative aspect recently discovered of these sulfonates or sulfates is their enzimatic toxicity.
Numerous enzimatic activities useful to life and to the skin physiological processes do take place on the skin.
The action of the synthetic detergents impedes them and generates, in the long run, deep alterations. The first and most evident of which being the excessively dry state of the skin and the devitalised aspect of the hair.
The dermo-physiologists have already declared that the time has come to stop it with those shampoos based on alchyl-sulfates (i.e. SLS and SLES - ndt) that are too concentrated and too foaming.
Unfortunately the belief of the public that the more a product produces foam, the more it cleans and is effective is deeply rooted.
It will take quite a few years to understand that a surfactant that is too deterging is more damaging that useful…” ( Cleaning oneself – the Modern Concepts of Personal Hygiene – Prof. Proserpio – Studio Edizioni sas- Milano).
It took certainly quite some years (may be too many) and numerous toxicologic and allergologic studies to start realising the real danger of such substances.
The Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (still used today in numerous products, even tooth pastes) has become a standard reference for its elevated power of irritation on the skin and in general on the human body.

On an irritation power scale going from 0 to 10, where normal water is rated 0, l’SLS reached a rate of 10.

A recent study done at the University George Medical College has demonstrated that SLS can easily penetrate through the skin and the eye membrane. Children are especially at risk as it could result in cataract during adulthood. SLS deposits for a long time in the skin tissues and reaches slowly the brain, the heart and the lever, etc.
It has been asserted that SLS creates lung damages, hyperactive malfunctions of the breathing apparatus, lung allergies accompanied by discomfort and pain.
The main symptoms of exposure may persist for over two years and appear under the effect of numerous and non specified stimulus such as car exhaust pipe gas, perfumes and passive smoke.
There are now many numerous evidences demonstrating that SLS denatures proteins, causing damages to the skin and the eyes. It can also reacts with nitrate molecules generating nitrosamines which have proved carcinogenic activity.
SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate or Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) comes from the combination of SLS with Ethylene oxide, it is less penetrating , has major foaming power but it can also reacts with various ingredients and form the carcinogenic nitrosamine and the even more dangerous dioxine.
Recent experiments in Germany have demonstrated that SLS and SLES’s aggression to hair bulbs can generate premature hair loss. The paradox being that these ingredients are found in the composition of many “anti-hair loss” shampoos!
The irritating effect of these surfactants seems to grow proportionally to their concentration in the final product. A Review Commission of Cosmetic Ingredients in USA has recently established that these ingredients are not by themselves carcinogenic, but already at a concentration of 2% they can cause certain forms of skin irritation and the more they stay in contact with the skin the more the irritation is intense.
Unfortunately what they omit to say is that in most of the economical shampoos found on the market their concentration is even 10%!
Being quite economical (they create much foam at a low cost) these ingredients are used sometimes at a concentration reaching up to 30%.
A particular the consumer is not able to find out, because the manufacturer doesn’t have to specify on the label the percentage of the different ingredients contained in a cosmetic product.
What protection has the consumer, constantly assaulted by the publicity of the last “very mild shampoo” showing images of soft, shiny and luxuriant hair voluptuously caressed by a spring breeze?

What to do

And what can be done if one thinks that a good shampoo has to create a sea of foam to be good?
a) Observe carefully the list of ingredients on the label (per EU law, all the ingredients of a cosmetic product must be listed in decreasing order of concentration, if the quantity is higher than 1%; in random order if the concentration is less than 1%.
b) Observe amongst the various ingredients if there are the words “…lauryl sulfate” or “…laureth sulfate”; if there are, well… you now know what that means!
c) Understand that an abundant foaming cream is good on a capuccino but not on your head!