While I was in the shower this morning I decided to look at the ingredients in both my shampoo and conditioner bottles. To my surprise, it was full of numerous chemicals that I could not pronounce. Next, I observed that all these suds and chemicals were being washed out and going down the drain( once the shower water goes down the drain it heads through pipes to a waster water treat plant where it goes through primary and secondary treatment and then it is flushed back into rivers, lakes or the ocean).
As soon as I jumped out of the shower, I headed straight to my computer to look up the ingredients and how they change the environment.
First I looked into Sodium Laureth Sulfate: which makes the shampoo bubble and foam. Accordingly to the David Suzuki Foundation, Sodium Laureth Sulfate can harm human development and does not biodegrade which is dangerous for marine species.
Secondly I looked into Tetrasodium EDTA which is a water soluble ingredient used to bind mineral ions. It is used to prevent deterioration of the cosmetic product. This is also a product that does not biodegrade easily in the environment.
Next I looked into the ingredient I could not pronounce or had know clue what it was: Methylisothiazolinone. I dare you to say that word three times fast.....bet you can't! To my surprise this is an antimicrobial preservative which is placed in products to inhibit bacterial growth. Studies have shown that is a neurotoxin and is chemically toxic to both freshwater and marine organisms. Yuck!
Finally, I decided to look into fragrance. What is it? I assumed that it was naturally derived. I believed that it was an essential oil, and or mixture of essential oils. To my surprise, it is a combination of chemicals. It can be derived from Petroleum ( a mineral oil jelly) which has been linked to cancer. Fragrance can include up to 3,059 chemicals. Fragrance chemical makeup does not degrade and is released into our water ways. Waste water treatment plants are only able to remove up to 50% of fragrance. The other 50% or more is not removed. Fragrance chemicals can attach themselves to the fatty tissues of aquatic organisms. A survey was done in Galacia Spain where they found significant concentrations of fragrance in the sea water. The key chemical components found were Galaxolide and Tonalide.
I found this utterly disturbing. Am I destroying the environment every time I wash my hair? Do I switch to a greener and more biodegradable shampoo and conditioner? Maybe next time I purchase shampoo, I might not just buy what is popular and what is recommended by my hair stylist, but I might look into ingredients first.
Recommendations: In order to make this blog worthwhile, I decided to look into shampoo's and conditioners that are not harmful for our environment and that work great. These are the products I recently went out to buy and loved. They contain none of the dangerous chemicals that are listed above in my Paul Mitchell Shampoo and Conditioner.
Kiss My Face Shampoo:
Kiss My Face Conditioner:
References:
http://thegreentoilet.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-happens-to-water-you-flush-down.html
https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/dirty-dozen-sodium-laureth-sulfate/
https://www.thespruce.com/methylisothiazolinone-how-its-used-1707023
https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/dirty-dozen-petrolatum/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135404001642