1,4-Dioxane: Efffffffff. Be Ready to Toss Some Products!

Part of the process of living sustainably is a willingness to reexamine your products and practices based on new information. The goal is to use products that are as “clean” as possible, though sometimes the stuff we think is safe turns out to be worse than we thought. A week ago, the Organic Consumers Association posted a release about 1,4-Dioxane. Here’s what the release has to say about this chemical by-product:

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.

If you think you’re safe from 1,4-Dioxane (and other harmful chemicals) because you buy your products at Whole Foods or at other natural foods stores, think otherwise: 1,4-Dioxane has been found in products from JASON, Giovanni, Kiss My Face, and Nature’s Gate. According to this full chart, the worst offenders are Method and the 365 line of body card products. WTF, Whole Foods?

To avoid products that produce 1,4-Dioxane as a by-product, look for the following listed in the ingredients of a product, either as the full ingredient name or as a PART of an ingredient’s name:

What really peeves me about the 1,4-Dioxane findings is how it’s explained by manufacturers whose products contain the compound. Some of them say that it’s found in such low doses as to be safe; some say that the only tests that we have are animal tests and that no one knows for sure how this chemical will affect humans; and some say. To all of these arguments, I call bullshit. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has a great Q&A-type essay explaining why all of these excuses are wrong. I’m especially offended by the excuse that the animal tests don’t provide enough evidence to say that 1,4-Dioxane is harmful to humans. The compound has been found to cause cancer in animals, there’s no question about that. It’s nice to know that labs somewhere have been causing cancer in otherwise-healthy lab rats and chimps so that body care manufacturing companies can claim that the money-saving additives in their products are PROBABLY safe. I refuse to be one of their human test subjects, thank you very much.

I’ve been incredibly disappointed with Whole Foods’ 365 line of hair and body care for a long time now, though I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here on the site yet. But this issue has sort of put the nail in the coffin for me on these products. People TRUST you, Whole Foods, how could you put such crappy ingredients in your private label products in the pursuit of “value?” You’re totally ruining your perception in the public eye, at least among those who stay up-to-date on current research about body care product additives. I love you, Whole Foods; why do you mock me so?

Whole Foods’ 365 products are just one line of products that contain 1,4-Dioxane. Go to Skin Deep* for a thorough ingredient listing on any of your favorite products, and use it as a resource to find new products that are free of harmful chemicals. Also, below is a list of helpful links that can provide a good starting point for you to learn about 1,4-Dioxane and how to avoid it.

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ Myth vs. Fact: 1,4-Dioxane
The EPA’s Hazard Summary of 1,4-Dioxane
Skin Deep*

*Remember, 1,4-Dioxane is not an ingredient, it’s a by-product of other ingredients, so it’s better to search by product and examine the results for the ingredient names I listed at the top of this post.