Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)

I came across an advertisement in a local 'mystical' magazine about personal hygiene care products made using natural herbs. It was a one-page, small font write-ups about 'real-life' stories of people facing dangerous illnesses supposedly by using the normal, off-the-shelf products that we use everyday.

I checked the ingredients of the products we have inside our bathroom and of course, most of them (even baby products for Daniel) contain the very particular chemical that the advert said would cause the terminal illnesses (and the advise in the advert was supposedly coming from a medical doctor). I remember also receiving a mail about this chemical which was reportedly one of the causes of cancer a few years back.

So, I thought to myself, if really this chemical is dangerous, why doesn't the authority do something to prevent the manufacturers from using this chemical in their products?

Hence, I googled, and below are the results that I would like to share with you (bet some of you smart people knew this already... I am soooo SLOW...hehe)

From Wikipedia:
Sodium laureth sulfate, or sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), is a detergent and surfactant found in many personal care products (soaps, shampoos, toothpaste etc.). It is an inexpensive and very effective foaming agent made by mixing sulfuric acid, monododecyl ester, and sodium salt

From Natural-Health-Information-Centre:

Both Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and its close relative Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are commonly used in many soaps, shampoos, detergents, toothpastes and other products that we expect to "foam up". Both chemicals are very effective foaming agents, chemically known as surfactants.

SLS and SLES are esters of Sulphuric acid - SLS is also known as "Sulfuric acid monododecyl ester sodium salt", however there are over 150 different names by which it is known. In fact, SLES is commonly contaminated with dioxane, a known carcinogen.

Although SLES is somewhat less irritating than Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, it cannot be metabolised by the liver and its effects are therefore much longer-lasting.

A report published in the Journal of The American College of Toxicology in 1983 showed that concentrations as low as 0.5% could cause irritation and concentrations of 10-30% caused skin corrosion and severe irritation. National Institutes of Health "Household Products Directory" of chemical ingredients lists over 80 products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate. Some soaps have concentrations of up to 30%, which the ACT report called "highly irritating and dangerous".

Shampoos are among the most frequently reported products to the FDA. Reports include eye irritation, scalp irritation, tangled hair, swelling of the hands, face and arms and split and fuzzy hair. The main cause of these problems is sodium lauryl sulfate.

Perhaps most worryingly, SLS is also absorbed into the body from skin application. Once it has been absorbed, one of the main effects of sodium lauryl sulfate is to mimic the activity of the hormone Oestrogen. This has many health implications and may be responsible for a variety of health problems from PMS and Menopausal symptoms to dropping male fertility and increasing female cancers such as breast cancer, where oestrogen levels are known to be involved.

However,

From UrbanLegends.about:

Q: Is sodium laureth sulfate commonly found in shampoos and toothpastes?
A: Shampoos, frequently; toothpastes, occasionally. (It's much more common to find the harsher surfactant sodium lauryl sulfate in toothpastes.)

Q: Is sodium laureth sulfate known to cause cancer?
A: No. The chemical does not appear on any official list of known or suspected carcinogens.

Q: Is sodium laureth sulfate properly abbreviated as "SLS?"
A: No. The correct abbreviation is "SLES." People tend to confuse this compound with another: sodium lauryl sulfate, which is abbreviated "SLS." The two substances are related, but not the same.

Q: Is sodium laureth sulfate used to scrub garage floors?
A: No.

Q: What about the other one – sodium lauryl sulfate – is it used to scrub garage floors?
A: No doubt! SLS is a powerful surfactant (wetting agent) and detergent. It is used in both industrial cleaning products and, in lesser concentrations, personal care products.

Q: Is sodium lauryl sulfate commonly found in shampoos and toothpastes?
A: Yes, both. It's also found in shaving creams and other lathering products.

Q: Ah. Well, then, is SLS a known carcinogen?
A: No, it is not on any official list of known or suspected carcinogens. But it is a harsher chemical than SLES, which is why SLES is typically used in baby shampoos instead. Sodium lauryl sulfate is well known to be a skin and eye irritant and can cause dermatitis with prolonged contact in high concentrations. Results of some tests on animal tissues indicate that it's mutagenic — i.e., it may be related to abnormal cell mutations — though the evidence is inconclusive. Even so, scientists familiar with the substance insist it is not dangerous in the concentrations found in personal care products.

There you go. Get your facts right! And I personally think that trying to sell your products by scarying people off other competitions' products this way is SOOOO KEJI, ok?