Campaigning for Organic Integrity in Bodycare Products

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Campaigning for Organic Integrity in Bodycare Products

The word " organic " is not properly

regulated on personal care products (example: toothpaste, shampoo,

lotion, etc.) as it is on food products, unless the product is certified

by the USDA National Organic Program.

Due to this lax regulation, many personal care products have the word

" organic " in their brand name or otherwise on their product

label, but unless they are USDA certified, the main cleansing ingredients

in particular are usually made with conventional not agricultural

material, combined with petrochemical compounds.

Sadly, the commonly used carcinogencic petrochemical Ethylene Oxide

actually generates the carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane in many of

these products.

Tips: Identifying Toxic Contaminantion In Personal Care

Products

 

A new study commissioned by the Organic Consumers

Association found the carcinogen 1,4-Dioxane in a large number of leading

personal care products misbranded as organic, including Giovanni, Natures

Gate and JASON

(

see a full list of products and study results here and read our

 

1,4-Dioxane study press release here.

 

Learn more about 1,4-Dioxane by reading our fact sheet here, and for

a list of ingredients to look out for on a product label that will

indicate the likely presence of 1,4-Dioxane,

click

here.

Consumer advocate David Steinman (author of the Safe Shopper’s

Bible) performed the study with an independent laboratory, and has

written an excellent letter to consumers and given a very clear video

conference along with OCA Executive Director Ronnie Cummins. Major press

has also covered the situation, including the LA Times,

Washington Post and NBC News in Austin.

Alert: Stop Bogus " Organic " Misbranding or

Certification To help remove some of this

misleading organic labeling from the market, in late March 2008, the OCA

and Dr.Bronner's filed Cease and Desist Letters to many of the bogus

" organic " brands who utilize conventional and/or petrochemical

material instead of organic material in making their main cleansing

ingredients, some of whom even tested positive for the carcinogen

1,4-Dioxane in this study. Read the

 

press release here and

the

Cease and Desist letter here.

 

Many of these companies misbrand “Organics” on their labels but consumers

should look for products certified under the USDA like Dr. Bronner’s,

because there are other weak so-called “organic” standards that a product

can become " certified " under, which do not allow ethoxylation

and 1,4-Dioxane, but allow hydrogenation and sulfation of conventional,

not organic material, to make cleansing ingredients preserved with

synthetic preservatives.

Two of these weak standards consumers should look out for are the Ecocert

and OASIS standards; Ecocert actually allows certain petrochemicals in

cleansing ingredients.

 

Learn more here.

Surveys clearly indicate that when a product labels itself as

" Organic " or is sold by a company with the word

" Organic " in its brand name, consumers are willing to pay

extra, because they believe that product does not contain cleansing

ingredients made with conventional and/or petrochemical material, that

may be contaminated with carcinogenic compounds like

1,4-Dioxane.

Surveys clearly indicate that when a product labels itself as

" Organic " or is sold by a company with the word

" Organic " in its brand name, consumers are willing to pay

extra, because they believe that product does not contain cleansing

ingredients made with conventional and/or petrochemical material, that

may be contaminated with carcinogenic compounds like 1,4-Dioxane.

 

See survey results here.

 

OCA's Coming Clean Campaign is focused on cleaning up the organic

personal care industry by ridding of fraudulent labeling that is

misleading consumers. Over 400 organic businesses have signed on to

support this campaign (see a list of supporting

businesses

here or sign your business on to be a supporter

here).