Soap is an essential part of modern hygiene, at least in what is called the civilized world. Not all people in the world use soap, anyway – most of the indigenous people don’t. Soap is used in a variety of ways, from being a beauty product to a sanitizing agent. The active soap ingredients make for its beneficial or debilitating effects on our system.
Are you the type of consumer who likes to scrutinize product labels? If not, then it’s probably time you do. Much of what we use, consume, and put on our bodies in the modern society account for the increasing health issues today – and soap ingredients are no exception. Take a look at the soap ingredients of that bar you recently opened and placed in the bathroom.
Most soap ingredients today consist of these top ingredients: parabens (methyl, propyl, butyl, ethyl), synthetic fragrance, synthetic colorants (labelled as FD&C or D&C), petroleum derived ingredients (petroleum, mineral oil, Vaseline), sodium lauryl sulphate, sodium laureth sulphate, formaldehyde, aluminum, toluene, phthalates, polyethylene glycol compounds, and synthetic alpha hydroxy acids. These chemical soap ingredients are often used as preservatives in the cosmetic industry (and thus, for soaps, too) to lengthen the shelf-life of soap products.
Several studies showed that these soap ingredients cause several skin problems (like dermatitis, clogged pores, skin aging), and because they are absorbed into the bloodstream can cause a toxic shock into our system. A majority of these synthetic soap ingredients have also been found to be carcinogens in several studies. Parabens, for instance, were found in breast tissues of cancer patients.
Ironically, soap ingredients do more harm than what they proclaim – as cleansing agents. Instead, they strip the skin’s natural pH balance and destroy including the harmless bacteria on our skin that would’ve served as its natural protection against environmental agents.
What we can do
Although we practically have little choice over manufactured soaps that flood on grocery shelves, there are national and international organizations devoted to safeguard consumers against harmful soap ingredients. In fact, many of the notorious synthetic soap ingredients have been banned in several countries for the above reasons.
Also catching up in the competition are herbal soaps that use natural ingredients as an alternative to synthetically manufactured soaps. These soaps might be less popular that their synthetic counterparts but many consumers are discovering their benefits far more than the regular soaps.
So, the next time you go to the grocery be a smart shopper and read the labels. It’s for your own good and your family’s, too.
