What's in your shampoo?

Chemicals. Possibly harmful ones. But increasingly, personal-care products are being reinvented to be safer and more eco-friendly. October 15, 2008|By Marla Cone Los Angeles Times At first, the experimental shampoo looked like a putrid salad dressing. Its oil and its water just couldn't get along. They separated in the bottle and, over time, the shampoo took on an ugly brown hue. The team at Avalon Organics, based in Petaluma, Calif., was trying to make a line of hair, skin and bath products without toxic chemicals, using ingredients derived from plants, such as lavender and coconut. "It was a disaster," said Morris Shriftman, the company's vice president at the time. "We thought we had failed." In any recipe, whether for cake or shower gel, swapping out one ingredient for another can result in a complete flop. But the chemists working for Avalon Organics refused to give up. After years of tweaking recipes, at a cost exceeding $1 million, the company reinvented more than 150 products and came to lead a growing movement dubbed "consciousness in cosmetics." Innovations in designing green chemicals are emerging in almost every U.S. industry, from plastics and pesticides to toys and nail polish. Some manufacturers of cosmetics, household cleaners and other consumer products are leading the charge, while others are lagging behind. For decades, many manufacturers used the most powerful weapons in their chemical arsenals, with scant attention to where they wound up or what they might have been doing to people or the planet. Now, in a fresh take on the pre-World War II slogan, "Better Living Through Chemistry," small chemical companies and giant corporations, including BASF and Rohm and Haas, are implementing the tenets of green chemistry, creating safer substances that won't seep into our bloodstream, endanger wildlife or pollute resources. A slow shift Once viewed as part of a fringe lifestyle - rooted in the hippie movement - natural and nontoxic are going mainstream. Driven by regulations, consumer demand, an eco-friendly business philosophy and fear of future lawsuits, large corporations, retailers and manufacturers are eliminating some chemicals, pulling products off shelves and redesigning others. The names are familiar: Wal-Mart, Walt Disney Co., Ikea, The Home Depot, Gerber and Clorox. Yale University chemistry professor Paul Anastas, known as the father of green chemistry, said the movement is "not simply choosing the next, less-bad thing off the shelf. It's about designing something that is genuinely good.

"Green chemistry is not a theory," he said. "It's being demonstrated by companies over and over again." With a little ingenuity, every substance in the world "can be reinvented and made safe," said John Warner, former director of University of Massachusetts' green chemistry doctorate program and now president of a research company creating sustainable chemicals. But the greening of chemistry is a slow shift, not a revolution. Most chemists lack basic training in understanding environmental hazards and seeking safer solutions, and many businesses resist changing familiar chemicals and manufacturing techniques. Even companies such as Avalon Organics are learning that manufacturing a shampoo or shower gel without toxic substances isn't easy. Synthetic chemicals called phthalates add fragrance; parabens kill germs, and sulfuric acid and petrochemicals create a thick lather. Such substances have long been considered key ingredients in cosmetics and bath products. But they have been linked with cancer, skewed hormones and other threats to people and the environment. "We heard from everyone that what we were doing was risky; that it was unnecessary; that all the major cosmetics companies use these chemicals so they couldn't be dangerous," Avalon's Shriftman said. "But we decided to subscribe to the precautionary principle. We wanted to do the right thing. We rebuilt our products from scratch. It took a long time. It took a lot of experimentation. And it took a lot of money." Chemical contamination starts in the womb. Even before taking a breath, the baby's body contains chemicals passed on by the mother. Tests of umbilical cords show that a newborn's body contains almost 300 compounds - among them mercury from fish, flame retardants from household dust, pesticides from backyards, hydrocarbons from fossil fuels. Virtually everything we buy, breathe, drink and eat contains traces of toxic substances. The names are confusing; the list, mind-boggling: Bisphenol A in plastic baby bottles and food cans. Phthalates in vinyl toys. Polybrominated flame retardants in furniture cushions. Formaldehyde in kitchen cabinets. Radon in granite countertops. Lead in lipstick. 1,4-Dioxane in shampoo. Volatile organic compounds in hair spray. Every day, about a half-dozen chemicals are added to the about 83,000 already in commerce. In the United States alone, about 42 billion pounds of chemicals are produced or imported daily.

Ce este in samponul tau?

Prima oara, in experimente, samponul arata ca un dressing de salata putrezit. Continutul de apa si ulei nu se puteau intrepatrunde. Aceste ingrediente se separau in timp, in interiorul recipientului, iar culoarea compozitiei devenea bruna. Echipa de la Avalon Organics, cu sediul in Petaluma, Calif, a inceput sa produca o line de produse pentru par, piele si baie fara chimicale, folosind ingrediente provenite din plante, ca lavanda si nuca de cocos. ,,A fost un dezastru'', spunea Morris Shriftman, vicepresedintele companiei la acea vreme.,,Credeam ca am esuat''. n orice reet, fie pentru tort sau gel de dus, schimbarea unui ingredient cu un altul poate duce la un eec total. Dar chimistii care lucrau la Avalon Organics au refuzat s renune. Dup ani de incercat retete, la un cost de peste 1 milion de dolari, compania a reinventat mai mult de 150 de produse i a ajuns s conduc o actiune n cretere numita "contiin n produse cosmetice." Inovaiile n proiectarea produselor chimice verzi sunt n curs de dezvoltare n aproape fiecare industrie din SUA, de la materiale plastice i pesticide pana la jucrii i lac de unghii. Unii productori de produse cosmetice, detergeni de uz casnic i alte produse de consum sunt in lideri de piata, n timp ce altele au rmas n urm. Timp de decenii, muli productori au folosit cele mai puternice arme din arsenalele chimice, acordand prea putina importanta in ceea ce priveste protejarea oamenilor si a planetei. Acum, ntr-o abordare mai noua pe baza sloganului dinainte celui de al doilea rzboi mondial, "Un trai mai bun prin chimie," companiile chimice mici i corporaiile gigant, printre care BASF i Rohm and Haas,pun n aplicare principiile chimiei verzi, crearea de substane mai sigure, care nu ne vor afecta fluxul sanguin si vietatile din salbaticie, si care nu vor polua resursele naturale. Odat privit ca parte a unui stil de via - nrdcinat n micarea hippie - natural i netoxic devin ceva comercial. Motivate de reglementri, cererea de consum, o filozofie de afaceri ecoprietenoasa i teama de procese n viitor, marile corporaii, comerciani cu amnuntul i productorii elimina unele substane chimice, retrag produsele de pe rafturi i reconcep altele. Numele sunt familiare: Wal-Mart, Walt Disney Co, Ikea, The Home Depot, Gerber i Clorox. Profesorul de chimie Paul Anastas de la Univeristatea Yale, cunoscut ca printele chimiei verzi, a declarat c " nu alegerea pur i simplu a celui mai putin daunator produs de pe raft conteaza. Este vorba de conceperea unui produs cu adevrat bun.

"Chimie verde nu este o teorie,", a spus el. "Este demonstrat de ctre societi in repetate randuri. Cu un pic de ingeniozitate, fiecare substan n lume ", poate fi reinventat i fcuta pentru a fi mai sanatoasa si mai sigura", a declarat John Warner, fostul director de la Universitatea din Massachusetts "i acum preedintele unei companii de cercetare si creare a produselor chimice durabile. Dar ecologizarea chimiei este o schimbare lenta, nu o revoluie. Majoritatea farmaciilor le lipseste formarea de baz n nelegerea riscurilor pentru mediu i cutarea unor soluii mai sigure i multe companii rezista schimbarilor chimice i tehnicilor de fabricaie familiale.Chiar i companii, cum ar fi Avalon Organics sunt nvate ca fabricarea unui sampon sau gel de dus fr substane toxice nu este uor. Substane chimice sintetice aduga parfum, ucid microbii, i creeaza o spum groas. Astfel de substane au fost mult timp considerate ingrediente-cheie n cosmetice i produse de baie. Dar ele au fost legate de cancer, hormoni asimetrice i alte ameninri la adresa oamenilor i a mediului. Am auzit de la toat lumea c ceea ce fceam era riscant , c nu era necesar , ca toate marile companii de cosmetice folosesc aceste substane chimice , ca acestea sunt periculoase ", a spus Shriftman Avalon lui . " Dar ne-am decis s tinem cont de principiul precauiei . Am vrut sa facem ceea ce trebuie . Ne-am reconstruit produsele noastre de la zero . A fost nevoie de o perioad lung de timp . A fost nevoie de o mulime de experimente . i a costat o mulime de bani ". Contaminarea chimic ncepe n uter. Chiar nainte de a respira , corpul copilului conine substane chimice transmise de ctre mama. n fiecare zi, aproximativ o jumtate de duzin de produse chimice sunt adugate la aproximativ 83000 deja n comer. Numai in Statele Unite, aproximativ 42 de miliarde de lire sterline din substane chimice sunt produse sau importate de zi cu zi.