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Unnatural hazards
Some major brands of shampoo, shower gels and
dish soap marketed as natural and organic in the United States contain
small amounts of a potentially dangerous chemical, according to a report.
An independent lab's tests of more than 100 personal-care products sold
in natural food stores found trace amounts of 1,4-dioxane in 46 products,
according to the Organic Consumers Association. The petroleum-based
solvent, which causes cancer in animals, is not added as an ingredient but
appears as a byproduct of manufacturing.
The OCA, which represents US consumers and manufacturers in the natural
foods and organic industry, says some of the products tested had the
Department of Agriculture organic seal, none of which contained
1,4-dioxane.
The group's report is the latest salvo in a five-year battle over
organic and natural marketing claims that has divided the booming natural
products industry. The group said the presence of 1,4-dioxane poses a
health risk and undermines natural and organic claims by some
manufacturers.
But government regulators disagree on whether trace amounts of
1,4-dioxane in personal-care and household products are dangerous. The
Food and Drug Administration, which regulates personal-care products, said
the amounts typically found in cosmetics "do not present a hazard to
consumers."
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which regulates household
cleaners, has no limit for 1,4-dioxane and evaluates the safety of
products on a case-by-case basis, spokesman Scott Wolfson says.
California requires products that contain more than 0.03 parts per
million of 1,4-dioxane carry a warning saying that the contents may cause
cancer. The amounts the OCA found were as high as 97.1 parts per million
in a brand of dish liquid.
Products that the OCA says had 1,4-dioxane included Jason Fragrance
Free Satin Soap, Citrus Magic 100 Percent Natural Dish Liquid, Alba
Botanical Passion Fruit Body Wash and Whole Foods Market 365 Everyday
Value Shower Gel. Products that tested negative included Burt's Bees Body
Wash, Dr Bronner's and Sundog's Magic Orange Lavender Organic Lotion,
Clorox Green Works Natural All- Purpose Cleaner, and Dr Hauschka Body Wash
Fresh.
The OCA receives 90 percent of its funding from individuals and the
rest from grants, some of which are from companies. Only two of the
group's funders make personal-care products, and the OCA tested the
products of only one, Dr Bronner's Magic Soaps, which did not contain
1,4-dioxane. It did not test products from the other funder, Intelligent
Nutrients, because they are not widely available.
The results were a surprise to some of the companies named in the
report. "It's the first we've even heard of that," says John
Howell, technical director of Kennesaw, Georgia-based Beaumont Products,
which produces Citrus Magic 100 Percent Natural Dish Liquid. "We'll
look into both our raw materials and anything we can think of"
Whole Foods makes natural but no organic claims for its 365 Everyday
Value products. Spokeswoman Cathy Cochran-Lewis says the company plans to
investigate the report's findings.
Lisa Lehndorff, a spokeswoman for Hain Celestial, which owns Jason and
Alba, says that the Jason tagline of "pure, natural, and
organic" refers to ingredients and that Alba makes no organic claims.
The natural claim means "we strive to use ingredients originating
from natural sources," she says.
Personal-care products with the USDA organic seal must consist of at
least 95 percent organically produced ingredients. That policy was the
result of a settlement between the USDA and the OCA, which sued the agency
three years ago, saying it failed to police organic claims on those
products. Misuse of the USDA organic seal carries penalties of US$11,000
(HK$85,800) per violation and a ban on using the seal for several years,
spokeswoman Joan Shaffer said. 2008-04-26 |
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