Soap dodgers?

There can be a number of reasons for soap dodging: allergies, an ethical stance against the environmental and social cost of soap production, or a general disregard for fellow passengers on public transport. Fortunately, a growing number of ethical alternatives mean that principles and a wide circle of friends are not mutually exclusive.

Here’s the ingredients list of Zaytoun’s ‘olive with lemon’ soap: olive oil, lemon, water and sodium olivate (which just means olive oil made into soap). So why does the Body Shop’s olive oil soap also contain:
• eight synthetic chemicals listed on the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) cosmetics database (see Links) as “moderately hazardous” and four in EWG’s lower hazard category
• a synthetic detergent
• “fragrance” – (or ‘parfum’) meaning any number of fragrance ingredients which do not have to be listed separately

The Babylonians had primitive soap as early as 2800BC, and a soap factory dated 79AD was unearthed at Pompeii. After an interlude for the Dark Ages, when according to J.A. Hunt’s “A Short History of Soap” “personal hygiene was not a high priority,” soap making became commonplace in medieval Europe. By 1192 Richard of Devises was complaining of the terrible stink caused by Bristol’s many soap makers. From then on little changed until Andrew Pears used glycerine to produce his famous transparent Pears Soap in 1789. After the Second World War, however, synthetic chemicals began to be used widely in the manufacture of soap.

Synthetic ingredients
There are questions over the safety of many of these synthetic chemicals for human health and the environment. A recent study has shown that models used to predict which substances are dangerous are flawed. Up to a third of industrial chemicals, including some perfumes, are under suspicion and the report’s authors have called for a review of safety regulations.(1)

To put Body Shop’s ingredients in context, a recent study that analysed how major personal care firms managed “chemical risk” found the company was one of the best.(2) Body Shop also list all product ingredients on its website.

There is great uncertainty regarding the dangers of synthetic ingredients and campaigners point out it is this very lack of research and firm evidence that is of concern.

Of particular concern are ingredients with an enhanced capacity for absorption through the skin, such as EDTA, used in most brands of soap (including Lush and Body Shop). These “penetration enhancers” may carry both themselves and other ingredients into the blood stream and organs. The EWG give most forms of EDTA a “low hazard” rating, with a 75% “data gap”. While the hazard rating reflects known hazards the data gap is a measure of how much is unknown about an ingredient. Disodium EDTA is listed in the higher “moderate hazard” category. Animal and cell studies have raised concern over possible carcinogenic and toxic effects.(3) None of the brands on the table with an ethiscore of score of 13.5 or over contain EDTA.

Some soaps also contain parabens, compounds that mimic oestrogen (usually found in ingredients with a prefix, such as butyl-paraben). Most are listed as moderate to high hazards by the EWG.

Another concern is that ingredients, such as the detergent sodium laureth sulphate (SLS), another “penetration enhancer”, may carry contaminates that are themselves carcinogenic or hormone disruptors.(4)

Remember that ingredients may vary across a brand’s products. For example, the Body Shop’s olive soap does not contain parabens, but many of its other soaps do.

Under EU legislation a number of fragrance ingredients with high potential to cause allergic reactions must now be listed separately.
All our best buys, as well as Suma and Palmoil-free, have ranges free of synthetic ingredients.

Animal welfare issues
Vegetarians should be aware that the ingredient sodium tallowate (found for example in Simple soaps) is derived from animal fat, as is glycerine unless otherwise stated. Lanolin is derived from sheep’s wool.
All Caurnie, Honesty, HealthQuest (Organic Blue), Palmoil-free and Yaoh products are vegan. Most Natural Organic Soap products are except for a couple which contain honey.

Shower Gels
Shower gels, body washes and liquid soaps have replaced traditional bars of soap for many. Manufactured through a different process to soap, these products are likely to contain parabens and sodium laureth sulphate.(5) The plastic packaging of these products also has a higher environmental impact than normal soap packaging. Body Shop shower gels are packaged in 30% recycled plastic.

Palm Oil
Palm oil is commonly used in the manufacture of soap, and its derivatives appear on ingredient lists as “sodium palmate” or “sodium palm kernelate”. It is used by all the brands on our table with ethiscores under 13, as well as by Faith in Nature (which is currently seeking sustainable sources). The devastating consequences of its production in South East Asian rainforests, threatening the extinction of orang-utans, is now well known (see Ethical Consumer issue 105). Less well known is the situation in Colombia, where in some areas rightwing paramilitaries have driven peasants off their land to make way for plantations. The area under cultivation has doubled in four years, largely driven by surging demand for bio-fuels that use palm oil as feedstock.(6)

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2003 to develop a code of conduct for sustainable production. It consists of companies at all levels of the supply chain as well as NGOs such as Friends of the Earth and WWF.

The organisation is not without controversy. It has been criticised for failing to condemn brutal anti-union repression by one of its members, major palm oil supplier Musim Mas.(7) Amnesty International has joined the campaign to free imprisoned Musim Mas trade union leaders.

Lush told Ethical Consumer that after participating in the latest round of RSPO talks, it had concluded that the organisation was compromised by multinationals whose interest was in maintaining the status quo. It was seeking alternatives for its palm oil sourcing. Body Shop recently announced that all of the palm oil used in its soaps will be sourced from the Daabon Group, organic producers in Colombia with a commitment to social responsibility. Soap Box and Natural Organic also source organic palm oil from Colombia.

The RSPO aims to begin certifying palm oil by the end of the year, and products will carry an endorsement from the organisation.

Of the major companies, only Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser and L’Oréal are members. Ethical Consumer contacted all of the non-members asking them to explain their sourcing policies. Only three replied. Colgate-Palmolive stated that it was intending to join, but were not listed as applicants on the RSPO website. Procter & Gamble replied that it supported the RSPO’s principles through its Malaysian partner’s membership. However the company could not produce any other public or policy statements supporting the RSPO, nor credible sustainability guidelines. Accantia was also keen to claim sustainable credentials without demonstrating any commitment to seriously engage with the issues. These replies demonstrate that companies want to claim green credentials – and pressure from ethical consumers can help close the gap between rhetoric and reality.

LINKS

Palm Oil

• You can support the Orangutan Foundation UK by buying its Palm Oil-free soaps (www.orangutan.org.uk or 0207 724 2912) – produced by Little Satsuma (tel. 07730 659 002).
  
• Natural Collection (www.naturalcollection.com) only stock soaps containing palm oil if it is from organic sources.
  
• Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil www.rspo.org +603-6203 5969
  
• The International Union of Food Workers (www.iuf.org) is campaigning against Musim Mas’ anti-union activities.

Ingredients

• Skin Deep is an online safety guide to ingredients produced by the Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org), a US not-for-profit organisation. It pairs ingredients in nearly 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
  
• Women’s Environmental Network maintain a paraben and synthetic free list and other resources (www.wen.org.uk tel.0207 481 9004)
  
• “What’s in this stuff? The essential guide to what’s really in the products you buy” Pat Thomas, Rodale Books 2006

Animal Testing

• BUAV (www.gocrueltyfree.org) lists companies that don’t conduct or commission animal testing.
  
• The Uncaged Campaign (www.uncaged.co.uk/crueltyfree.htm) lists companies that operate a policy of not using any ingredients tested on animals from a fixed date - widely accepted as best practice by campaigners.

References
1 Kelly, B. C. et al. Science 317, 236-238 (2007)
2 Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, ENDS Report issue 386 (March 2007)
3 www.cosmeticsdatabase.com viewed 20/07/07
4 Thomas, P. “What’s in this stuff?” 2006, p.167
5 ECRA shop and web surveys July 2007
6 “Massacres and paramilitary land seizures behind the biofuel revolution” The Guardian 5/6/07
7 www.iuf.org