5 Toxic Soap Ingredients You Should Keep Away

Last Updated on December 25, 2020

The vast majority of us have a well-defined skincare routine, however simple it may be. Whether you use an exfoliant, moisturizer, anti-wrinkle cream, sunscreen, and a thousand more things to keep your skin healthy and young, or simply soap, you will always need skincare products. Unfortunately, most of them are filled with chemicals, some that could have harmful effects on the skin or organism of certain consumers. Recently, people have become more aware of this issue mainly due to all the hype around natural products on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. To make you even more conscious of this potential problem, we have decided to present a list of toxic chemicals commonly found in all types of soap and other skin products. That being said, here are X toxic ingredients that you need to avoid in soap:

1. Parabens

Parabens are chemicals used in several industries as preservatives due to their bactericidal and fungicidal properties. As such, their main function in skincare products is to prevent microorganisms from contaminating and altering the contents of those products, thus making them ineffective. Although they are considered safe by regulators, they have been used in industry for a relatively short time causes a few concerns among certain groups of researchers. A 2004 study suggested that it may present a risk to the endocrine system, and there’s a slim chance it could be linked with breast cancer cases, which lead some consumers to move away from this compound. However, you should know that a study review published a year later considered the link between Parabens and breast cancer “biologically implausible.”

2. Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Commonly known as SLS, sodium Laureth sulfate is a cheap compound produced from coconut or palm kernel oil used in soaps (including dish soaps), shampoos, toothpaste, and a series of other care products due to its cleaning and emulsifying properties. Furthermore, it is also a highly effective foaming agent. Just like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLES) and other detergents, SLS is also a known irritant. This means that it can cause allergic reactions with varying degrees of severity in the skin of consumers. Additionally, it can also irritate the eyes and lungs. That’s why certain entities considered it toxic even though it is labeled as safe for consumer use in many countries – such as the United States of America and Australia, for example.