Ingredients to Avoid:  Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) and   Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) are closely related surfactants. Surfactants are a type of chemical that have an effect on the surfaces they touch. They are commonly used to make products lather, reduce surface tension to break bonds in order to trap dirt and clean surfaces, and help other chemicals emulsify or mix (like oil and water). SLES is an ethoxylated derivative of SLS, meaning it has been processed using ethylene oxide. 

It might be easier to tell you where they are NOT found, because SLES and SLS are found in a HUGE variety of personal care products, such as:

foaming facewash, laundry detergent, shampoo, soap, and toothpaste, just to name a few. They can also be found in cleaning products and even used a food additive in the United States (The use of SLS as a food additive is banned in Europe). 

 Sodium Lauryl Sulfate can be derived from either petroleum or vegetable based sources, such as palm oil - and there's no way to tell which you're getting based on current labeling standards. Petroleum is a non-renewable resource. And while Palm Oil can be regrown, the extraction can also lead to habitat destruction and biodiversity loss, so SLS is not great from an environmental standpoint. In addition to the environmental impacts of the raw materials used to derive this ingredient, SLS is also a very common skin irritant. It's pretty harsh on your skin barrier and hair, and can cause dryness, redness, itching, flaking, and strips your skin and hair of natural oils. If you experience eczema, you may want to consider evaluating and avoiding this (and related ingredients) in all products that come in to contact with your skin (including laundry detergent!). Additionally as we wash these chemicals away and down our drains, they can build up in soil and water, and have even been linked to neurotoxicity of aquatic life. 

SLES is a derivative of SLS, so all the same sourcing concerns regarding environmental impact still apply. Because SLS is so harsh, it's often processed in to SLES. The ethoxylation process makes for a chemical that is overall gentler, but even SLES is linked to skin and eye irritation which can build up over time. This means you might be able to use a product for a while without a reaction and suddenly develop a sensitivity to these harsh chemicals. However, the bigger concern is that in the ethoxylation process, SLES is commonly contaminated with measurable amounts of 1,4-dioxane, which is a suspected human carcinogen. I'm sorry, what? Erin, did you just say a chemical commonly found in my facewash could be linked to cancer? Yep. And that's a NO from these 2 cancer survivors, especially when there are safer alternatives available that don't have links to suspected carcinogens! 

Because 1,4-dioxane is a contaminant/by product and not an ingredient intentionally added by manufacturers, it won't be listed on an ingredient label. And you definitely won't find it listed on cleaning products, whose ingredients don't even legally have to be disclosed. This is why we choose to avoid the potentially contaminated ingredients all together. 

In personal care products where ingredients must be listed, SLES may also be called:

● DSSTOX_GSID_29298

SLS and SLES are very common and widely associated with skin, eye, lung, and scalp irritation. The manufacturing process that derives SLES from SLS makes SLES a more gentle and better tolerated chemical, but also introduces the potential for contamination by cancer-causing agents. There are also concerns about the environmental impact of these ingredients, which may be derived from petroleum with negative environmental impacts, and may also be toxic to aquatic life. We avoid these ingredients in products we recommend because they are not good for the planet, better for our communities, OR best for you. 

EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database (2007-2016). Sodium Laureth Sulfate. Available online:  https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706089/SODIUM_LAURETH_SULFATE/ December 8, 2016.

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