OMG even whole foods? It would be better to put up a list of Companies that are faithful, rather then unfaithful. You pretty much mentioned all of the organic companies I can think of.

I'm all for letting the companies know what we consumers don't want in our products. And boycotting is one way to do that. But could boycotting the individual products, not the whole company, be a good solution too? Or are you inferring that they use this chemical through out all of their products?

I am sorry, but this is just nonsense. Those are some of the most ethical companies in the business - Seventh Generation?

Please. This sort of hyped up over reaction is fit for Fox news. You do a disservice to the entire philosophy with this over-the-top exaggerated nonsense. The truly sad thing is that this made it on Digg. Rubbish.

I commend you for stating the facts. I have found it incredibly interesting to be shopping for the best products that I can buy, only to read ingredients labels that include blacklisted ingredients. It is nearly impossible to find truly non-toxic bath and beauty products-even at health food stores which are the only places i shop for these items. I have 4 different books that list the same toxic ingredients and it IS shocking to find them in so-called organic, "gentle" products. It is too bad that the companies you listed have not used better ingredients. Where I have the best luck with body products is at my local co-op where there seems to be more responsibility.

I appreciate your article and if there are nay-sayers to what you have written, I encourage them to do ingredient-research for themselves (and not blindly trust ANY company).

Here are a few of the books that I use for information about product ingredients:

"What's in Your Food?" by Bill Statham

"Dying to Look Good, The Disturbing Truth about What's Really in Your Cosmetics, Toiletries and Personal Care Products" by Christine Farlow

"Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power" by Mark Shapiro

"Food Additives: A Shopper's Guide to What's Safe and What's Not" by Christine Farlow

The above comment by Hoju makes me wonder if he is a PR spokesperson for one of the mentioned companies.

The blogger in this post has referenced studies by reputable consumer interest groups, groups whose purpose is to help maintain adequate health standards and raise awareness of potential dangers stemming from unscrupulous corporate greed. Simply citing these companies as "ethical" is merely giving in to their marketing campaigns.

I applaud the blogger for the well referenced post, and hope that more consumers become more aware of their purchases.

Did you know that there is a difference between "natural" products and "organic" products? Natural products don't need organic certification because they don't pretend to be organic...! And so, even if they use natural components, they can contain (unfortunately) carcinogenics.

I don't think we should boycott some of those companies who, by the way, don't always pretend to sell organic products.... Often, their products are better nevertheless than a lot of chemical ones.

About companies who pretend to sell organic products, but in which we find carcinogenics... that's another story ;)

It is true. This isn't news though; I heard about this on NPR a few years back. Many of the "blacklisted" companies still use less carcinogenic ingredients than any other soap company I am aware of - except for Dr. Bronners. That is the only completely safe soap of which I am currently aware. It's no good for shampoo though as it dries out the scalp.

The FDA doesn't regulate most of the chemicals that go into body care products - under the assumption that they aren't intended to be eaten - so organic companies aren't legally required to have all non-toxic ingredients. If they were, then why would they openly label harmful ingredients on their body care product ingredient list? It's scary though, as human skin when wet is more absorbent than intestinal lining, and anything absorbed through the skin goes directly to the blood stream without liver filtration. The whole body care industry is fucked. I just try to find the least harmful products I can.

It is true. This isn't news though; I heard about this on NPR a few years back. Many of the "blacklisted" companies still use less carcinogenic ingredients than any other soap company I am aware of - except for Dr. Bronners. That is the only completely safe soap of which I am currently aware. It's no good for shampoo though as it dries out the scalp.

The FDA doesn't regulate most of the chemicals that go into body care products - under the assumption that they aren't intended to be eaten - so organic companies aren't legally required to have all non-toxic ingredients. If they were, then why would they openly label harmful ingredients on their body care product ingredient list? It's scary though, as human skin when wet is more absorbent than intestinal lining, and anything absorbed through the skin goes directly to the blood stream without liver filtration. The whole body care industry is fucked. I just try to find the least harmful products I can.

people need to get off this organic crap. it's complete bullshit. it's unregulated. and it's a way to charge more money, simply put. organic hotdog for $7, or typical hotdog for $2, i'll take the typical one, it'll be just as lips-and-assholes as the $7 one, wont it... idiots

Are you guys serious?
Read labels carefully and avoid buying products that contain ingredients with words such as “myreth,” “oleth,” “laureth,” “ceteareth,” or other words ending in “eth” (which implies the ethoxylation process that generates 1,4-Dioxane).
Not all substances containing these are harmful. Over exaggerating is ignorant. Look at any decent shampoo, it has many of these ingredients and tell me it causes Cancer.

RE: bok

First of all, I wouldn't expect someone who eats hot dogs to care much about the environment or their body for that matter, but your comment still deserves some attention.

You in no way proved that organic "crap," is complete bullshit. Or crap for that matter. Now, in regards to the unregulated comment. In combination with the hot dog argument, you fail miserably. The food industry is regulated. Have you ever heard of the USDA? The United States Department of Agriculture? They regulate all agriculture including organics. http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?navid=ORGANIC_CERTIFICATIO&navtype=RT&parentnav=AGRICULTURE

So your claim that the organic "crap" is unregulated is completely wrong. Now, if we are keeping on topic and talking about personal health products you may have a point. But that isn't the example you invoked.

Furthermore, I am assuming you have a basic understanding of economics. Now, given the small market for organics products and the extra work it takes to make organic products it is more than understandable that the organic products cost a bit more. Now, your numbers are probably made up to substantiate your claim. Unless you have exact examples to back up your figures I suggest your refrain from making idiotic claims.

Lastly, you are making the claim that the organic hotdog and the typical hotdog are the same. And of course you don't explain how they are the same, except that they are meat, but that is of course self-evident. You are of course wrong here as well. The difference is that your typical hot dog is pumped with any chemical seen fit by the producer. So, the pig will most likely be injected with growth hormones. Which have harmful effects on humans. Antibiotics to keep its from getting too sick in its terrible living conditions. This of course lowers the effectiveness of antibiotics you would take when you get sick. And who knows what else is being pumped into that hot dog. Ever let one sit out for awhile to see how long it takes to decompose? The typical hot dog isn't good for you in the least. As long as it only costs $2 though, I am sure you are happy to eat it.

In closely. You sir, are the idiot. Nothing you have stated proves that organic products are "bullshit." All you have shown is that you have very little knowledge of what you are eating, what goes into what you are eating and that you have little care outside of your wallet when it comes to your health and the environment.

If you are interested in finding out how safe your personal care products are check out Skin Deep, the cosmetics safety database, at
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

and join the Environmental Working Group's email list through Skin Deep.

Some of the products I use seemed to have a "moderate" score confusingly because of "lack of data". However the database gets updated as new information from research comes in.

Good find but makes me feel uneasy. I thought for sure Seventh Generation would be safe.

Great link to the Coming Clean Study, I'll bookmark that for sure. What would be equally as helpful, but would require more work, would be to list out the email or contact info for all of these companies. I might have to do some digging because this really makes me ill.

I guess this would be a start: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/action.cfm

hate to tell you guys but almost everything, especially in excess is a carcinogen. but yea bad on those companies trying to make money on the fad of organic substances

Organic is a waste of money! They charge you a lot, and only do it to make money.

Re: Kevin

"First of all, I wouldn't expect someone who eats hot dogs to care much about the environment or their body for that matter, but your comment still deserves some attention."

I agree with a lot of what you said in response to bok, but please be careful how you word your retaliation, lest you end up sounding no better than the person who provoked you in the first place. Generalizing, insulting statements like these don't help your cause at all. I care very deeply about the environment and my body, but if I'm at a baseball game for the evening, maybe I want to eat a hot dog regardless of how bad it is for me.

There's a right and a wrong way to make your argument. Be careful which way you choose.

It makes me very sad to see educated people fighting over this. Surely there is a better use for your time and intelligence. I appreciate the person who posted this for bringing it to our attention. Now, as an educated consumer, I will do my own additional research and make my buying decisions based on my own findings. Must we all get so hot under the collar? That's something I find really disappointing about the world today -- it seems like you can't even try to be helpful without it coming back to bite you on the ass.

Regarding the actual subject at hand: I spoke with the regional buyer at my local Whole Foods recently who said she had toured the plants of nearly every natural body product company and the only one she feels completely confident about their use of all natural ingredients is Aubrey. The ingredients are so pure that each bottle only lasts about 6 months, since they contain no preservatives. I would highly recommend looking into their products, philosophy, etc. and deciding for yourself if you'd like to give them a try. I have been happy with their products so far, but I've only been using them for about 2 months.

Now let's all try to get along, eh? United we stand, divided we fall, and this issue is too important for us to let our tempers get in the way of making a difference.

This article brings up some important points that people should know about Dioxane in "organic" products. It also brings up the topic of what the cosmetic industry's definitions of "organic" & "natural" are.
Did you know that the cosmetic industry's definition of "natural" is any ingredient "derived from " a natural source? You'll still see ingredients in natural products with long chemical names followed by the phrase "derived from coconut oil". For example, to create cocamide DEA from coconut oil requires the use of the carcinogenic synthetic chemical diathanolamine (DEA). It is therefore no longer natural.
Did you know that the cosmetic industry's definition of "organic" is any compound containing carbon?
Carbon is found in anything that ever lived. So, by using this definition of organic, they can say that the toxic petrochemical preservative methyl paraben is organic because it was formed by leaves that rotted over thousands of years to become the crude oil used to make this toxic preservative.
The ONLY health & beauty products that are truly safe are Certified Organic by the USDA. Certified organic is an independent 3rd party guarantee of an "organic" claim. They must comply with stringent international standards that cover all aspects of the processing chain to ensure that the organic integrity is maintained from seed, growing, harvesting, storage, transporting & processing through to the finished product.
If anyone is interested in a product line that is certified organic to food grade levels by the USDA & the IFOAM & ACO, check out my website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net & click on the Miessence tab.
There are several new product lines that are certified organic. Compare the ingredient lists. Miessence has the highest percentage of certified organic ingredients & has the shortest list of ingredients. They use cold-pressed & cold-extracted ingredients & are a carbon neutral company.

I get a kick out of suckers that fall for the Whole Foods scam. I used to work for them (at the headquarters in Austin). It's all marketing - and B.S.

Personally, i wouldn't worry too much. You can find carcinogenic substances in the air we breath, the paint we put on the walls, the clothes we breath, and the water we drink.

So why does the OCA say over and over again that 1,4-Dioxane is harmful, yet the single scientific article to which they link (that's the FDA website and THEIR stance on 1,4-Dioxane)states emphatically "The 1,4-dioxane levels we have seen in our monitoring of cosmetics do not present a hazard to consumers.".

Once again, non-scientific, self-proclaimed authorities spouting half-baked notions they try to pass as science...

Try Zum Bar Soap...they have the cleanest ingredients around. www.indigowild.com

"Been There... said:

I get a kick out of suckers that fall for the Whole Foods scam. I used to work for them (at the headquarters in Austin). It's all marketing - and B.S."

Yeah, that is my observation, too. It seems like half their products are not even organic. I can buy a lot of the stuff they sell at the local Safeway or Albertson's, and for half the price. A lot of their products are labeled 'natural', but so what? Toadstools, castor beans and crude oil are natural, but that does not mean they are safe to eat. Also, natural is *not* the same thing as organic.

I think the blog entry is very good because it will make people think twice about the bs that often is used to market organic/herbal/natural products.

David Suzuki's web site has a nice set of videos about making your own cleaning products.

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/video/

David Suzuki's web site has a nice set of videos about making your own cleaning products.

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/video/

Hello everyone. I stumbled upon this site and it seems fascinating.