How to evaluate if a product is truly non-toxic:

If you are at the beginning of learning what non-toxic truly is then you may need to figure out where to start and how to educate yourself.

It is possible to always take the advice of others and what they say is non-toxic but by going that route then you will be easily deceived because you haven’t taken the time to educate yourself on what qualifies as non-toxic. I have seen it happen far too often, when someone says it’s non-toxic or all-natural it still has preservatives or ingredients that were derived from all-natural things but have been modified so that they are not natural anymore. This is why I encourage you to become informed and capable of interpreting an ingredient label.

You may be wondering what is so bad about toxic ingredients, isn’t that word a little strong and should be saved for things like mercury and formaldehyde? Well yes and no because a lot of little exposures to something add up to be a big exposure and become a large toxic burden. And you would be surprised at how many products contain formaldehyde. Even baby soap has been found to contain formaldehyde. Some makeup has talc or foundation containing preservatives, soap contains artificial scents and other synthetics and the list goes on and on.

Where to start:

A great starting point is to look up the EWG score of a product and start familiarizing yourself with the ingredients that have the worst score. Once you are more familiar with these ingredients you will be able to recognize whether a product is all-natural or contains toxic ingredients

If you use the EWG site to inform yourself, you will need to know what the EWG score means.

The higher numbers of 7-10 are reserved for higher hazard ingredients and the amount of secrecy around what is used to make an ingredient.
The moderate level is 3-6 should still be avoided. But if you must purchase something, let it be moderate or less.
The safest products are those that receive a score of 2- EWG verified. (1)

You may wonder how the EWG evaluates a product to result in a final score. EWG states that they: “Calculate a product score, by reviewing an individual ingredient hazards and evaluate each product in relation to the rest of the products in the Skin Deep database. The safest products score well by both measures, with a low hazard rating and a fair or better data availability rating.” (2)

What qualifies as a toxic ingredient?

Ingredients that cause cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity, use restrictions, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity, biochemical or cellular level changes, persistence and bioaccumulation, ecotoxicity, irritation, occupational hazards, enhanced skin absorption, & contamination concerns (3)
You can find a products score at: https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/search.php?ewg_verified=products

Some general rules to follow are to avoid these ingredients:

Parabens, Phthalates, Formaldehyde, DMDM hydantoin, polyoxymethylene urea, diazolidinyl urea, bromopol, imidazolidinyl urea, glyoxal, methenamine, quaternium-15, and sodium hydroxymethylglycinate. Talc, Mineral Oil, BHA & BHT, Petrolatum or petroleum jelly, Polyethylene (PEGs), Diethanolamine (DEA), Triclosan, Siloxanes or silicones.

To truly avoid synthetics you will want to avoid synthetic colors and look for skincare and makeup products that use plant-based and minerals as their colorants.

Other ways to learn

A good rule to consider when reading what an ingredient label includes, do you know what each ingredient actually is? If you don’t then look up the ingredient and get to know the ingredient. This will take time up front but it will expand your knowledge which will reduce the time it takes to read and interpret an ingredient label in the future.

You can look up a specific product and find out its rating but this won’t expand your knowledge. Or you can look up what products are EWG verified then search for those products online.

What about Dandelion Naturals?

Did you know that fragrance has received an 8 rating by the EWG due to
“Endocrine disruption (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), Ecotoxicology (low), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate)” (4)

Fragrance is the most common ingredient that we often see on products that are labeled “natural,” so be cautious when you see the “all natural” label! This term is not regulated so it has many different meanings. At Dandelion Naturals we take this term very seriously.

Shampoo is one of many products that include artificial fragrance, there are over 2,250 products that contain artificial fragrance and that is not an exhaustive list. (5) Fragrance can be made from thousands of undisclosed chemicals. Check out our blog post about why we don’t use artificial fragrances. You can find it at: https://dandelionnaturals.com/are-artificial-fragrances-non-toxic/
Other words that you may find on an ingredient label that is a synonym to fragrance are:
Aroma
Fragrance
Parfum (6)

Our shampoo and conditioner bars contain only pure essential oils that offer nourishing ingredients and a pleasant smell. And they do not contain water, because we don’t want to create something that is mostly water.

You can find our shampoo and conditioner bars at: https://dandelionnaturals.com/product-category/shampoo-conditioner-bars/

You can purchase our products like our lotion bars which do not contain water so there is no need for a preservative and no risk for mold. They are very moisturizing and nutrient-dense due to being a water-free product.

You can find our lotion bars at: https://dandelionnaturals.com/product-category/lotion-bars/

Other water-free, preservative-free, and fragrance-free products can be found on our website like laundry detergent, dish soap, and more! Our website is: www.dandelionnaturals.com

Resources:

https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/search/?search_type=ingredients (1), (2), (3) (4)
https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredients/702512-FRAGRANCE/ (5) (6)