I am new to this forum and was compelled to sign up after the Toxic shows. I watched the 2 episodes of how toxic recently and I must admit, my initial feeling was the knee-jerk reaction of 'oh my god, my shampoo, face wash, shower gel, washing powder etc etc are all terrible and I need to buy natural products NOW'...and i was ready to ditch everything in my house and buy all new, safe natural products.

But, I was reading the other toxic post and noted some comments about how natural products can go 'off' and cause bacteria growth etc which is equally scary, especially someone's example of blindness from an eye cream or something...What I really wanted to know was, out of the chemicals that are in our everyday products, which ones are going to be significantly worse than others...I apologise in advance if this is a very simplistic question and I feel the answer is not going to be straightforward due to the numerous factors involved in the making of the products, but I am more confused now than I was before I watched those shows. For example, lately, I have become label-obsessed and have been analysing the ingredients in items and getting the reports from the skin-deep website. I have noticed some interesting things. After entering the ingredients list of some solid shampoo and body butter from a well known natural store (I am sure you can guess which), I found that some of their stuff still contains (as well as all the scrummy stuff): Sodium Laureth Sulphate, Methylparaben, to name a couple. Now, according to Sarah Beeney and the doctor expert on the show, they referred to these 2 particular things as not good to feature in products. What's confusing me is that if this is the case, why is it still in the ingredients for the above mentioned products? Are these items a main component to stop things going 'off'...obviously its scary to think of putting the chemicals on you, just the same as its scary thinking about some nasty bacterias which have bred in my natural products because there's nothing in them to stop them from? Saying that, I think its probably better (?) if the natural stuff contains only one methylparaben instead of some high street stuff which contains about 5 different types as well as a heap of 'METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONEs'...and PARFUM...thats gotta be the most vague ingredient on the list right??

I am utterly confused on this matter now. I feel we are constantly bombarded with information about what is good and what is bad, but with no alternatives recommended. Coming back to the ingredients thing, I got a report for a common antibacterial liquid hand soap and the report for that was pretty scary. But, what I am thinking is are the alternatives (i.e. normal or natural bar soap for e.g.) actually anti-bacterial? as when you are washing your hands you want to get the grime off them, not just mask, or cover them up with fruity smells for e.g.

Well this has turned into a longer rant than I expected, but since watching those shows I have had a multitude of thoughts swirling around in my head and figured it was a time to get other people's take on it. I appreciate this has probably been somewhat covered in the earlier post, but I wanted to raise this again seperately, to discuss products specifically and the ingredients which are better or worse for us to use.

Good points. I had a big problem with Sarah Beeny and her tame experts as you say they didn't explain themselves properly and contented themselves for going for maximum scare without saying what the relative risks of all these things are.
Its a bit like saying "FIRE IS DANGEROUS" (ok I'll agree) "BAN IT NOW BEFORE IT KILLS US ALL" (Fine, now how am I going to cook me tea now I can't light the gas cooker)
Dramatising a bit, but it leads me to the next point about stuff like SLS and SLES. It comes down to how much you use, and how you use it.
Ms Beeny pointed out that its used to clean car engine blocks. OK might be, but thats as a concentrated industrial cleaner. Shampoo is much, much weaker, so the risks are much much less. Its like comparing vinegar to pure glacial acetic acid (the active part of vinegar concentrated as high as it will go)
A bottle of vinegar is rather nice on your chips, a bottle of glacial acetic acid when uncorked will make you choke, cough and will clear a room in seconds.
Back to SLES, thats used in the shampoo because its cheap, foams and washes well, and is harmless to your skin in those levels. There are other "More natural" detergents, but they are 3 times the price, a bit milder maybe, but they don't foam and wash as well.
The Methylparaben is in there to keep the stuff from going off. Its a reasonable bacteriocide, and is pretty good against moulds as well. Of all the preservatives that are legal, its also the one least likely to give you an allergic reaction.
As for more different parabens being worse, thats strangely enough the opposite to whats true. Theres a thing called the Parabens paradox which means that a mixture of parabens such as Methylparaben and Propylparaben is actually causes less irritation that just one on its own. Thats reflected in the regulations as well. legal limit for 1 paraben 0.4%, legal limit for a mixture, 0.8%.
Methylchloroisothiazolinone, I'm not a fan of as it can cause problems for people with very sensitive skin. If you're not in that part of the population, its not a big problem.
Parfum can be an issue for some people, but there are a lot of unfragranced products out there if you don't want to go that route. Every big brand appears to have at least one in the range, and other brands make a big thing about it and everything is fragrance free across the board. Also a lot of fragrances contain essential oils, even the cheapo ones. These contain allergens too, and can cause a problem if they're in at strong levels.
Antibacterial handwash isn't something I'm a fan of, plain old soap and water is perfectly good at cleaning crud off. If you're having to wash your hands a lot you may prefer handwash, as you might find it less drying to the skin.

A good site to look at is the sense about science one Sense about science
It may give you a better idea of what makes for good science and how to spot the more dubious claims.
In all things, find out, educate yourself, and don't always believe the hype

Hi Nelly, you have some interesting info, I must say since watching those shows, freaking out a bit, and then reading some of the websites and your take on things, I have calmed down somewhat! I think its probably all relative and depends very much on the amounts involved, as you say, what's nice on your chips, in greater concentration will probably knock you out.

yes that makes sense now, I guess the natural products and solid shampoo bars etc will need the parabens more so to stop the natural ingredients from going off.

thanks for the link I will have a good nose around that one later. I absolutely want to educate myself on this, and I think the show was all about the hype and scare tactics. I think the show did have some serious flaws, but personally speaking, it did prompt me into being more aware about the issues and more aware of cosmetics companies and their product claims...and trying to learn more about the subject which can only be a good thing...knowledge is power.

I have to add that some of the 'more natural' foaming agents, or at least the ones I've used, do foam and wash exceedingly well. They are slightly more exepnsive but are mild and gentle and don't strip the natural oils from the skin.
I've made a bath cream that produced a mound of bubbles that were still there the next morning!!

There are also preservatives other than Parabens that work just as well but I think, in the end, it's a case of deciding which ingredients you don't mind being in a product and which ones may cause sensitivites!