St Ives Indulgent Coconut Milk Triple Butters Body Wash

Ingredients:
Aqua
Sodium Laureth Sulfate
Sodium Chloride
Cocamide MEA
Glycerin
Butyrospermium Parkii (Shea) Butter
Theobrama Cacao (Cacao) Seed Butter
Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Butter
Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract
Parfum
Glycol Stearate
Tetrasodium EDTA
Methylchloroisothiazolinone
Citric Acid
PPG-9
Stearamide AMP
Methylisothiazolinone

Description:

Water:  H2O, the stuff we drink.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate: Used in most soaps and shampoos, it acts as a foaming agent.  It is what causes soaps and shampoos to lather.  It is known to be an irritant, though it is considered safe in small quantities, the more sodium laureth sulfate used the more irritating it becomes. It is not considered to be a carcinogen.

Sodium Chloride: is your everyday salt.  It is not considered to be toxic and is used as a cleansing agent as well as a thickener. Cocamide MEA: is derived from the fatty acid of coconuts and monoethanolamine. It is used as a stabilizing agent and a thickener.  There is some controversy surrounding this ingredient, some information claims that it is very harmful and others claim that it is not very toxic at all.  Though there is concern about contamination with nitosamines (serious carcinogen).  Glycerin: is pretty benign and of low toxicity.  It is used in products mainly because it is affective at improving the smoothness of the product and is a good lubricant.  Glycerin is a byproduct of bio-diesel.  However, all you vegans take note.  This form is very expensive, therefore it is more often derived from animal fats such as beef and vegetable oils such as coconut or soy beans.  Therefore some products that list glycerin in their ingredients may not be vegan. Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter: Now this is a neat product.  Shea butter is derived fro the seeds of the African Shea Tree.  It acts as thickening agent as well as a skin conditioner.  This product is preferred because it does not turn into a soap as other fatty oils do.  It is considered a natural moisturizing factor because of its close resemblance to the lipid content of human skin.  It helps to regenerate skin, block out bacteria and naturally absorbs UVB rays to protect the skin from the sun. It is  safe to use and considered non toxic.  However do to the fact that it is a nut people with nut allergies need to beware. Theobrama Cacao (Cacao) Seed Butter:  this is extracted from the roasted seeds of the cacao trees.  It is used as a skin conditioning agent, a fragrance ingredient, and skin protectant.  It is considered to be of low toxicity to humans and the environment.  Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Butter:  is created by the isomerization of  the Jojoba oil.  This means that one molecule is transformed into another molecule with the same amount of atoms.  It is used as a skin and hair conditioning agent.  It is considered to be safe and of low toxicity to humans and the environment. Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil:  is the oil extracted from the kernels of the seeds of the coconut palm.  It is used as a fragrance ingredient and conditioning agent.  It is considered to be of low to no toxicity to humans or the environment. Parfum (Fragrance):  Used to make the product smell nice.  Though it is not considered to be harmful or a toxin, it does cause some individuals to develop headaches if it is labelled that it is derived from natural sources. However, the fragrance industry uses up to 3000 ingredients, most of which are synthetic, some 900 of which were identified as toxic. However, the industry is not required to disclose ingredients of fragrances and perfumes on their labels due to trade secrecy considerations. So you don't know what mix of chemicals you are receiving. Some of them are headaches causing, immunosystem toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic. Glyceryl Stearate: is the vegetable derived glyceryl ester from stearic acid, combined with potassium stearate also known as potassium salts.  It is a surfactant and an emulsifying agent.  There appears to be low toxicity from this product and is seen to be relatively gentle for both humans and the environment.

Tetrasodium EDTA: is a preservative made from formaldehyde and sodium cyanide (known carcinogens).  It also acts as a penetration enhancer which means it breaks down the skins natural barrier going right into the blood stream.  It is also classified as a persistent organic pollutant.  It is a known cytotoxin, genotoxin, causes developmental and reproductive effects.  In my opinion this products should be banned. Methylchloroisothiazolinone: it is a preservative as well as antibacterial and antifungacide.  It is a known skin irritant and can cause chemical burns.  It is also considered to be a human immune system toxin.  There has also been studies showing mutagenic effects. Citric acid: This is in many skin care products especially in the anti-ageing products as an alpha hydroxy.  It acts as a chelating agent, fragrance ingredient, a pH adjuster, buffer and masking.  It is not considered to be an environmental toxin, but there are concerns with broad systemic toxicity and skin irritation. PPG-9: is also known as polypropylene Glycol 9, and is a quaternary ammonium salt (positively charged).  It is used to prevent the buildup of static electricity.  This ingredient is considered to be a non reproductive toxin, broad systemic toxin and a skin irritant. Stearamide AMP:  it is an organic compound derived from a reaction involving ethylenediamine and stearic acid.  It is used as a foam booster and viscosity increasing agent.  It is thought to be of low toxicity, however very little information was available.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_bis(stearamide)  Methylisothiazolinone:  Is also known as MIT, it is a biocide and preservative.  It is a known immune system toxin, skin irritant, developmental toxin, contact allergen as well a cytotoxin.  Why are we using this product?  We need to start holding companies accountable and forcing them to start providing products that are beneficial to us not harmful.  The general consumer should really start arming themselves with knowledge that way we can help to advocate for our health. TN