“Natural” and “Organic”: What do they mean in cosmetic products? by Erin Ely

My journey started about 6 years ago, when I began to have the awareness/awakening about the kind of personal care & skin care products I was using.  I have been eating organic and local foods for over 15 years.  While I was always very conscious about what kind of food I was buying, I never thought much about the daily products I was using like toothpaste and shampoo.

Over the years as people have become more aware of and concerned about the chemicalization of society, more and more cosmetic companies are jumping on the “natural” and “organic” bandwagon.  For years I thought I was purchasing organic shampoo and skin care only to find out I was not.  It turns out that there are no standards for the use of “natural” or “organic” on product labels in the cosmetic industry.  Product buyers like myself who care about the type of ingredients that are in products are being misled by the “greenwashing” of cosmetic products in the marketplace.

Why should we care about this?

Our skin is the largest eliminatory organ in the body and our first line of immunity. It is permeable to all chemicals.  Medical research shows that significant amounts of cosmetic ingredients, including carcinogenic substances, penetrate the skin and end up in our blood stream.  Many chemicals in cosmetics don’t cause obvious signs of toxicity on the skin, but slowly poison us through repeated use.

The average adult uses 9 personal care products daily exposing them to 126 chemicals every day.   Nearly 90 percent of the 10,500 ingredients the FDA has determined are used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety by the CIR, the FDA, or any other publicly accountable institution.*

When someone ingests a chemical, it is passed through their digestive tract and, depending on what it is (like BPA for example), can be recognized as a dangerous substance by your body.  As part of a natural mechanism for coping with dangerous substances, the chemical is altered and then flushed out of your system. ** This not the same for chemicals that are put on your skin.  They go directly into your blood stream and are not “deactivated” in the same way as something you ingest.

The cosmetic industry is self-regulated.  Manufacturers are not required to tell us about the dangers associated with the ingredients they use.  In her 7^th edition update: A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, Ruth Winters points out that “the FDA is now allowing cosmetic companies to self-affirm whether their products are generally recognized as safe…. Why shouldn’t a company self-proclaim it’s chemical compound as ‘safe?’  It is good for sales but not necessarily for us.”  She goes on to say that many cosmetic companies are manufacturing their ingredients in China where there is little governmental oversight, unsanitary conditions, and unregulated sources of raw materials are all too common.

I’m sure there are some who will disagree with this information and say that daily exposure to these chemicals is not significant.  There is plenty of scientific evidence to support the claims that frequent exposure to small amounts of harmful chemicals can impact your health over the long term.  Dr. Samual S. Epstein (Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Illinois)  covers this extensively in his recent book: Toxic Beauty.

As a person who buys organic products, I want to know when I see a label that says “organic” that  the product is TRULY organic.  I am willing to pay extra for organic products if they are truly organic.  This is the big challenge for consumers when they are buying cosmetic products.  They do not know what they are getting when they see the words “natural” and “organic” on a label.

What does “natural” and “organic” mean on a cosmetic label?

You and I probably think of the term “organic” to mean grown and cultivated without the use of chemicals.  That would be the conclusion most cosmetic companies would like us to make when we see the term on a cosmetic label.

Most cosmetic companies using the term “organic” on their labels are using the chemistry definition of organic – meaning a compound that contains carbon.  Carbon is found in anything that has ever lived.  By using this definition of organic, it could be said that a toxic petrochemical preservative called methyl paraben is “organic” because it was formed by leaves that rotted over thousands of years to become oil, which was used to make this chemical preservative.

If we look at the term “natural” we are probably thinking of someting that is existing in or formed by nature, not artificial.  The trend on product labels today is to see a long chemical name followed by the phrase “derived from coconut oil” or some other type of “natural” sounding ingredient.  This is misleading labeling and it’s wrong.

These “derived from” ingredients are nothing more than chemicals made to sound like natural ingredients. For example, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, said to be dervied from coconuts, has been found to contain dangerous levels of ethylene oixide and dioxane, both potent toxins known to cause cancer, created by the manufacturing process.

Another marketing ploy many companies use is the “floral water”.  Since water is the primary ingredient in many cosmetics, some manufacturers are claiming to use organic hydrosols, or floral water, to greenwash their products and make organic label claims.  The best explanation of this comes from the Organic Consumers Association:  “How to Read and Interpret ‘Organic’ Personal Care Product Ingredient Labels” (pdf).

Manufacturers are purposely misleading consumers by using the phrase “derived from” a natural source and using floral waters to make us think we are purchasing and using products with natural and organic ingredients.  Once an ingredient is taken from nature, chemically processed and altered, it is no longer in it’s natural state.  For manufactures to insinuate that a chemical substance is natural by adding the phrase “derived from coconut oil” is deceitful.

The Organic Consumers Association (www.organicconsumers.org), a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., has done a tremendous amount of work in conjunction with Dr. Bronner in bringing forth this issue.  Together they have filed a law suit against body care companies who are misleading consumers with their labeling fraud. **

How do we know what we are buying is truly “natural” and “organic”?

There is one simple way to differentiate between hype and truth in cosmetics – READ the ingredients lists.  This is crucial.  When you see a cosmetic product, by-pass the front label and read the ingredients list.  If the ingredients are long chemical names with “derived from,” this is not natural or organic. Don’t fall for the “floral water/infusion” trick.  It’s just water with a tea bag in it.

There are defined standards for organic when it comes to food.  When a food meets this standard it is “certified organic,” and it is verified by a third party independet body like USDA or ACO (Australian Certified Organic).  This is the highest level of verification there is for an organic product.  While these standards do not apply to cosmetic products, some cosmetic manufacturers have choosen to manufacture their products to meet these standards. When you see a cosmetic product that has a USDA or ACO logo then you know the product is certifed organic, and it meets the food standard.  Food in a bottle, i.e. it’s edible.

Food standard certified organic means your product is: at least 95% organically produced agricultural ingredients (excluding water and salt). The remaining ingredients (up to 5%) can be non-agricultural substances or non-organically produced agricultural ingredients, with strict processing criteria (eg: absolutely no GMOs or synthetics chemicals).

Since there are no standards for cosmetics in regards to “natural” and “organic” product claims, many unwitting consumers are paying premium prices for “fake” organic products.  Don’t be misled by false labels that say “natural” and “organic”.  Look for a third party, independent organic certification logo on your product bottle.  When you see USDA or ACO logo on your product you’ll know it’s organic.

Is “natural” and “organic” really better?

Our bodies can tell the difference.  The body responds to and resonates in harmony with things from nature.  By using 100% absolutely natural, edible ingredients in what we  nourish our skin with, we honor our body’s innate intelligence

* EWG.org: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/research/whythismatters.php

** Getting to the bottom of plastic bottle risks: http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/09_49/b4158052774264.htm

*** Organic Consumers Association; Coming Clean Campagin: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm

Resources:

Cancer Prevention Coalition: Carcinogenic and Other Toxic Ingredients  in the Majority of Cosmetics & Personal Care Products

Organic Consumers Association: Coming Clean Campaign

Environmental Working Group: Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database

Erin Ely

Erin Ely is owner of ElyOrganics.com – an online portal for miessence® certified organic products. Erin is an organic fanatic, strategic optimist, community and political activist.  She tweets about environmental health issues, climate change, progressive politics, local food and more.

Erin lives in Eugene, Or with her husband Doug and two children Locke (19) and Maggie (15).