By: Prabh Banga

After watching Annie Leonard's The Story of Cosmetics, I started thinking about all the chemicals I was exposing myself and the environment to through my daily use of personal care products.

I decided to take a closer look at the ingredients in my shampoo bottle. The front label said "enriched with moisturizing formula" but the back label listed over 12 chemicals – chemicals with a toxic rap such as propylene glycol and sodium laureth sulfate.

Most shampoo is filled with damaging chemicals but marketed to turn hair shiny, voluminous and clean. Every day millions of people pour shampoo chemicals down their bathroom drains – chemicals that are finding their way into the environment and are posing a risk to sea life, plants as well as people's health.

Annie Leonard reports that some of the chemicals in our shampoos and personal care products are carcinogens, neurotoxins and reproductive toxins that can cause cancer, asthma, learning disabilities, male infertility, and jeopardize normal brain development and reproduction in animals.

Ingredients to avoid

The following are ingredients you should try to avoid when selecting shampoos and conditioners. This list contains ingredients that dry out your scalp, irritate oil glands, corrode hair follicles and are carcinogenic:

• Sodium Lauryl Sulfates
• Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
• Derivatives of Lauryl Alcohol
• Mureth Sulfate
• Propylene Glycol (Antifreeze)
• Olefin Sulfonate (Deodorized Kerosene)
• Hexylene Glycol
• Butylphenyl Methylpropional
• Geraniol
• Limonene

Is our government doing anything about it?

The consumer product safety division of Health Canada maintains a Cosmetic Ingredient hotlist, an administrative list of substances that are restricted and prohibited in cosmetics, updated several times a year. In 2004, Canada's Cosmetic Regulations were updated to require manufacturers to list ingredients on the package.

In the report released in October 2010 "What's Inside? That counts, A Survey of Toxic Ingredients in our Cosmetics," the David Suzuki Foundation highlights weaknesses in Canada's legal framework governing toxic chemicals in cosmetics and outlines recommendations to better protect human health and the environment.

Buying better shampoo

Fortunately, there are many healthy eco-friendly products that will keep hair looking good.

The Skin Deep database created by the Environmental Working Group in the U.S., can help you avoid certain products while also finding ones that are safe to use. As a general rule, stick to shampoos with fewer ingredients and look them up in the database. For example, Burt's Bees Grapefruit & Sugar Beet Shampoo receives a low hazard score of one out of ten.

In Canada, the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia keeps their own Guide to Less Toxic Products, and the David Suzuki Foundation developed a list of cosmetic chemicals for Canadian consumers to avoid.

Making your own

Perhaps the most environmentally friendly shampoo is the kind made at home. A homemade shampoo will contain only the ingredients the maker puts in it, and choosing safe effective ingredients is easy to do.

An easy recipe consists of baking soda, apple cider vinegar, water. Massage the scalp and hair with a mixture of baking soda and water (1 teaspoon soda per 2 ounces of water). Follow with a conditioning rinse of apple cider vinegar and water (ratio 1:2).

A version of this article first appeared on: simplegreenaction.ca