Image: istockphoto.com
History of clean
The most basic recipe for soap was created by the Phoenicians who combined boiled goat tallow with wood ash. In 1790, the French chemist, Nicholas Leblanc, was able to extract caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) from common table salt, which soon replaced wood ash.
Soap ceased to be a luxury in the mid-1800s, when the Belgian chemist, Ernest Solvay, perfected the method for making soda ash. We’ve used this simple recipe for soap until our love affair with chemicals began.
New but not improved?
But nothing is simple in this multi-billion dollar industry. Most commercial bar soap manufacturers take out the glycerin, a by-product created during the soap making process, replacing it with a lesser-quality chemical moisturizer. (They can sell the glycerin for use in other products.) They also add chemical fragrances to evoke the essences of fruit, flowers, an Irish spring and the ocean breeze! Controversial dyes supposedly help to enhance the soap’s appearance.
Fighting more than just germs
Probably the most worrisome ingredient is Triclosan, added for its germ-fighting properties. But a growing number of scientists and researchers not only think this is unnecessary, but could lead to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria and a massive public health issue. Despite most manufacturers claiming it’s a safe ingredient, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered it as a pesticide, similar to agent orange and other harmful dioxins and chlorophenol, a class of chemicals suspected of causing cancer in humans.
Since we absorb 60 percent of whatever is put onto our skin, there is some concern about Triclosan being stored in body fat. Long term exposure to this chemical has been shown to damage the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs, suppress the immune system and disrupt hormones. Researcher Peter Vikesland has shown how Triclosan reacts with chlorine in tap water to create chloroform, another chemical highly toxic to humans (and used for euthanizing animals.)
Ironically, according to the Mayo Clinic and other researchers, Triclosan has little to do with killing bacteria. It’s actually the friction from washing your hands properly for a good 30 seconds that gets rid of germs.
Bar soap versus liquid
Today’s pampered consumers expect much more than just getting clean. They want to smell nice, have soft skin, look younger and have an overall experience. Simple soap doesn’t seem to provide that anymore. Sales of body washes and shower gels in the US topped $1 billion annually, according to EuroMonitor International, a global marketing research company.
But the growing trend towards liquid soaps and body wash products dumps us back into the problems of petroleum-based plastics. Throwaway plastic packaging adds to the mountain of garbage. If you do want to use liquid body wash then be sure to choose something organic in a recyclable bottle.
The greenest alternative is a bar of organic soap wrapped in simple brown paper. You can also make your own body wash by grating up one third of your favourite bar of soap, adding some boiling water, stirring it and filling a hand-pump bottle. It will cost you a fraction of what you are paying for pre-made body wash.
How to pick organic
The World Watch Institute has these pertinent suggestions for finding a good organic soap:
Joan McDougall is a freelance writer in Bedford, Nova Scotia.
Green Living Network
What am I supposed to do? Only a 0.3% Triclosan is in the products that I use. Is there a safer alternative that would work as efficiently?