Ingredient of the Week- Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate

Ingredient of the Week:

I chose this ingredient because it was the first things listed on C's shampoo bottle. The interesting thing I found about this search for information is that I didn't jump around the web looking for damaging and incriminating information about this ingredient, I followed a trail, a trail starting from a company that uses and profits from using this ingredient, and the trail led me to the information below. The trail is longer and I can get deeper in depth, but that is for another post… maybe next week...

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate

Ammonium lauryl sulfate (ALS) is an anionic surfactant considered to be gentle and effective cleansing agent and used in many shampoos. The CIR (1983) concluded "ALS appears to be safe in [cosmetic] formulations designed for discontinuous, brief used followed by thorough rinsing from the surface of the skin". In products, intended for prolonged contact with skin, the CIR recommends concentrations at or below 1%. The concentration can be higher in rinse-off products such as shampoos.
ALS belongs to a class of compounds known as alkyl sulfates. Among the man-made anionic surfactants used in detergents worldwide, alkyl sulphates (AS) rank third in tonnage used, after soap (#1) and LAS (#2). They are used in Beauty Care products such as shampoos as well as laundry detergents. Many AS variants are made from natural sources such as coconut oil and animal fats, while others are derived from petrochemicals.
AS are rapidly biodegradable, aerobically as well as anaerobically. AS are nearly completely removed (more than 99%) by traditional wastewater treatment operations.

The information above was pasted from the Proctor and Gamble web site. As you can tell it leans a little to their side. What I find interesting is that this same site goes on to list HERA- The Human and Environmental Risk Assessment on ingredients of household cleaning products as a resource for the above information. If you go to the HERA website, you can easily notice that their Human Health Risk Assessment for Alky Sulphates was "preliminary" back in 2002, and that the full risk assessment is still "in progress".

This same web site also uses the NLH- National Library of Health as a resource. Going to their web site lists products that use ALS, as well as synonyms for it. One of these synonyms is "Sulfuric acid, monododecyl ester, ammonium salt". I don't know about you but the sulfuric acid reference really turns me off as a consumer. ALS sounds so much more inviting, doesn't it?

And going further into the NLH databank to the Hazardous Substance Databank that site goes on to list studies that find ALS skin irritating, eye irritating, and can be drying to the skin, to me that sound a long way away from the "gentle" claim at the P&G web site.