Organic & Natural Personal Care Products

I was looking for more information on organic and natural personal care products, including shampoo, soap, cosmetics, etc., and decided I should post what I've learned, since these products labels can be even more confusing than those on food!

From USDA.gov:

• The FDA does not define or regulate the term "organic," as it applies to cosmetics, body care, or personal care products.
• The USDA regulates the term “organic” as it applies to agricultural products through its National Organic Program (NOP) regulation, 7 CFR Part 205.
• If a cosmetic, body care product, or personal care product contains or is made up of agricultural ingredients, and can meet the USDA/NOP organic production, handling, processing and labeling standards, it may be eligible to be certified under the NOP regulations.
• The operations which produce the organic agricultural ingredients, the handlers of these agricultural ingredients, and the manufacturer of the final product must all be certified by a USDA-accredited organic certifying agent.
• Once certified, cosmetics, personal care products, and body care products are eligible for the same 4 organic labeling categories as all other agricultural products, based on their organic content and other factors. [ See: What Do Those Organic Labels Mean, Anyway? ]
• Any cosmetic, body care product, or personal care product that does not meet the production, handling, processing, labeling, and certification standards described above, may not state, imply, or convey in any way that the product is USDA-certified organic or meets the USDA organic standards.
• The USDA has no authority over the production and labeling of cosmetics, body care products, and personal care products that are not made up of agricultural ingredients, or do not make any claims to meeting USDA organic standards.
• Cosmetics, body care products, and personal care products may be certified to other, private standards and be marketed to those private standards in the United States. These standards might include foreign organic standards, eco-labels, earth friendly, etc. USDA’s NOP does not regulate these labels at this time.

According to TheGreenGuide, the top four ingredients to avoid are:

1. Phthalates: Studies have shown a connection between this chemical and genital abnormalities in baby boys. Avoid products that list "fragrance" as an ingredient, and look for ones that tell you what the fragrance is from (i.e. essential oils, mint, etc.).
2. Parabens: Very common in personal care products, these have been shown to be weak estrogen mimicking chemicals, and have been found in biopsy samples of breast tumors.
3. Coal Tar: A possible cancer risk, as warned by the FDA in 1993. Can be found in many hair dyes and strong psoriasis and dandruff shampoos.
4. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES): May cause scalp irritation and hair loss by stripping away protective lipids and attacking the hair follicle.

If you are worried about your shampoo, cosmetics, deodorant, and other personal products, you can view their risk factors at the Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database. Just search the product or ingredient you want more information, and it will tell you the risk level (higher number=more risk), and give you the details about the ingredients.