No one knows exactly what amount of the compound may be unsafe. In scientific studies, lab animals that had been fed 1,4-dioxane for many weeks developed nasal, liver and gall bladder cancers. But scientists do not now know what, if any, cancer risk humans face from years-long use of products containing the chemical.
The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates cosmetics, has set no standards for 1,4-dioxane. The agency has occasionally tested products for the compound since the late 1970s and says levels of it have substantially declined since then. The FDA says the current levels "do not present a hazard to consumers," although it has advised the industry to reduce amounts in cosmetics as much as possible.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, March 15, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 43 words Type of Material: Correction
"Natural" products: In Friday's Business section, an article about tests on 100 "natural" and "organic" products showing that nearly half contained a cancer-causing chemical gave the wrong last name for the consumer advocate who directed the study. He is David Steinman, not Steinberg.
Josef Koester of Cognis Corp., a Cincinnati-based chemical company that caters to manufacturers seeking "green" compounds, said most companies can avoid 1,4-dioxane but that it "typically requires a higher price point and sometimes performance restrictions for the product. How green the formulators want to go -- it is their choice."
No standards govern the words natural or organic for personal care products. But a few companies, including TerrEssentials, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and Sensibility Soaps Inc., which makes the Nourish brand, have certified their products as organic under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food standards.
But because the vast majority of shampoos, soaps and other consumer goods do not carry the USDA organic seal, it's nearly impossible for buyers to know whether the ones they use contain 1,4-dioxane because the chemical is not listed on ingredient labels. Products most likely to contain the compound usually list polyethylene glycol or compounds with the syllables PEG, short for polyethylene glycol, -eth or -oxynol-, according to the FDA.
Dishwashing liquids are particularly hard to keep free of 1,4-dioxane because they require surfactants that are powerful grease cutters.
Seventh Generation uses coconut oil in its dish soaps, which although it is processed with a petrochemical and vacuum-stripped, still contains almost 2 parts per million of 1,4-dioxane. Wolf said the only way to remove all traces would be to use another surfactant that irritates skin, which the Burlington, Vt.-based company considers unacceptable.
Seventh Generation is "working with several surfactant manufacturers to look for alternatives to this process to modify coconut oil," Wolf said. "We're not there yet. We have more work to do."
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marla.cone@latimes.com
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On latimes.com
Test results
A list of 100 products tested for 1,4 dioxane and levels of the probable carcinogen detected can be viewed at latimes.com /business/productlist.
