[Melissa2012B]

I don't have a very serious chemistry background. I had 12th grade chemistry in high school in 1965 and got all "A"'s in it, because of a great teacher, then went on to pre-engineering at a community college, for electronics engineering, and had lousy teachers for chemistry, so I made two C's and a D and changed my studies to electronics technology instead, becoming a ASET ( Associate in Science in Electronics Technology ) R&D technician instead of an engineer. Thanks lousy teachers.

But anyway, I've been wondering about shampoos. For years, I used a popular commercial shampoo ( won't mention names here ) that contains Sodium Benzoate and a witches brew of other chemical names that I don't even have any idea about. But the stuff works great on my hair, it makes it look great.

Then of course, we ran into a "natural foods, etc..." person who said that Sodium Benzoate has benzene and is a carcinogen. I didn't have enough chemistry to know, nor do I know if there's enough of these things in there, to be a serious health threat. But I tried a totally organic natural shampoo for a few years ( Dr. Bronner's, or something ) which is castillle shampoo, and it makes my hair look crummy and washed out. So I'm interested as to whether the commercial stuff has enough of these chemicals to even worry about?

Also lipsticks: We heard years ago that, while the cosmetic companies are giving financial support to "Cures" for cancer and all that, their products are causing it in women. We even heard that lipsticks contain lead? Which of course gets on the lips and is ingested when we eat. True? I'm not sure what can even be done if it's true, except to stop using them.

[discodermolide]

I don't have a very serious chemistry background. I had 12th grade chemistry in high school in 1965 and got all "A"'s in it, because of a great teacher, then went on to pre-engineering at a community college, for electronics engineering, and had lousy teachers for chemistry, so I made two C's and a D and changed my studies to electronics technology instead, becoming a ASET ( Associate in Science in Electronics Technology ) R&D technician instead of an engineer. Thanks lousy teachers.

But anyway, I've been wondering about shampoos. For years, I used a popular commercial shampoo ( won't mention names here ) that contains Sodium Benzoate and a witches brew of other chemical names that I don't even have any idea about. But the stuff works great on my hair, it makes it look great.

Then of course, we ran into a "natural foods, etc..." person who said that Sodium Benzoate has benzene and is a carcinogen. I didn't have enough chemistry to know, nor do I know if there's enough of these things in there, to be a serious health threat. But I tried a totally organic natural shampoo for a few years ( Dr. Bronner's, or something ) which is castillle shampoo, and it makes my hair look crummy and washed out. So I'm interested as to whether the commercial stuff has enough of these chemicals to even worry about?

Also lipsticks: We heard years ago that, while the cosmetic companies are giving financial support to "Cures" for cancer and all that, their products are causing it in women. We even heard that lipsticks contain lead? Which of course gets on the lips and is ingested when we eat. True? I'm not sure what can even be done if it's true, except to stop using them.

Sodium benzoate is a salt of benzoic acid and I think it is used as food preservative, it is certainly not carcinogenic.
Lipsticks do not contain lead. I suppose they may have done right back at their inception but not now.
So don't worry.

[Dan]

See also:

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=50438.0

[Melissa2012B]

Thanks! So what about the other stuff in these products? is it generally pretty safe?

We need to be more careful not to listen to these snake oil peddling "natural and organic" types, I suppose.  

[eazye1334]

Sodium benzoate is one of those things that "natural" foodies have latched on to as their cause du jour. The truth is that it's in a lot of food items, specifically sodas and other acidic foods. There are no real long-term studies on the effect of sodium benzoate on the system, so the unknown part scares some people. It's likely that as long as you're not consuming it in extreme quantities, you're ok.

[discodermolide]

Sodium benzoate will not react with vitamin C to give benzene, that is rubbish.

[Melissa2012B]

Thanks guys!