Here’s a rather snarky article in today’s salon.com exposing the toxic nature of most commercial shampoos.

“Of the 22 shampoo ingredients in my hand, all except three have proved to contribute, or are suspected of contributing, to health or environmental problems. Most of these ingredients, though known toxins, are permitted for use, because the small quantities limit human and environmental exposure.”

I’ve been using JR Liggett’s bar shampoo for a couple of years now and I love it for several reasons: minimal packaging (so no plastic bottle to recycle), and one bar lasts me around 8 months.  Also, I don’t use conditioner so it saves me time.  Oh, and it’s really cheap.  And biodegradable.  I really like this stuff.  I’ve been using Burt’s Bees bar shampoo for the kids, but it didn’t really work that well on my much-thicker hair.

This is another one of those issues where one person changing their habits alone is only going to make minimal impact.  That the FDA does pretty much nothing to regulate the chemicals used in these products that are washed down all of our collective drains day in and day out is really pathetic.  Check out the full article here.