Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS) and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) are common primary or secondary detergents in commercial shampoo formulas. Should you be looking for one or the other in the shampoo you choose for your hair?
In terms of chemists working up a formula for a shampoo, the biggest difference between the two is how soluble they are in water. ALS is more than three times as soluble in water compared to SLS, which makes it an attractive ingredient for chemists to choose for use in clear or colourless products.
As to how they perform in your hair removing oil and dirt, they are identical. Both are recognised as being very effective detergents, particularly in lifting oily dirt.
Is either ingredient toxic? Both ALS and SLS share similar toxicity and pH profiles. So if you have an urge to drink your shampoo or rub it into your eyes, both ingredients will have the same effect. Basically, they will both taste awful, are very unlikely make you sick, and sting quite a bit if you get it in your eyes.
Does Sodium Lauryl Sulfate cause cancer? No, this is an urban myth. In 2000 a report on SLS from the Journal of the American College of Toxicology was altered heavily to falsely imply that SLS caused cancer. This bogus report has since been widely copied and circulated on the internet.
This falsified report is still frequently cited by small, independent shampoo companies trying to promote sulfate-free shampoo as an antidote to female pattern hair loss, among other health issues. To date no connection has been demonstrated between the use of sulfates in commercially available shampoos and ill health or hair loss.
Shampoos that use ALS or SLS are completely safe for normal external use and are perfectly effective to use on all hair types. Provided the shampoo is rinsed thoroughly from the hair, there is no risk of irritation to even sensitive skin.
Cancer-NO Probably not, but sls is very drying to hair and skin. sls has corosive properties that over strip the oils from the hair. sls can even damage hair folicles in a newly shed hair. The damaged hair folicle leads to hair thinning.sls effective? Yes, it removes oil, but it removes too much. I quit using sls and sles, and have seen a dramatic improvement.
ReplyDeletesles(sodium laureth sulfate) is in question about causing more side effects since the chemicals used to lessen the harshness to the hair (sles is derived from sls) can enter the body through the pores. So although it is more gentle on the hair, it is worse for the skin.
This gets rather complicated. I avoid sulfates now and my hair and skin shows it for the better.
Do you have an article of the effects of sulfates and hair?
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteTo completely ruin a great Mark Twain quote, there are lies, damned lies, and stuff repeated so often on the internet it gets adopted as gospel truth.
Anonymous, I am really sorry, but you have been mislead. I am so glad you brought up all these brilliant points, but there are so many of them that are misleading at best and just false in fact, that I will respond properly to all of them but my first draft response was more like a book.
I will deal quickly, though, with two of the more alarming claims, which are:
1. The business about follicular damage by SLS. This is part of the original falsification in 2000 of the original paper written by the CIR in 1983, which I mentioned above. The CIR and the Journal of the American College of Toxicology have NEVER published a paper making this statement. They work even to this day trying to correct this (among others) completely baseless assertion.
Here is the link to both their statement AS WELL AS their original paper: http://www.cir-safety.org/staff_files/alerts.pdf
2. As to SLS being absorbed through our skin, SLS is a very widely used carrier in the pharmaceutical industry to aid absorption of drugs. The safety levels of SLS for this use is very heavily researched. Further, SLS biodegrades rapidly, 100% within 24 hours and is also easily metabolised and excreted by humans. This is also very well researched and documented.
Thank you again for taking the time to respond as this is exactly the type of information I want to clear up for people.
I also have a sneaking suspicion as to why you like your sulfate-free shampoo more than your original shampoo. It has probably nothing to do with sulfates and everything to do with concentrations.
I assure you I will be posting more on this topic.
Watch this space! :)
Well, I’ve taken 5 tablespoons of Shikakai powder with 4 tablespoons of Lotus powder and mixed it with some water till it appears to be yoghurt like, left it over night and applied it the next morning on to the wet hair for about one hour.
ReplyDeleteAfterwards I rinsed the hair out and felt that it really made a big difference, my hair felt so soft as if I had used conditioner and shampoo.
Dear Anita,
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! And bringing up Shikakai powder.
Shikakai powder (which you can buy on the internet!) is made from the bark, leaves and seedpods of the acacia concinna plant. Acacias are one of many, many plants that contain chemicals that are called saponins.
Saponins characteristically have soap-like qualities when mixed with water, so have been used obviously by humans as a soap probably since prehistoric times ... until actual soap was discovered.
What you probably didn't know is that saponins by and large aren't dangerous to humans. But they are very effective at poisoning fish, reptiles and some insects. These plants are traditionally also used by indigenous people not just as a shampoo, but for fishing. By poisoning the water.
Another interesting fact about acacia concinna pod extract is that tested against other saponins (which are used in the formulation of vaccines as an adjuvant) is that some research suggests it is very effective in stimulating a strong immune response, but *only* when it is paired with the target antigen. It doesn't stimulate the immune system all by itself. And of course it has to be injected or taken orally in order to be absorbed.
Acacia concinna extract has been flagged in the medical literature as something needing greater research in terms of toxicity. It is obviously poisonous in that it interferes with normal cell functions. We just don't know in what quantities.
This doesn't have anything to do with using it as a shampoo, which is probably perfectly safe for you. It's just a cool fact.
Oh, and Shikakai powder doesn't "nourish" the hair as is often claimed. It's just soapy.
Now for the Lotus powder. Generally speaking we're talking about the powder of the rhizomes of nelumbo nucifera. Virtually this entire plant is edible and, importantly for this particular discussion, the root powder is used as a thickener, much as we use cornstarch or tapioca.
Why this works well in the hair is because it sucks up water so effectively, thus giving you the *feeling* of hydration. This is a fairly superficial effect in the scheme of things because true hydration would be dealing with the cortex and not just the outside of your hair. But if you used it every time you washed your hair it would address any *feelings* of dryness.
Of course if you shampoo (or Shikakai, if you like) your hair, you will still have to do something to rehydrate your hair as the entire way any detergent works is to make water essentially "sheet" away, lifting oil and dirt in the process.
Again, there isn't any "nourishing" business going on.
And it isn't a conditioner. Conditioners coat the hair to reduce friction between the individual strands, a very important part of protecting the health of your hair.
Thanks again, Anita. This is all really good stuff!