Ingredients We Don't Carry

Author: Natural Grocers

What's in your bathroom cabinet? It may be much more than you bargained for! Consider these stats from data compiled by the Environmental Working Group (EWG)—women use an average of 12 personal care products daily, exposing them to 168 different chemicals! Men, using an average of 6 products, encounter approximately 85 chemicals in their hygiene routine.¹ The problem is that the FDA doesn't require these chemicals to be tested for safety before they go to market. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act hasn't been updated since it was created in 1938, and it's been left up to the industry to verify the safety of the ingredients they put in cosmetics over the last 80 years.² Unfortunately, this continues to mean that possible carcinogens, neurotoxins, hormone disruptors, and chemicals that impact fertility are included in products from deodorant to shampoo.³ Take a look at some of the ingredients found in everyday hygiene essentials that you’ll never find in Natural Grocer’s “bathroom cabinet.”

Carcinogenic hydrocarbons shouldn’t be in your moisturizing routine!

Winter weather leaves skin thirsty for moisture, but make sure you’re not quenching the thirst with these byproducts of the petroleum industry—mineral oil and petrolatum. Here’s the scoop—when these substances aren’t refined correctly, they may be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic carbons (PAHs), a toxic set of chemicals that include possible carcinogens.⁴ The European Union restricts petrolatum in cosmetics, requiring a full refining history and proof that it isn’t made from carcinogenic substances.⁵ Unfortunately, the U.S. has no such restrictions or disclosure requirements.⁶ Considering the petroleum industry's negative environmental impact and the fact that these ingredients also interfere with our body’s natural hydrating mechanisms—at Natural Grocers, we choose cleaner, safer ways to moisturize.⁷

Oral hygiene should be clean—we say no thanks to artificial colors and parabens!

Is there any reason to brush your teeth or rinse your mouth with artificial colors? We can’t think of one, yet synthetic dyes like Yellow 5, Blue 1, Red 28, and Red 40 are found in popular toothpaste and mouthwash brands, including those made for kids.^{8 9 10 11} Yellow 5 and Red 40 have been linked to hyperactivity in children, while Blue 1 and Yellow 5 have shown potential neurobehavioral effects in animals.^{12 13 14 15} So why risk a completely pointless yet possibly harmful ingredient? Another chemical to look out for in mouthwash is propylparaben, a preservative with strong evidence of being an endocrine disruptor, and in one study researchers found an association between urinary propylparaben and decreased fertility.^{16 17} The good news is—there’s a reason to get your toothpaste and mouthwash at Natural Grocer’s, because our oral hygiene collection is always free of artificial colors and parabens.

Beach days need not cause harm to hormones and coral reefs.

Oxybenzone, octinoxate, and homosalate are active ingredients commonly used in sunscreen. Yet studies show oxybenzone, part of a class of UV filters called benzophenones, to be a possible endocrine disruptor, with potential to cause developmental and reproductive toxicity.^{18 19} In addition to altering hormone function, it can produce benzophenone-1, a compound that has been linked to endometriosis in women.²⁰ Not only that, it causes severe harm to coral reefs, with one study showing damage at concentrations as low as 62 parts per trillion—a microscopic amount!²¹ Octinoxate and homosalate are also potential endocrine disruptors, and all three chemicals (plus several more) were shown to be absorbed into the bloodstream following a single application of sunscreen, according to recent FDA studies.^{22 23 24} These are the reasons why, at Natural Grocers, you’ll only find mineral-based (zinc and titanium dioxide) sunscreens that are safer for you and the coral reefs!

Good hair days don’t require formaldehyde releasing preservatives!

Shampoo, rinse, repeat, but be sure not to repeat this toxic habit: lathering up your scalp with formulas that contain formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (FRPs)! Formaldehyde itself is considered a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the United States National Toxicology Program.iii Exposure to the substance can happen through inhalation and possibly absorption in the skin when the gas is released via FRPs.²⁵ There is also strong evidence that they are human skin toxins and allergens, and those to avoid include quaternium-15, diazolidinyl urea, and imidazolidinyl urea.^{26 27} Other unsavory ingredients to look out for in hair care products include synthetic fragrance and parabens. Fortunately, every day can be a good hair day when you shop at Natural Grocers, which prohibits all the above in our shampoo, conditioner and styling selections.

Don’t let noxious secrets be part of your signature scent!

Smelling delightful with the aid of synthetic fragrances may come with health risks that you don’t have the option of calculating. What do we mean by that? Simply this—“fragrance” is a well-guarded trade secret, protected from the standard requirements of ingredient disclosure. According to the International Fragrance Association, there are 3,059 different compounds used in fragrance, including some materials with evidence linking them to cancer, reproductive toxicity, and allergies.²⁸ It’s estimated that 95% of synthetic fragrances are derived from petroleum by-products, and many contain phthalates, the majority of which are known endocrine disruptors.²⁹ Other substances like stabilizers, solvents, preservatives, and dyes are often included in perfume, cologne, and fragrances, rendering a cocktail of chemicals whose combined effects are unknown.xxviii At Natural Grocers, we believe smelling delightful shouldn’t be toxic so we only allow fragrances that are essential oil-based or naturally sourced, and we reserve the right to request sourcing documentation.³⁰

Think twice about toxic deodorizers.

A quick swipe of deodorant to start the day is something most of us do without thinking. However, we should be thinking about ingredients commonly found in underarm mainstays, including several bad actors like phthalates, synthetic fragrance, petrolatum, and talc.^{31 32} Phthalates are a class of compounds that include known endocrine disruptors, and animal studies have shown them to be particularly damaging to the male reproductive system.^{33 34 7} Unfortunately, they often hide under the umbrella term of “fragrance” and may not be disclosed on the label. Talc is another ingredient frequently found in popular antiperspirants and deodorants, but can also be contaminated with asbestos, a known carcinogen.^{35 36} Here’s the upside—when you choose Natural Grocers deodorant selections, you don’t need to think twice about these potentially hazardous chemicals because we don’t let them in!⁷

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