IS SULPHATES DANGEROUS?
The key question that a lot of us ask is whether sulphates in shampoos are dangerous? There has been a lot of misconceptions on the bases that sulphates cause cancer and are dangerous to use in our hair, but we will investigate this to see if there is proven scientific facts to back this claim
WHAT ARE SULPHATES
Sulphates are a class of chemicals that’s used as a cleansing forming agent in many of our household products like toothpaste, shampoos and forming cleaners. Sulphates provides that forming texture when it meets water with very little effort to suds up.
When sulphates are used correctly and formulated in normal quantities it is considered safe, however, people are sensitive to certain types of products and due to that condition, they may be advised to change from using sulphates to sulphate free.
Sulphates in shampoos are created to allow that easy forming lather to spread throughout the parameter of your head and help active ingredients in the shampoo to provide deeper into your hair and scalp to remove dirt and excess oil. Did you notice that using a sulphate shampoo meant you used less of the product allow you to get your cost per use!
The most common sulphates found in shampoos include sodium lauryl sulphate, sodium laureth sulphate, and ammonium laureth sulphate. Other products may contain slight variations of these compounds, as well. These are not true sulphates, but they carry out the same role. But that key question keeps popping up, Are sulphates dangerous?
The misconception comes into play when we associate dryness to the effectiveness of the shampoo cleaning your hair and stripping the oil and dirt away from the hair. Due to the purpose of it clarifying your hair it may make the scalp dry and prone to irritation. But it did not claim that it causes cancer or risk to a person’s health from using sulphates correctly.
I had a look at the environmental health insights and it seems that people have shed a negative public view of sulphates and have misinterpreted this review. There is NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE to support this claim that it causes cancer.
It might carry some minor eye irritation, skin irritation and toxicity if someone drinks the product, however most people experience little or no side effects when using sulphates.
Should we stop taking medications when they help make us better, they all come with their own side effects and not everyone that takes them experience side effects and others experience no side effects!
If you have sensitive skin or skin conditions, then it would be advisable for you to switch over to sulphate free shampoo to see and monitor if that change helps to reduce that irritation.
If you have dry hair you may want to use sulphate shampoo once’s every month to clarify your hair and scalp and use a sulphate free shampoo to prevent complete stripping of the natural oil on your scalp. Again, monitor to see if that method works, if not then transfer over to using a sulphate free shampoo completely and see if that helps to prevent further dryness to your hair and scalp.
SUMMARY
It is proven that sulphates in shampoos are safe and helps to clarify the hair and scalp from dirt and oil. If you are experiencing any irritation, you may want to switch from sulphates to sulphate free.
Psst... I use sulphate free shampoo Pantene Pro-V in my hair and I haven't experienced any irritation, however it will dry your hair if using it every week, so I use it once a month and use a sulphate free shampoo for the rest of the weeks. My hair is cleansed and my scalp is healthy, as you can see from the picture my hair looks even more healthy. Styling product coming soon you will be shocked when I tell you what I used in my hair to make it looking like the picture.