A recently released study commissioned by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and overseen by environmental health consumer advocate David Steinman (author of The Safe Shopper's Bible ), revealed the presence of the undisclosed carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane in leading shampoos, body washes, lotions and other personal care and household cleaning products claiming to be “natural” or “organic.”
Laboratory tests showed that products certified under the USDA National Organic Program DID NOT contain this toxin, but most of the best selling personal care products claiming to be organic (but not USDA certified) contained the cancer-causing ingredient.
All leading self-proclaimed organic brands have at least a few individual certified organic ingredients, but for most of these top-selling brands, the product, as a whole, is not USDA organic certified , thereby allowing the presence of synthetic toxins. Similar studies have revealed the presence of this toxin in conventional personal care products, but this is the first study indicating the presence in misleadingly labeled organic and natural products.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/comingclean.cfm