Bar Soap
Dr. Bronner's bar soap smells pleasant and leaves skin clean without harmful ingredients and synthetic fragrances.
Why It's Effective
All in One bar soap is an excellent choice for the following reasons:
Lathers lightly
Cleans gently
Non-drying
Does not leave film/residue in the bathtub
Comes in 8 different scents: almond, baby unscented, citrus, eucalyptus, rose, tea tree, lavender and peppermint.
*Dr. Bronner’s only uses essential oils for the natural fragrances in their soaps.
What To Avoid In Bar Soap
Fragrance
A lure from conventional soaps is often the fragrance, but that’s what you want to avoid. Fragrance is a mix of chemicals associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system. Fragrance is a trade secret so companies are not required to disclose what is inside. Learn more about why you want to avoid fragrance in this post.
The light scents in Dr. Bronner’s soaps occur naturally from ingredients like lavender oil in the lavender soap, and organic peppermint oil in the peppermint soap.
Antibacterial Soaps
The antibacterial agents triclosan and triclocarban have been banned from personal care products, due to health hazards and because they can lead to antibiotic resistant bacteria. To replace triclosan, some companies are using benzalkonium chloride as an antibacterial agent instead. Unfortunately, benzalkonium chloride is not safer than triclosan.
Why Dr. Bronner’s Bar Soap Is Safe
In addition to containing no fragrance or antibacterial agents, Dr. Bronner’s bar soaps are free from the following toxic ingredients commonly found in bar soap:
Talc - can be contaminated with asbestiform fibers which are known carcinogens. There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.[1][2]
PEGs (polyethylene glycols) - penetration enhancers that may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane and ethylene oxide which are associated with reproductive, developmental, and endocrine effects, cancer, and DNA damage.[3]
Cocamidopropyl betaine – associated with allergies and contact dermatitis and can potentially contain impurities such as nitrosamines. There is strong evidence that nitrosamines are carcinogenic, and they are banned from Canadian cosmetics. Limited evidence has been shown for developmental/reproductive/organ system toxicity from nitrosamines.[4][5]
EDTA - used as a chelating agent in cosmetics and is also a penetration enhancer, meaning it will increase the penetration of other chemicals.[6] Disodium EDTA contributes to genetic instability when combined with other chemical mutagens, in addition to inhibiting DNA repair on its own.[7} Oral exposures to EDTA produced adverse reproductive and developmental effects in animals.
Switch
Dial Gold contains antibacterial agents, fragrance and talc.
Dove White contains cocamidopropyl betaine, fragrance, and EDTA.
How to Buy
Pricing at the time of purchase is $25.74 for a pack of 6 bars. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Tips
Use lavender at night for its calming effect and peppermint in the morning to wake up.
References & Resources
[1] https://oehha.ca.gov/chemicals/talc-containing-asbestiform-fibers
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4164883/
[3] https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/potential-contaminants-cosmetics/14-dioxane-cosmetics-manufacturing-byproduct
[4] https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Cocamidopropyl-betaine#section=GHS-Classification
[5] http://www.cir-safety.org/sites/default/files/amidoa022012SLR_forposting.pdf
[6] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12396676/
[7] http://www.gettingtoknowcancer.org/environmental_exposures.php#:~:text=Genetic%20instability%20itself%20is%20therefore,genetic%20alterations%20and%20cause%20cancer.&text=When%20EDTA%20is%20combined%20with,important%20contributor%20to%20genetic%20instability
