You may be surprised to discover that some of the common ingredients found in everyday personal care products are known to be potential carcinogens. Read the warning labels! It has been a widespread belief that our skin protects us, as a barrier against potentially harmful chemicals that normally do not eat or drink. At the same time, medical science has discovered a more efficient distribution of pharmaceutical products in the “patch”, which is now used for everything from weight loss to smoking cessation to insulin. Obviously, the skin is not as “solid”, as he had imagined. Coen Brothers understood the implications. So we read the list of ingredients on the shampoo label, and we find things like propylene glycol and sodium laurel (or urethral) sulfate. In the chemical world, these are industrial antifreeze and engine degreaser. At the top of our skin, which are irritants.

Within our bodies, which are free radicals and cell mutagens. Sodium laurel sulfate is used because it is cheap, creates mountains of foam of foam, and when you add salt until thick in which “rich” consistency we have been taught to expect and even admire. However, sodium laurel sulfate has been documented (see the Wall Street Journal, 11/01/1988) to cause improper eye development in children, and cataracts in all ages, the penetration into the brain, heart and liver, nitrate absorption equal to eating an entire pound of bacon! (Nitrates are known carcinogens.) However, almost 20 years later, this ingredient is still in almost every cleaning product on the market.