A Review on Synthetic Shampoo Ingredients and Their Adverse Health Effects

Abstract

Shampooing is a universal daily hair care routine in this modern era. In todays’ market, shampoo products have been advertised and commercialized for different purposes and grades like medicated, professional, baby, or regular shampoo for everyday use. These shampoos typically contain a range of core ingredients, such as, surfactants, foaming agents, conditioners, pearlescent agents, sequestrants, pH adjuster, antidandruff agents, colorants, perfumes, and preservatives. Most of these ingredients present in shampoos are synthetically made. For example, diethylamine, triethylamine, cocamide diethanolamine and some other by-products like 1,4-dioxane. Although regulatory agency has controlled the application of these synthetic ingredients in cosmetics, they are still capable of being dermally absorbed and elicit allergic reactions, skin irritation, contact dermatitis below restricted concentrations. Prolonged exposure to these synthetic ingredients is also associated with carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. This review mainly focuses on elucidating the common synthetic ingredients used in the shampoo formulation, their functions and their potential health risks following long term exposure.