We know it takes effort to weed out the green washers, the faux organics and the natural wannabees who don't want to put the time, effort or money into being the real thing. Regulatory laws are slowly proposed and consumers are slowly educated. However, on May 29, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown took a giant leap towards making this weeding out process potentially much easier. He filed a lawsuit against 4 companies that manufacture or distribute cleaning and personal care products (liquid dish soaps and body washes and gels) that tested highest for the carcinogenic chemical 1,4-dioxane. In a revelation much like that from a Scooby-doo episode, the defendants include Avalon Natural Products which makes the Alba brand, Beaumont Products which makes VeggieWash and Clearly Natural products, Nutribiotic which makes grapefruit seed extract personal care products (and sounds particularly and deceptively on the up and up) as well as Whole Foods Market California, Inc, which sells the Whole Foods 365 brand.
Under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, Health and Safety Code section 25249.6, businesses must provide a clean and reasonable warning before exposing people to chemicals which are known to the state of California to cause cancer. The lawsuit also not-so-ironically alleges that each company has engaged in unlawful business practices constituting unfair competition. Such tangled, un-natural webs.
The chemical 1,4-dioxane has been in the frowned-upon category since January 1, 1988 and the attorney alleges that each company has known since at least May 29, 2004 that the people using their specific products are being exposed to the chemical.
Generally the chemical in question is the byproduct of the petrochemical ethylene oxide reacting with other ingredients in the product. The Organic Consumer Association (OCA) commissioned studies to analyze "natural" and "organic" products for the presence of 1,4-dioxane and the lawsuit comes on the heels of the March release of the results.
The OCA sent a letter to each of the 4 companies asking their plans regarding labeling and/or reformulation. Beaumont Products was the only one to respond, stating that they verified the problem then took action to reformulate their product and remove the ingredient. If it's that easy to remedy, what's the holdup?
At least we know they can afford to get their act together. Whether they do it or not is a different story. In the meantime, consumers need to further research products and product tests before they buy.
