Cocamide DEA carcinogenic. California has banned cocamide DEA, also known as cocamide diethanolamine, a substance used in the manufacture of personal shampoos, soaps and cleansers, which has been found to be carcinogenic. The use of cocamide DEA by the cosmetic industry is frequent, especially in foaming products.
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La California has banned the cocamide DEA, also known as cocamide diethanolamine, a substance used in the production of shampoos, soaps and detergents for the person, which was judged potentially carcinogenic. The use of cocamide DEA (Thu the card of the European Commission) by the cosmetic industry is common, especially in foaming products.
Some tests carried out in California by an independent laboratory they found la illegal presence of DEA cocamide in approx 100 products for hygiene, including shampoo, shower gel and soaps. The substance is used as a foaming and thickening agent. To recognize its presence, simply read thelist of ingredients found on cosmetic products.
In California the DEA cocamide has been banned since theInternational Agency for Research on Cancer classified it among the substances possibly carcinogenic to humans. However, his employment continues in other states and in Europe. Tests on products for sale in California have been requested since Center for Environmental Health of Oakland, a nonprofit body that deals with protecting the health of citizens.
Elevated levels of cocamide DEA have also been found in well-known brand products such as Colgate, Palmolive e Paul Mitchell. The substance was also identified in products for children or labeled as "Bio". This is a real one fraud. In many cases the products tested contained more than 10 thousand ppm (parts per million) of DEA cocamide.
One of the tested shampoos turned out composed of the substance for 20%, a percentage corresponding to 200 thousand ppm of cocamide DEA. The Center for Environmental Health has already alerted the companies involved. We do not know how the affair will be resolved. What worries us is that, beyond the Californian case, cocamide DEA still appears widely used in the rest of the world.
Why Europe has not yet banned this potentially carcinogenic substance? In our own small way we try to avoid products and cosmetics that contain cocamide DEA. Always pay attention to labels and INCI! At the moment it is our only weapon to know what to choose in an informed way.
Marta Albè
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