Reading and understanding Safety Data Sheets, aka SDS (formerly known as MSDS)

I had to learn about Safety Data Sheets (SDS) many different times throughout my schooling and then later in life in my professional career as well. It occured to me that maybe not everyone is familiar with them and I find them immensely helpful to refer to from time to time so I wanted to share what they are used for and why they may be helpful to you someday.

Safety Data Sheets were formerly known as Material Safety Data Sheets or MSDS, this terminology change was announced in 2013 and enforced in the end of 2015 to mid 2016 with the goal of making them more consistent and easier to understand across the board. They now adhere to something called the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). There are even pictograms associated with this new system which is helpful for a quick reference.

There are 16 distinct sections to an SDS sheet:
1. Identification
2. Hazard(s) Identification
3. Composition/Information on Ingredients
4. First Aid Measures
5. Fire Fighting Measures
6. Accidental Release Measures
7. Handling & Storage
8. Exposure Controls / Personal Protection
9. Physical & Chemical Properties
10. Stability and Reactivity
11. Toxicology Information
12. Ecological Information
13. Disposal Considerations
14. Transport Information
15. Regulatory Information
16. Other Information

The first 8 sections are set up for quick reference for the people transporting and handling the chemicals as well as any emergency responders should there be an issue.
Sections 9-11 handles technical and scientific data. Sections 12-15 are not actually mandatory but they are required to be GHS compliant and section 16 will contain information on the SDS itself such as revision dates and changes since last version.

Employers are responsible for making sure there is an SDS sheet for every chemical on site and they must be available for employee reference in their immediate work area. These would most likely be for any cleaning agents in the workplace however essentially ANY product or raw material (i.e. base ingredients) can have an SDS sheet. 

Even "natural" products such as Dr. Bronner's Soap has SDS sheets as well as base ingredients such as Olive Oil. I am pointing this out because I have heard misinformed people many times refer to the information on an SDS sheet of a raw material while trying to make a point about the safety of the entire product. This is always going to be inaccurate because the SDS sheet is informing about the raw material in its most concentrated form and not as the material as used within a formulation in a diluted form. I have read countless times someone who pointed out that the person handling "xyz" ingredient has to wear a respirator or hazmat suit or face mask to handle the ingredient so that must mean it's not safe. WRONG! This reasoning could not be further from the truth. I wear gloves and sometimes a respirator when mixing sodium hydroxide which is a necessary part of making handmade soap but that in no way means that the soap is dangerous or unsafe simply because sodium hydroxide was used in the making process. It simply means that in its concentrated form I am aware that it could cause me harm so I protect myself. 

So there you have it, SDS sheets in a nutshell. Links are below for further reading if you wish.

Stay wise my friends, 
~Your Soapsmith

https://chemicalsafety.com/online-sds-databases/
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3514.html
https://fscimage.fishersci.com/msds/96356.htm
https://www.drbronner.com/retailers/material-safety-data-sheets-msds/

Ingredient highlight: Aluminum

Well hello again. I've been a busy bee these past few months and have been lax on posting. But I have been thinking about topics I wanted to research and write about so here I am for a long overdue ingredient highlight on Aluminum. I have been wanting to know more about aluminum in body care ingredients for awhile. They are one of those "scary" ingredients and I wasn't completely sure why so I went on a quest. 

Let's start with the basics. What is aluminum? Aluminum (Al) is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic metal. Aluminum is the third most abundant element (after oxygen and silicon), and the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust. It makes up about 8% by mass of the crust. Aluminum metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and it is usually found combined in over 270 different minerals. The chief ore of aluminum is bauxite. 

In what products is aluminum primarily found? Aluminum-containing raw materials are used safely and extensively in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter (OTC) drug products. In cosmetics, they function as pigments and thickening agents. Aluminum compounds also function as active ingredients in OTC drugs such as antacids and antiperspirants. Because aluminum is present in soil, most exposure comes from foods we eat and the water we drink.  Studies demonstrate a negligible potential for Aluminum salts to penetrate the skin. Any small amount absorbed from the use of cosmetic products, would be tiny in comparison to the amounts we consume in the foods we eat daily.
https://cosmeticsinfo.org/aluminum

Next I asked the Google "How does aluminum work in anti-perspirants?" This answer popped up: Aluminium-based antiperspirants work by blocking the sweat ducts, thereby reducing the amount of sweat that reaches the skin's surface. ... When they are applied to the skin and come in contact with sweat, the pH rises causing the aluminium salts to precipitate out and form a plug over the sweat glands.  https://www.dermnetnz.org/topics/antiperspirant/

Then I navigated over to cancer.org and typed in "aluminum". Have you ever been to this site? It seems good, they present information in a very neutral way which I like. On their site they first outline the claims that are going around and then they proceed to address them with facts that are backed up by scientific studies. If the studies that they reference are weak (or later disproven as it sometimes happens) they are up front about that as well, all in all I like this site. Anyway I digress back to my findings on the site about aluminum. In a nutshell through all the solid studies that have been done there is no link between aluminum and breast cancer. The information they had there was extremely insightful and there was quite a bit of it too, instead of repeating what they have written I am adding the link and encouraging you to take a look at the information there, it's a great read > https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/antiperspirants-and-breast-cancer-risk.html

Another concern I read about was aluminum exposure and a possible link to alzheimer's or dementia. This is of particular concern and interest to me because I have older relatives that have suffered with this affliction and we really don't know what caused it. So I dug in on the site alzdiscovery.org. Their information was neat because it spoke of aluminum use in multiple capacities from being in the drinking water to being in anti-perspirants. At this time all research is pointing towards the fact that neither of these diseases are caused by aluminum. I am dropping the link to their site below for your reading pleasure as well.  
https://www.alzdiscovery.org/cognitive-vitality/blog/is-there-a-link-between-aluminum-and-alzheimers

Now I think it would be abundantly easier on society as a whole to just find that "bad" or "dangerous" ingredient that causes all the ailments what make people sick and just eliminate it but things will never be that easy. Certainly there have been recalls of products and ingredients which were believed to be safe then found later to either be unsafe or ineffective or highly allergenic or otherwise unusable to the public at large but it's not that common. Why you may ask? Well simply because before an ingredient is even available to be used in a formulation it's been tested extensively and exhaustively to know the safety data. Staple ingredients like aluminum are then placed on a list by the FDA of acceptable to use for _____ in this case I am referring to its use in antiperspirants. Aluminum is, in fact, the ONLY ingredient that the FDA has listed as approved in creating a product that acts as antiperspirants do.
You can search through product recalls here>>> https://www.fda.gov/safety/archive-recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/2018-recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts

It seems that there were more issues with food or drug items being recalled due to contamination or concerns over sterility (in the case of drug manufacturing) than over an ingredient that was going to cause cancer or some other disease.

As always I encourage those in my tribe to be informed consumers and know the relevant data backed resources in which to pull information from when trying to make a decision about the health and safety of yourself and your family. There are great resources available to us in this day and age thanks to the internet. There are also terrible resources available because every "Karen" and "Chad" with an internet connection can just write whatever pleases them and some are convincing enough to sway public opinion which I think is a real shame. When I am looking for answers I turn to science and I always will. I hope that whatever resources you trust are ones that are keeping you and yours on a safe and happy path in life.

'Til next time
~Your (science nerd) Soapsmith

Essential Oils Part 1 of...?

I have been wanting to write an essential oil series for quite awhile.

I have three categories in mind for this series which might equate to 3 different parts over time. 1. Safety and uses. 2. Quality and where to find them. 3.  Terminology and why this is important. With so many home EO users out there it seems that there is much interest in using these wonderful plant gifts in many different capacities. I use them to add some delicious scents to my soaps and other body products, I also like to use them as room fresheners either as a spray or in a diffuser and have even added them to cleaning products for a little added scent. There are a few I will add to a carrier and use on my skin as a sort of perfume too. Through my hours and hours of reading, learning and speaking with other essential oil professionals I have chosen so not use them internally or on my animals which I can go into detail on in the safety part. This is what has worked best for me. However there is risk (and reward) in any way that essential oils are used. It depends on the person, people or animals involved and the situation in which they are being used.

Let's start at the very beginning. What is an essential oil?
es·sen·tial oil - əˈsen(t)SHəl oil/

noun

1. a natural oil typically obtained by distillation and having the characteristic fragrance of the plant or other source from which it is extracted.
2. 
   
3. Ok great.....vocabulary lesson out of the way....but what does that mean? What part of the plant is used and how much of it is used? Well the answer to these questions is that it depends on the plant.

First, it takes many MANY pounds of plant material to make

essential oils. Let's look at lavender as an example. While the actual number can vary from resource to resource the ballpark number is about 250 lbs of plant material to make 1 pound of lavender essential oil. And that's not so bad when you compare it to say roses which needs ALOT more plant material to make a decent amount of EO. One resource stated that approximately 242,000 petals are needed to make 5ml or 1 tsp of rose essential oil, I want to know what poor soul had to count the petals! So if you think about it when you place a drop of lavender oil into something you could really be using POUNDS of that plant! This is where the risk comes in. After all, it's the dose that makes something toxic.

Ok let's get down to business and talk about EO safety. Here are some golden rules I have picked up over the years:

1. Keep out of reach of children and animals (should be obvious).

2. Do not use photosensitizing EO's prior to doing into the sun or a tanning booth for at least 24 hours. With that being said, know what essential oils are photosensitizing.

3. Avoid prolonged use of the same EO's unless under the guidance of a qualified professional.

4. Do not use EO's that you know nothing about. (this should be obvious too) I will also add do not blindly recommend EO's to someone whose health you know nothing about.

5. Avoid the use of undiluted EO's on the skin unless indicated by a certified professional.  

6. If you are going to use a new EO on yourself and are unsure if you will have a reaction, do a skin patch test first.

7. Be aware of the safety data of oils you are using and storing.

8. If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant be aware that many oils are contraindicated during that time. Consult your doctor.

9. Keep EO's away from mucous membranes (eyes, nasal passages, mouth, those sensitive nether regions).

10. EO's are flammable......

11. DO NOT USE INTERNALLY unless either you are working with a certified professional. 

12. Animals metabolize substances differently than humans and even differently from species to species, consult a veterinary professional who can help you in making decisions of what and how to properly use these oils.

Alright, let's dive in to some of the less obvious ones. #3 for instance avoid prolonged use of the same EO's. After thinking about it I understand, I have heard accounts of people using oils as gentle as lavender in the long term then acquiring a sensitivity to it. This article touches on that as well as other safety issues. 

I want to write about #5 next, avoid using EO's undiluted on skin. I

will be perfectly frank here and say that even EO's that are known to be safe for use undiluted I will dilute with a carrier oil because I use them quite frequently in my products so I do not want to develop a sensitivity to them. There are two oils that I commonly hear referred to as"safe to use neat" or undiluted which are lavender and tea tree. Perhaps they are SAFER than some other oils but they are still very concentrated oils from those plants. Tea tree oil is an extremely effective oil meaning it is extremely potent, perhaps using it neat isn't the best idea. It also does not mean that they are safe for absolutely everyone so keep that in mind if ever making a recommendation or using it on say your child or animal.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room- #11. Do not use EO's internally.

I did this google search: taking essential oils internally

Without any prompting about safety or anything the first article that came up were all about why you SHOULDN'T take EO's internally. It's a huge hint to not do it. Here is  the link for that post, she lays the information out very well. 

Of course the ones following this post are.....a little all over the place/comical/misleading in my opinion.

One tidbit that I was reminded of and find very valuable was that

essential OILS do not mix with water, they are oils after all, which makes them hydrophobic. So if you are the type of person who likes putting a drop of lemon EO in your water just remember that the lemon is floating right on top and will be gone in a single gulp (and is very concentrated). If you like lemon put a slice of lemon in your water, it will be delicious and fresh and good for you. Also if you do decide to ingest EO's please let your doctor know if you are under medical care as they can interfere with medications you are prescribed.

Ok, let's talk about #12. Do not use EO's on a pet without the guidance of a veterinary professional trained in essential oil use. 

I found an article from the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA). It is very clear on why this can be quite dangerous and also includes great references to help you further your knowledge. A quick re-cap of the information is that dogs, horses and some farm animals may do well with some topical and inhalation therapy however cats have a sensitive metabolic system and even if used topically they can end up with damaged liver and kidneys. Also to note, tea tree oil (remember that was one of the ones that is "safe" to use undiluted in humans) is TOXIC to cats. Additionally fish, birds, reptiles, rodents and small mammals should not have EO therapy due to metabolic, respiratory and dosing sensitivity.

Alright that is all for this post but stay tuned for more as I can get them written. 

Aromatic regards, 

~your soapsmith

Below are a couple of links I use when looking information up on essential oils:

https://roberttisserand.com/
https://naha.org/explore-aromatherapy/safety/