Best Non Toxic Shampoo

Last Updated on March 21, 2025 by NonToxicSwaps

Non toxic shampoo eliminates daily exposure to toxic chemical ingredients from your hair care routine. Use a safer option by swapping to one of these non toxic shampoo options.

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Shampoo is one of the easiest swaps you can make on your non toxic journey AND its one of the biggest contributors to our body’s toxic load.

Think about it… We apply shampoo to our hair each day, however, in doing so, our skin is absorbing 60% of whatever we put on it within 26 seconds of application.

So if your shampoo contains toxic ingredients, you’re exposing yourself on a daily basis through direct application to the skin. From there these ingredient enter the blood stream.

Table of Contents

Ingredients to Avoid in Shampoo

Fragrance/Parfum: umbrella term including hundreds of toxins, including hormone disrupting phthalates, as well as skin irritants and allergens. Chemicals that are hidden behind this term can be carcinogenic, respiratory irritants, endocrine disruptors, reproductive toxins, neurotoxins, and more (PMID: 35669814)
Parabens: preservatives linked to endocrine disruption (PMID: 29596967), known to be carcinogenic due to endocrine disruption (PMID: 36746253) Parabens may be listed as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, and benzylparaben.
Ethoxylated ingredients (PEGs, PPGs, polysorbates, ceteareth, phenoxyethanol): ethoxylation process produces ethylene oxide, a carcinogen and developmental toxin (PubChem CID: 6354) and 1,4-dioxane, a suspected carcinogen (PubChem CID: 31275)
Phenoxyethanol: deemed generally safe at a 1% concentration, however it’s production process, ethoxylation, can potentially contaminate phenoxyethanol with 1,4-dioxane and ethylene oxide (see above for ethoxylated ingredient description) (PubChem CID: 31236)
Polyquaterniums: (aka “quats”) group of polymers that may release formaldehyde and produce nitrosamines, both of which are known carcinogens (PubChem CID: 6433396)
Sodium Laureth Sulfate: penetration enhancer which can cause other ingredients to be more readily absorbed through the skin; may cause skin irritation, may react with other ingredients to form nitrosamines (carcinogen), may contain 1,4-dioxane (carcinogen)