Tuesday, May 18, 2004
'Burning' Issue
There's been quite a bit of dissention on the list. What, exactly, makes 'tearless' shampoos tearless? Some say it is the pH, and one person says there's a chemical added that 'numbs the eyes'. I find that extremely hard to credit, so I poked around on the Internet for a bit, and finally spent $5 at Google Answers to get the answer. There's no labeling requirements for pet grooming products, so some of the groomers actually try products in their own eyes to make sure it won't harm the eyes of the pets they groom. Here's the response I got! Google Answers ROCKS!
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Usually, when one hears "no tears shampoo" the first thing that comes to mind is
JOHNSON'S® NO MORE TEARS® Baby Shampoo so I searched their website. Here's what I found on their FAQs page:
Question
"I received an email that said the reason why JOHNSON'S® Baby Shampoo was gentle to the eyes was because it contains numbing agents that numbs the eyes if contact occurs."
Answer
"The assertion that chemicals are added that numb the baby's eyes is totally false. The reason JOHNSON'S® shampoo formulas do not irritate the eyes is the mildness of the formulation, which has undergone extensive clinical testing and has proven to be as gentle to the eyes as pure water."
(Source: Johnson & Johnson FAQs)
Personally, I don't believe that there's a numbing agent mixed in "no tears" shampoo. These products have been around for years and there's no clear epidemiological evidence to support that claim.
So what makes it tearless?
"Shampoo is used to cleanse the hair. The primary ingredient of a shampoo is a detergent. Many shampoos, particularly those targeted for babies and children, claim to cause non eye irritation or sting. A "no-tear" formulation achieves this claim by carefully adjusting the nature of the detergents. In particularly, the identity and
concentration of detergents with anionic or "charged" portion are controlled to minimise both eye and skin irritation."
(Source: What makes a no-tears shampoo? - C.C.C. Heep Woh College Chemistry Department, Copyright 2003)
From the info above, the quick answer to your question is: "no tears" shampoo works because the detergents and other chemical irritants are formulated to a certain level that minimize eye irritation.
But take note...
"There is no such thing as a tearless shampoo. Even straight water poured into the eyes will cause enough irritation to produce tears. A product can be made friendlier to the eyes by using gentler surfactants, but it is still not tearless!"
(Source: Leave-in products and grooming - Duurstede Grooming Products, The W. R. Van Wyck Group Limited, © April 4th, 2004)
There's a video that discusses this topic in more detail in case you're interested:
Inquiring Minds: Episodes: 15 & 16 - BPN 6322H
"No Tears Shampoo" How surfactant - the ingredient in shampoo that causes the burning sensation and helps rid the hair of dirt - reacts with the eye's tear film. And a look at atmospheric surfactants, which are found in "no-tears" shampoo, and their properties.
(BBird says: One leetle correction: it is "amphoteric" surfactants, not "atmospheric". Whoops. Amphoteric surfactants are considerably less irritating than anionic surfactants that are usually preferred for cleaning. Most baby shampoos are formulated with amphoteric surfactants.) [kimberly says: I didn't want to change the quote, as I copied it directly from the website in the link. So I added BBird's correction here!]
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So there we are then. :-) If anyone has follow up questions, let me know and I can ask 'my' researcher at Google Answers to clarify the information provided. Isn't that terrific? So Comment, folks, COMMENT!
=========================
Usually, when one hears "no tears shampoo" the first thing that comes to mind is
JOHNSON'S® NO MORE TEARS® Baby Shampoo so I searched their website. Here's what I found on their FAQs page:
Question
"I received an email that said the reason why JOHNSON'S® Baby Shampoo was gentle to the eyes was because it contains numbing agents that numbs the eyes if contact occurs."
Answer
"The assertion that chemicals are added that numb the baby's eyes is totally false. The reason JOHNSON'S® shampoo formulas do not irritate the eyes is the mildness of the formulation, which has undergone extensive clinical testing and has proven to be as gentle to the eyes as pure water."
(Source: Johnson & Johnson FAQs)
Personally, I don't believe that there's a numbing agent mixed in "no tears" shampoo. These products have been around for years and there's no clear epidemiological evidence to support that claim.
So what makes it tearless?
"Shampoo is used to cleanse the hair. The primary ingredient of a shampoo is a detergent. Many shampoos, particularly those targeted for babies and children, claim to cause non eye irritation or sting. A "no-tear" formulation achieves this claim by carefully adjusting the nature of the detergents. In particularly, the identity and
concentration of detergents with anionic or "charged" portion are controlled to minimise both eye and skin irritation."
(Source: What makes a no-tears shampoo? - C.C.C. Heep Woh College Chemistry Department, Copyright 2003)
From the info above, the quick answer to your question is: "no tears" shampoo works because the detergents and other chemical irritants are formulated to a certain level that minimize eye irritation.
But take note...
"There is no such thing as a tearless shampoo. Even straight water poured into the eyes will cause enough irritation to produce tears. A product can be made friendlier to the eyes by using gentler surfactants, but it is still not tearless!"
(Source: Leave-in products and grooming - Duurstede Grooming Products, The W. R. Van Wyck Group Limited, © April 4th, 2004)
There's a video that discusses this topic in more detail in case you're interested:
Inquiring Minds: Episodes: 15 & 16 - BPN 6322H
"No Tears Shampoo" How surfactant - the ingredient in shampoo that causes the burning sensation and helps rid the hair of dirt - reacts with the eye's tear film. And a look at atmospheric surfactants, which are found in "no-tears" shampoo, and their properties.
(BBird says: One leetle correction: it is "amphoteric" surfactants, not "atmospheric". Whoops. Amphoteric surfactants are considerably less irritating than anionic surfactants that are usually preferred for cleaning. Most baby shampoos are formulated with amphoteric surfactants.) [kimberly says: I didn't want to change the quote, as I copied it directly from the website in the link. So I added BBird's correction here!]
=========================
So there we are then. :-) If anyone has follow up questions, let me know and I can ask 'my' researcher at Google Answers to clarify the information provided. Isn't that terrific? So Comment, folks, COMMENT!
