CEH Takes Legal Action Against Amazon, Target, and Walmart for Selling Shampoos and Body Soaps Containing a Carcinogenic Chemical
Consumer Watchdog Group Finds Cocamide DEA in 38 Shampoos and Other Hygiene Products After Getting It Out of the Market Over a Decade Ago
Contact: Emily DiFrisco, [email protected]
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – Today the nonprofit watchdog the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) sent Notices of Violation to retailers Amazon.com, Target, and Walmart for selling shampoos, body soaps, and other hygiene products containing the carcinogenic ingredient cocamide diethanolamine (or Cocamide DEA).
Cocamide DEA is made by reacting coconut oil with a chemical called ethanolamine, which transforms it into a foaming agent that is often added to shampoos and soaps as an unnecessary thickener. After laboratory tests found that Cocamide DEA caused liver and kidney cancers, California added it to its list of carcinogenic chemicals that require a warning under Proposition 65 in 2012.
“Cocamide DEA has been found to cause cancer. It has no place in any personal care products we use on our hair or on our skin,” said Caitlin Moher, CEH’s Research Manager. “Cocamide DEA is included on the ingredient lists printed on these products, so we know it is intentionally included. We hope today’s lawsuit pushes Amazon and Walmart to stop selling shampoos, body soaps, and personal care products they know contain this carcinogenic chemical.”
CEH got Cocamide DEA off the market over a decade ago by taking legal action that brought over 120 companies to eliminate Cocamide DEA from their shampoos, soaps, and other hygiene products between 2013 and 2016.
Unfortunately, the watchdog group noticed that the carcinogenic chemical seems to be creeping back into the market as CEH’s Consumer Protection Team discovered it in three products sold at Family Dollar and Dollar Tree in 2023 – dollar stores that traditionally serve lower-income populations. CEH took legal action and reached settlement agreements with the manufacturers, distributors, and retailers responsible for selling these products to force them to remove Cocamide DEA from any products sold in California.
The reappearance of Cocamide DEA in dollar stores prompted CEH’s Consumer Protection Team to review the current shampoo and body soap market to see if Cocamide DEA was in products sold by other major retailers. They were disappointed to find 28 products sold on Amazon.com and 11 products sold at Walmart that contained Cocamide DEA, leading the group to take legal action against the retailers today. One product, Blackwood for Men Facial Cream Cleanser, is sold by all three retailers. The nonprofit is optimistic that this lawsuit will prompt these retailers to stop selling these products with Cocamide DEA to ensure shampoos, body soaps, and hygiene products are free of this carcinogenic ingredient.
The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) is a 29-year-old organization leading the nationwide effort to protect people from toxic chemicals to achieve a cleaner, safer, healthier world.