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Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash

I have used Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash for a very long time.

Recently, there was a packaging change. The bottle has a couple curves now, and the flip-open cap is chrome-colored instead of plain plastic. The marketing people figured some kind of change was overdue. I don't get it, but somebody apparently does.

And it is my opinion that the formula of the body wash itself was changed.

Well, I discovered when I read the label on a bottle of Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash that it is not just my opinion -- Bath & Body Works claims that Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash "is newly supercharged with benefits that make it the world's best daily luxury. It has been reformulated to provide the ultimate shower experience ...."

I stopped using Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash.

Why? The first time I used the new-bottled Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash, I thought that I might have gotten the soap in my eyes because my eyes were burning. I didn't think I did, but I gave Bath & Body Works the benefit of the doubt. The following day, I made sure that I didn't get the body wash near my face. My eyes started burning when I washed my chest.

I tried another bottle -- same result.

I tried another bottle -- same result.

I bought another bottle after using an alternate product for a while. I tried the new bottle of Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash -- same result: BURNING EYES.

So, what is the new ingredient?

In comparing the Material Safety Data Sheet from 1997 with the label to the newly supercharged Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash, there are, indeed, some added ingredients.

Dipropylene Glycol. Propylene Glycol. Triethylene Glycol.

I could look up these chemicals and find out that they are all eye and skin irritants and that I should wash my eyes with clean water and use gloves when handling, but that's concentrations not found in the Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash. It would be unfair to compare the effects of high concentrations of the chemicals to the small amounts found in Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash.

I checked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Household Products Database, which provides information on the safety of household products, and I could not find the Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash listed. So, I compared the Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash with something I thought would have a similar concentration of propylene glycol (I could be all like alarmist and all and say, "Hey, that's in anti-freeze!!" but I'm not like that.).

I picked out a relatively benign product, Sheppard & Greene Ferret Ear Wash, which is made by Farnam Companies, Inc., of Phoenix, Arizona. What does the federal government say about the Acute Health Effects that could result from the use of the product because of the propylene glycol that is an ingredient?

Under the category, ROUTE(S) OF ENTRY, there is listed: Inhalation: No; Skin: No; Eyes: Yes; Ingestion: No.

Under the category, POTENTIAL ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS, there is listed: None.

Under the category, SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF EXPOSURE, there is listed: May cause eye irritation.

So, there you have it. One of the ingredients of Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash may cause eye irritation. It did, in fact, cause eye irritation.

I checked further in the interest of being thorough -- what about triethylene glycol? I was surprised by the list of household products that contain triethylene glycol.

There are no shampoos or body wash products on the list!

To what product should I compare Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash to see the health effects of triethylene glycol?

How about SprayPAK Oven Cleaner? Or Lysol Neutra Air Sanitizing Aerosol Spray, Citrus? Or Pyroil DOT 3 Brake Fluid?

I'm throwing out Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body Wash. On second thought, I'll try to clean the oven with it.

Posted by Bill at August 4, 2010 05:50 PM