So what's in all the kisses you will be giving and getting this holiday season? Maybe something like EBDT? (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid — wikipeda link). Evidently it makes cosmetics softer, smoother, and more stable.  In talking about chemical substances in skin and hair care products last summer, Institute co-founder Michael Braungart called EDTA "a very nice chemical".  But when it gets to the environment, as when you wash  it off, it is very slow to degrade.  "So if you look at San Francisco Bay,  80% of the all heavy metals that are there are in the water  are there because of just one chemical, EDTA, because it always resuspends the heavy metals from the sediments and makes them available for the biosphere."

So among the "50 Recommended Cradle to Cradle® Cosmetic Ingredients"  he announced that night was "L-Glutamic acid N. N=dicetic acid, tetrasodium salt" a replacement chelating substance for EBDT that rapidly degrades in the environment.

Michael gave his research to the public good as an invitation to others to "come up with more" so together we have a list of ingredients for cosmetics that do what's needed for product quality AND can safely go into biological systems. In the cosmetics section of the Innovation Hub on this website, industry experts to sharing what they have and what they are looking for. Join the conversation here.

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