Rise of Synthetic Ingredients in the Soap Industry and Its Impact on Environment and Public Health

The recent increase in synthetic soap sales in the soap industry due to the up-and-coming challenges involving the production of natural soaps and obtaining raw ingredients has contributed to concerns of human health and the environment. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic brought attention to the importance of incorporating raw materials, biosurfactants, and plant-based ingredients into sanitizers and hand soaps. However, the pandemic also posed financial concerns for farmers and their families. It became difficult for farmers to provide natural ingredients for soap manufacture due to environmental regulations and increases in debt and electricity costs. Along with these obstacles, farmers were also faced with competition from more prominent synthetic soap companies in the industry. The use of comparative analysis revealed that natural soaps offer fewer adverse effects on humans and aquatic life when compared to synthetic soaps. Synthetic ingredients in soaps can cause allergic responses, skin irritation, and dryness. Natural soap products often include ingredients like aloe vera, neem, and tulsi, which can offer antibacterial protection to keep the skin moisturized. In addition to the impact on human skin, synthetic soaps can be harmful to aquatic species. Certain synthetic ingredients can be detrimental to aquatic populations by impacting major organs, including the gills, kidneys, and brain. This shift in soap ingredient use has led to concerns about potential health and environmental impacts of water pollution, which can be toxic to plants and could potentially cause an increased risk of cancer in animals, since they are being exposed to larger concentrations of toxic chemicals in their surroundings. The paper evaluates the impact of synthetic ingredients through an integrated framework of economics, public health, and environmental impact, linking economic policy reforms within the soap industry to their impact on the environment and household health. As opposed to existing models, which observe chemical toxicity, trade policies, or impacts on public health in isolated manners, the proposed framework embeds the aforementioned within a computable general equilibrium structure to determine the economic consequences of a transition from synthetic to natural soap ingredients.