To Elizabeth Watt -
 
        Elizabeth, most of the compounds that you named I am not familiar with.
Sodium laurel sulfate is a common ingredient in many shampoos, so I think that
this one is okay.
 
        Two compounds in your original list I am familiar with, however, and you
rightly have marked them as toxic.  Pennyroyal oil has been known to cause
massive toxicosis in animals that have been bathed in it.  It's not a pleasant
picture, with massive hemorrhage in the lungs and outward through the nose and
mouth.
 
        Tansy, or tansy ragwort, is a liver toxin which is well documented in
cattle and horses, which eat the plant.
 
        My caution to everyone would be - just because it's natural, doesn't
mean it's not poisonous.  Remember, as I said a few days ago, pyrethrins are
natural (come from chrysanthemums), and very safe.  It's what I use at home.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 576-2453/2454                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
 
[Posted in FML issue 0822]