The Dangerous Reasons to Avoid Castor Oil

This is a great question from a subscriber of our Chemical of the Day
blog.  I wanted to share the answer with everyone in today's
newsletter.  Read on to find out why we don't use castor oil in our
products.

Q.  What do you think about castor oil? It is an ingredient in my
favorite organic soap. I've read mixed things about it. That it
contains a toxic protein called ricin at some stage of production but
apparantly none of that remains in the final product. What do you
think?
-Phillip

A.  Castor oil as a finished product is not a dangerous ingredient and
is widely used in soaps, lotions, etc all over the world with a long
history of safety as an oil.  However, there are many hidden drawbacks
to using the oil.

First of all, castor oil is in high demand because it's cheap and it
has unique chemical properties that allow it to be used in many
industries to make lubricants, inks, paints, greases, adhesives and
other industrial products.  Because of its high demand and low cost,
the castor seed plant is, in many cases, genetically modified to
increase yield and to obtain certain fatty acid compositions.
Genetically modified crops, as you may know, can weaken ecosystems and
deplete soils (among other side effects).  In addition, these crops
require fertilizers and pesticides which pollute the soil and
groundwater.  The use of a certified organic castor seed oil would of
course not contribute to these problems.  However, there is still the
problem of the processing.

The castor seed contains the poison ricin (as you already know).
Ricin is only slightly less toxic to the body than radioactive
plutonium!  The oil extraction process removes the toxin from the oil,
but the waste material has to go somewhere---it can end up in
wastewater and landfills which then pollute the entire environment.
Most of the worlds' castor oil is processed in countries that don't
have strict environmental safety standards. In addition, there is no
regulation of this castor bean waste (aka "mash") and it can get in to
the hands of terrorist groups and be used in biological warfare.
In addition, there are allergenic compounds found on the plant surface
that can cause permanent nerve damage, making the harvest of castor
beans a human health risk for the workers involved.  So, although as a
finished product it's safe for use, we feel it's not a responsible
ingredient to use because of the safety and environmental risks
involved with the processing and harvest of the plant.  We have found
that other oils such as sunflower and coconut do just as good or
better of a job at moisturizing skin and don't have these negative
side effects!

In a nutshell:
1.  Non-organic castor oil crops can lead to pollution and
environmental upset through synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and
genetically modified crops.
2.  Castor oil mash can pollute the environment.
3.  Castor oil mash can be sold to terrorist organizations and individuals.
4.  Allergens in the plant can cause harm to workers.
Sources:
http://www.linnaeus.net/problem_with_castor.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil