In September 1986, consumers were jolted by a television report on alleged carcinogenic substance in cosmetic preparations, particularly in shampoos and bath preparations. The compound under suspicion on this occasion was 1,4-dioxane, a substance which can occur in small amounts in the production of certain surfactants. The Commission of Scientific Experts of the Federal Board of Health (FBH) has 'regarded the amounts detected in certain shampoos as safe,' and some further explanations were provided by the FBH press service on 9/19/86. The arguments of the Industrial Association of Cosmetics and Skin Cleansing Products (IKW) are based on toxicological evidence provided by the FBH; they add that 'the presence of such minimal traces in shampoos does not represent a risk for the consumer,' and that the consumer thus need not be advised against using the products available at the market today. Regardless of the exposure of consumers using these preparations, the content of such 'technically avoidable substances' is to be drastically reduced in each case or totally eliminated. The results of studies of preparations in which dioxane was not detectable indicate that this is possible. The objective and result of discussions, however, must be that substances suspected of possessing a carcinogenic potential are in fact to be banned from cosmetic and household products.