Everyday Ecology™ |
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Simple Ideas for the Greening of your Environment: 
Reading about the erroneous email message that circulated recently listing lipsticks that supposedly contained lead gave me pause to think about the use of cosmetics and beauty supplies and how we consider the safety of the products that we use.
Our assumption that all of these products are safe is erroneous, as Federal oversight of the cosmetics industry is extremely limited. For example, the FDA has less than 30 employees overseeing this industry and only two employees dealing with the issue of packaging, labeling and consumer warnings. Also, the FDA cannot require manufacturers to file data on, nor to test, the ingredients in their products for safety. A study by the General Accounting Office reported that more than 125 ingredients available for use in cosmetics are suspected of causing cancer and twenty ingredients are suspected of causing birth defects. Source: www.olivenatrals.com/dangers.htm
Risks are high for genetic damage, reproductive toxicity, including infertility and cancer, according to University of Illinois School of Public Health Emeritus Professor Samuel Epstein, M.D. This is due, in part, to the lifelong daily use by individuals of many cosmetic products, their application to large areas of skin with its absorption of ingredients and the synergistic interactions between multiple toxic ingredients. www.healthy-communications.com/02-8AS-label-allergens.htm
A report recently released by Coming Clean, the Environmental Working Group and Health Care Without Harm details the extent to which one toxic family of chemicals known as phthalates (THAY-lates) are used in everyday household products, especially beauty products like nail polish, lipstick and perfumes. The report, titled “Not Too Pretty: Pthalates, Beauty Products and the FDA,” has its basis in a 1999 FDA study of toxins in the general population of the U.S. From a sample of 1,029 people, every one of them tested positive for phthalates in their blood or urine. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control singled out a subgroup of 289 people with a particularly high incidence of phthalates: women of childbearing age. These women were found to have daily exposures of phthalates ranging from 2.5 to 22 times the normal for the rest of the general population. Source: www.nottoopretty.org/goodbad.htm
Phthalates are plasticizers used to soften vinyl plastic and are among the most common fragrance ingredients in perfumes and cosmetics, because their oily texture helps lubricate other substances in a formula. They also help lotions penetrate and soften the skin. Phthalates are being linked to reproductive disorders and some trends in human male reproductive health mirror the effects of phthalate exposure in animals.
According to Pamela Lundquist, in an article entitled, “Fragrance in Perfumes and Cosmetics, www.checnet.org/healthehouse/education/articles-detail.asp?Main_ID=509, perfumes and fragrances can consist of hundreds of chemicals. For example, testing, by an independent lab, of Calvin Klein’s Eternity showed that it contained over 800 compounds, and diethyl phthalate (DEP) made up over 10% of the perfume.
It is not easy to detect these ingredients in the cosmetics that we use as they are rarely listed on product labels. A recent study by several organizations found that phthalates were found in almost 75% of common personal care products, including cosmetics, nail polishes and hardeners, lotions, deodorants, hair sprays, shampoos and conditioners.
Several websites can assist you in evaluating cosmetics and products you use. An article, “How to Avoid Overexposure to Fragrances” is available at: www.checnet.org/healthehouse/education/top10-detail.asp?Top10_Cat_ID=31
For a list of phthalate-free personal care products and cosmetics, see: www.nottoopretty.org/goodbad.htm To find out if products you currently use contain phthalates, see Environmental Working Group’s web site: www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/browse_products.ph More on this subject in future columns.
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