Safe Cosmetics Forums
held in November 2006
Resources on this page:
overview of the problem
what you can do
forum handouts
speakers & presentations
media coverage: articles & interviews
exhibitors (nonprofits, agencies, safer companies)
links to resources
Overview of the Problem with our Cosmetics/Personal Care
Products
According
to industry estimates and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' polling and
surveys, consumers use around 15, and as many as 25, different
cosmetic products a day containing more than 200 different chemical compounds.
Even if you don’t use make-up, you probably still use cosmetics. Legally, the term refers to any products you apply to your body that are not drugs. Shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, hand soap, sunscreen, lip balm, and hand lotion are all cosmetics.
Major loopholes in federal law allow the cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no pre-market testing, no monitoring of health effects, and inadequate labeling requirements. Chemicals that are found in our personal care products are also used in heavy manufacturing industries to grease gears, stabilize pesticides, and soften plastics.
Of the over 10,000 chemicals used in cosmetics, only 11% have been assessed for health and safety by FDA or any other government agency.
- The FDA does not review or regulate cosmetics products or ingredients for safety before they are sold to the public and has no legal authority to require safety assessments of cosmetics.
- The European Union now bans more than 1,100 chemicals from personal care products because they may cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive problems.
- In its 67-year history, the FDA has only banned 9 chemicals from cosmetics in the United States.
Chemicals in cosmetics that pose health risks include:
- carcinogens and suspected
carcinogens: acrylamide,
formaldehyde, coal tar, diethanolamine (or cocamide DEA),
petroleum distillates, ethylacrylate.
According to the Skin Deep database, 1/3 of all personal care products contain at least one chemical linked to cancer. - reproductive or developmental toxins: phthalates, mercury, lead acetate, and toluene.
These chemicals make their way into our bodies through our skin or from inhalation. The amount of a hazardous chemical in a single cosmetic product may be small, but exposures from our use of multiple cosmetic products every day, and from other consumer products, can add up to potentially harmful levels.
Of Particular Concern: Phthalates
Phthalates are a family
of plasticizer chemicals used as additives in cosmetics, fragrances,
plastic toys, automotive products, PVC (vinyl) products, and many other
consumer items. The primary health concern for phthalates
is damage to the developing male reproductive system. In studies on people,
boys born to mothers with greater exposure to phthalates had altered
genital development. Phthalates have also been linked to asthma, reduced
lung capacity, and damage to liver and kidney function.
- Nail polishes frequently contain dibutyl phthalate (or DBP) to make them “non-chip”.
- Phthalates are rarely identified in ingredient lists as they are often listed under the catch-all of “fragrances”.
Recent studies of adults and children in the U.S. have found widespread exposure to phthalates. Phthalates are found in our blood and in breast milk. Phthalates are not bioaccumulative, but because we are constantly re-exposed to sources of phthalates, levels in our bodies may remain fairly constant.
In our Pollution in People study, we found phthalates in the bodies of all 10 Washington residents that we tested: see the phthalates summary
Personal Care Products and Our
Environment 
While
more work is needed to determine the effects of personal care products
on the marine environment, research has already shown that these contaminants
are present in Puget Sound. They
may be one of the causes of hormone disruption observed in marine life,
which is linked with changes in fish gender.
Phthalates are found everywhere in our environment, including in our waterways and in wildlife. They are a major concern in Seattle's Duwamish River watershed, where researchers have found phthalates in the river mud and ongoing high levels of phthalates flowing into the basin.
Our laws are not protecting our health or our environment from
exposure
to hazardous chemicals in our every day consumer products.
What You Can Do
Check ingredients in your personal care products - use the Skin Deep database to avoid products containing unsafe chemicals.
Patronize companies using safer alternatives - see a list of cosmetics companies that have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics.
Call on companies to get the toxics out - send a letter to OPI about their toxic nail polish.
Support the bill to phase-out PBDEs in Washington state - learn more >
Join us in our work to ensure that only the safest chemicals are used to make consumer products - get involved with the health and environmental organizations sponsoring these forums - see list of organizations >
- Safe Cosmetics Fact Sheet pdf file (1 page, 468 KB)
- 12 Ugly Truths Behind the Myth of Cosmetic Safety pdf file (brochure, 458 KB)
- Forum Program (includes contact info for organizations and companies, and fact sheet)
pdf file (4 pages, 1.3 MB)
"The Myth of Cosmetic Safety"
Janet Nudelman, Policy
Director, Breast Cancer Fund
slides in pdf format (12 pages, 14 MB)
"Women, Cosmetics, and Communities of Color"
Felicia Eaves, National
Campaigns Organizer, Women's
Voices for the Earth
(no slides used)
listen to a public radio interview with Felicia on KUOW
radio
"Business and Safer Cosmetics"
Jimm Harrison, Spirit
of Beauty Nutritional Skin Care
(no slides used)
"Pollution in People: a personal
story"
Allyson Schrier (Bellevue), Dr.
Patricia Dawson (Seattle), Karen Bowman,
RN (Tacoma)
slides in pdf format
(8 pages, 11 MB)
or visit the Pollution in People web site
"The Connection between Human Health
and the Environment "
BJ Cummings, Duwamish
River Clean-Up Coalition (Bellevue
and Seattle)
slides in pdf format (4 pages, 7 MB)
Leslie Ann Rose, Citizens
for a Healthy Bay (Tacoma)
slides in pdf format (4 pages, 17.6 MB)
"Getting to Toxic-Free: what you can do"
Margaret Shield, Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition
see summary of "What You Can Do"
Media Coverage: Articles & Interviews
Seattle Post-Intelligencer front page story, 11/6/06
"Putting on your face could cause ugly health problems" by
Lisa Stiffler
link
to article
The Olympian, 11/6/06
"Are your personal care items really safe?" by Terri Thomas
link to article
KPLU news story 11/6/06 - "Toxic
Cosmetics"
link
to web site with audio file
KUOW Weekday 11/7/06 - "The
safety of personal care products"
Interview by Steve Scher with Felicia Eaves, Women's Voice for the Earth/Campaign for Safe Cosmetics,
and Anne Steinemann, University of Washington
link
to web site with audio file (scroll down to Hour Two)
Real Change newspaper 11/9/06
"Take Toxins Out of Personal-Care Products" by Cydney Gillis
link
to article
Tacoma News Tribune, 11/21/06
"The ugly side of beauty" by Niki Sullivan
link to article
Health and Environmental Organizations
- Breast Cancer Fund
- Citizens for a Healthy Bay
- Duwamish River Clean-Up Coalition
- East Lake Washington Audubon
- ECOSS (Environmental Coalition of South Seattle)
- People For Puget Sound
- Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition
- Washington Toxics Coalition - Toxics Hotline 1-800-844-SAFE
Public Agencies
- Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County - Household Hazards Line: 206-296-4692
- Puget Sound Action Team 1-800-54-SOUND
- Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
- Washington State Department of Ecology - Hazardous Substance Information: 1-800-633-7585
Cosmetics Companies with Safer Alternatives
These companies have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, see complete list at www.safecosmetics.org
- Fire and Water Sundries
- JP Durga
- Neways
- ONE Group
- Spirit of Beauty Nutritional Skin Care
- Usana Health Sciences
Toxic Flame Retardants (PBDEs) & what you can do
Pollution in People: A study of toxic chemicals in Washingtonians
These Safe Cosmetics Forums were Hosted by: The Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition
with
Breast Cancer Fund | Citizens for a Healthy Bay | Community Coalition
for Environmental Justice | Duwamish River Clean-Up Coalition | People
For Puget Sound | Washington Toxics Coalition | Puget Sound Action
Team.
Additional co-sponsors:
National Campaign for
Safe Cosmetics | Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County
| GREAN and Women's Center | Pacific Lutheran University | Washington
State Deparment of Ecology
Back to main Safe Cosmetics Page
About the WA Safe Cosmetics Act - HB 2166
Pollution in People: A study of toxic chemicals in Washingtonians
National Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
back to main safe cosmetics page
