The ugly side of beauty, some cosmetics can be toxic

[Guest guest]

This is scary - " Contaminants or byproducts, such as formaldehyde in baby

shampoo, are not listed because they are released by other chemicals or created

when you combine chemicals, " Ms. Malkan says. -- so even when you try to avoid

exposure to toxins, you inadvertantly do ....

The ugly side of beauty, some cosmetics can be toxic

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10201/1073854-314.stm#ixzz0uKd7e7pD

It didn't get much attention nationally, just a few paragraphs in papers such as

the Kennebec Journal and a segment on the local news.

But the quiet protest by a group of high school and college students in

Waterville, Maine, in February was one of a growing number across the country.

They gathered at the post office to mail 12 beauty products to an environmental

lab, where they would be tested for toxins and other dangerous ingredients that

many commonly used products contain.

" As young people, we're coming together to put our cosmetics on trial, " said

Anne Sheldon, a member of the Maine Women's Lobby, a nonprofit group dedicated

to helping women through public policy.

" The European Union has banned more than 1,000 ingredients from cosmetics, while

the United States has banned only 10. "

Products to avoid

• Anti-aging creams with lactic, glycolic, AHA and BHA acids.

• Hair relaxers, perms and dyes, especially dyes with ammonia, peroxide, PPD

(p-phenylenediamine diaminobenzene), all dark permanent hair dyes. Hair relaxers

contain estrogen from placenta and can lead to early puberty and breast cancer.

• Liquid hand soaps with triclosan.

• Nail polish and removers with formaldehyde.

• Skin lighteners with hydroquinone or mercury.

• Nano-technology -- Much touted, not regulated, no knowledge of long-term

effects as products penetrate deeply into skin, even into organs.

• Lipstick -- An estimated 61 percent of lipsticks on the market contain lead,

for which there are no safe levels.

• Parabens -- Used as a preservative, known to be toxic and can cause skin

reactions, affect hormones and have been found in breast cancer tumors.

• Synthetic fragrances -- Among the most dangerous ingredients. A leading cause

of cosmetic-related allergy and irritation, watery eyes, nausea, mood changes,

depression, irritability, anger, memory lapse and more.

• DEAs (Diethanolamine) -- A wetting agent in shampoo that creates a rich lather

and gives lotions a creamy consistency. Not harmful alone but can react with

other chemicals to form a potent carcinogen called NDEA, linked to stomach,

liver, esophagus and bladder cancer.

• Sodium Laurel or Laureth Sulphate -- a detergent used in shampoo to create

foam, often described as " comes from coconut. " Causes rashes and hair loss.

• PEG (Polyethylene Glycol) -- Potentially carcinogenic petroleum product used

in cleansers to dissolve oil. Can also reduce skin's moisture factor and

increase the appearance of aging.

• Phenoxyethanol -- An aromatic ether alcohol used as a preservative in

cosmetics, ointments, toiletries and wipes. The manufacturer says " harmful if

swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. May cause reproductive defects.

Severe eye and skin irritant. "

• Propylene Glycol -- A petroleum derivative used to maintain moisture in

products, it can penetrate the skin to weaken protein and cell structure. Can

also remove barnacles from boats. Can cause brain, liver and kidney

abnormalities.

• PABA -- Used in sunscreens, can cause photo-allergic reactions including acne

and painful, pus-filled blisters. Banned in many countries.

• Phthalates -- Found in PVC plastic such as shower caps and curtains,

fragrances and some nail polish. Linked to birth defects, especially in male

infants.

Source: Environmental Working Group

The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1936 has only two pages that relate to

cosmetics, and it has not been updated despite a sea change in the industry. The

fact is, the Food and Drug Administration has no authority to make cosmetics

companies test products for safety or recall products that are found to be

harmful.

Although the average woman uses a dozen personal care products each day that

contain a total of 168 chemicals and the average man uses six products

containing 85 chemicals, there is no federal regulation of these ingredients.

Americans are living longer than ever, but a third of them develop chronic

disease and disability, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. A major reason, claim advocates of tougher regulation of the

cosmetics industry, is the cumulative effect of toxic chemicals that are

absorbed through the skin (as opposed to breathing, drinking and eating).

Many are known carcinogens responsible for childhood and hormone-related

cancers, while others have been linked to asthma, birth defects, early puberty,

learning disabilities, nervous system disorders and infertility.

'A lot of denial'

Much like the tobacco industry, which denied for years the mounting body of

evidence that smoking caused cancer and emphysema, the global $300 billion

cosmetics industry argues that toxic ingredients are absorbed in such small

amounts they have no dangerous effect. Yet added to the host of other toxins to

which we are exposed and multiplied by repeated use of those products we use

daily, even trace amounts can add up fast, experts say.

" There's certainly a lot of denial and false information the industry puts

forth, " says Malkan, a former teen beauty queen and author of the landmark

book " Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. "

" In some cases, people didn't know this stuff 20 or 30 years ago. Now we know

even low doses of toxic chemicals can be harmful, but there's resistance to

change, " she says. " It's easier to create doubt, and that's exactly where

they're taking a page out of the tobacco industry playbook. We're seeing exactly

the same thing -- it's just a little bit of carcinogen in the baby shampoo, just

one hormone-disrupting chemical in your fragrance. "

Ms. Malkan is a co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national

coalition of health, labor, environmental and consumer rights groups that has

worked since 2002 to eliminate hazardous chemicals from personal care products.

Among the founding members are the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, Breast

Cancer Fund, Clean Water Fund and the Environmental Working Group, which

publishes Skin Deep, an online cosmetics safety database.

The database ranks beauty products according to safety, from 1 to 10. However,

cosmetic companies are not required to list all the ingredients on their product

labels -- and so the database is limited to the information the cosmetic company

releases. Fragrances, for example, are exempt because their formulas are

considered a proprietary " secret. "

Sometimes the lack of disclosure is more complex.

" Contaminants or byproducts, such as formaldehyde in baby shampoo, are not

listed because they are released by other chemicals or created when you combine

chemicals, " Ms. Malkan says.

Because the FDA doesn't test cosmetics for safety, that job goes to the Cosmetic

Ingredient Review, which is funded and run by the cosmetics industry through its

trade association, the Personal Care Products Council. Safety advocates are

concerned that, in effect, the industry is policing itself. But Alan Andersen,

director of the CIR, disagrees.

" The scientific decision-making is made by a panel of experts, " Mr. Andersen

says. " The industry plays no role in those decisions. "

He adds that he has " no opinion " on whether the FDA should become involved in

testing beauty products or the push by some for legislation that would lead to

greater disclosure.

" We are a scientific review group looking at the available safety data. That's

the job we do. "

So why are the findings of the CIR criticized by those who say the same research

points to dangers the CIR fails to cite? Take, for instance, a recent CBS " 60

Minutes " segment on dibutyl phthalates (found in PVC, fragrance, lotions and

nail polish), which reported research linking them to endocrine disruption and

birth defects, including genital deformities in male infants, and said most

people have traces of phthalates in their bodies.

" Endocrine disruption doesn't mean much of anything, " says Mr. Andersen. " We

looked at the actual studies looking at specific end points. Most of these

studies were done on rodents and at the lowest exposure that produces an effect.

There were changes in sperm production in those studies, and there were

exposures so low it had no effect. The exposure from cosmetics is 5,000 times

below that level. Phthalates do not accumulate in the body. They go in an out of

the body. "

Parabens problem

Several health and environmental experts have also assailed the use of parabens

in cosmetics because they can be absorbed in the skin and have properties that

can disrupt the body's endocrine functions. Parabens are the most widely used

preservatives in cosmetics, and typically more than one type of paraben is used.

According to the FDA website, they're often combined with other preservatives to

protect against microorganisms.

But it's the CIR that has done all safety tests on the chemical. In 1984 and

2005, it conducted reviews of parabens used in cosmetic products and came to the

same conclusions: The levels of parabens used posed no safety risk. The FDA

participates in the CIR in a non-voting capacity.

The last review was prompted by a study published in the Journal of Applied

Technology in 2004 that, according to the FDA website, " detected parabens in

breast tumors. " The study also discussed this information in the context of the

weak estrogen-like properties of parabens and the influence of estrogen on

breast cancer.

" However, the study left several questions unanswered, " the FDA website said.

" For example, the study did not show that parabens cause cancer, or that they

are harmful in any way, and the study did not look at possible paraben levels in

normal tissue. "

Many items not tested

For more information

• The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, http://safecosmetics.org/index.php, and Skin

Deep, www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.

• " Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry, " by

Malkan, New Society Publishers.

• " The Green Beauty Guide, " by , Health Communications Inc.

• " Toxic Beauty: How Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Endanger Your Health

.... And What You Can Do About It, " by Dr. Epstein with Randall

Fitzgerald, Benbella Books.

Skin Deep found that 89 percent of the ingredients in cosmetics and personal

care products have never been tested for safety by the CIR, which has cited 10

ingredients as objectionable since its founding in 1976. The EU, which adheres

to much stricter standards in cosmetics than the United States, has banned 1,300

ingredients that have been known or strongly suspected of causing cancer.

As more information becomes available and the grassroots movement grows,

pressure is mounting on the FDA to regulate cosmetics the way it does food and

drugs. According to the FDA, " A change in FDA's statutory authority over

cosmetics would require Congress to change the law. " The cosmetics industry

counters that such legislation is unnecessary because the CIR is doing a fine

job.

But not everyone is waiting for Congress to act. In 2005, California became the

first state to pass a law that governs the safety and reporting of cosmetic

ingredients. The California Safe Cosmetics Act requires manufacturers to

disclose to the state any ingredients on the state or federal list of chemicals

that cause cancer or birth defects. In 2008, Washington state banned dibutyl

phthalates from personal care products used by children as part of its

Children's Safe Products Act.

The push also is on for full disclosure of ingredients, a task made daunting by

the fact that some chemicals can have as many as a dozen names.

There are also loopholes. A 2002 report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found

that almost three-fourths of the products it tested contained phthalates (which

adds flexibility and moisturizing sheen), although none of the 72 items listed

it on the label. That's because phthalates are commonly found in exempt

fragrances, which are in most soaps, lotions, hair products and a host of other

items.

A 2008 follow-up to the study found that phthalate levels had dropped in some

products, an unofficial response to increased concern. Yet without full

disclosure of ingredients, there is no way for consumers to know which products

don't have phthalates, leading some to eschew products that contain fragrance

altogether.

More and more people are turning to organic cosmetic companies that avoid the

use of harmful chemicals.

" Sales of natural and organic care products are growing faster than sales of

conventional products, " Ms. Malkan says. " The cosmetics companies are certainly

paying attention to that. "

While Ms. Malkan cautions that terms such as natural, pure and organic have no

legal standing, the health risks posed by cosmetics has led to greater scrutiny

and the birth of many new " natural " companies.

To date, more than 1,000 manufacturers have signed the Campaign for Safe

Cosmetics' " Compact for Safe Cosmetics, " a pledge that its products meet EU

standards and that hazardous ingredients will be replaced with safe ones within

three years.

" But that number doesn't include the mainstream brands people know, " Ms. Malkan

says. " The big companies have not agreed to work together with us. They have

made some small steps, like removing [dibutyl phthalate] from nail polish. "

They have also started to infiltrate the natural cosmetics market -- if you

can't beat them, buy them. Aveda is owned by Estee Lauder, L'Oreal bought The

Body Shop, Colgate-Palmolive owns Tom's of Maine, and Clorox paid $925 million

for Burt's Bees in 2007.

" In some cases, the products are still pretty good, but personally I buy from

smaller companies that are wholly committed to making safe products, " Ms. Malkan

says. " Estee Lauder knows how to make products without these toxic chemicals,

but they need to do it to all of their lines. In the long run, people don't want

to buy the toxic stuff. The smart company is the one that breaks away. "

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10201/1073854-314.stm#ixzz0uKcp8Bbv

[Guest guest]

This has led to the widespread use of botox and cosmetic surgery, at least in

the media. You cannot see someone over 40 who has not been altered. No one, no

one in front of the camera, has any facial wrinkles. It is most unnatural and

strange, almost like looking at zombies. Everyone wants to be their own avatars.

I hope the pendulum swings back soon and people return to aging gracefully.

>

> This is scary - " Contaminants or byproducts, such as formaldehyde in baby

shampoo, are not listed because they are released by other chemicals or created

when you combine chemicals, " Ms. Malkan says. -- so even when you try to avoid

exposure to toxins, you inadvertantly do ....

>

> The ugly side of beauty, some cosmetics can be toxic

>

> Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10201/1073854-314.stm#ixzz0uKd7e7pD

>