When I’m at the grocery store, I check the ingredient labels for the food products I buy for my family. I think many moms do this.
But do you do the same for your cosmetics?
The problem is, even if you want to check, the current laws in the U.S. do not require manufacturers to list ALL of their ingredients. Many of the products we use every day are full of hazardous chemicals – including known carcinogens, hormone and endocrine disrupters and other toxins. Some manufacturers include harmful ingredients under the catch-all term “fragrances” used to represent any number of the industry’s more than 3,000 stock chemical ingredients.
How do I know?
Nearly a decade ago, my dad, son and I took part in the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) first intergenerational toxic body burden test, which examined our blood for the presence of 80 different chemicals. There were clear differences between the three generations in the level of toxic chemicals. My father had high levels of heavy metals, including mercury and lead. I had high levels of synthetic musks, artificial chemicals used in “fragrance” mixtures. Some of these musks have been linked to cancer, while others have been shown to disrupt the hormone system. And my son had high levels of flame retardants, Teflon-like chemicals and even rocket fuel.
I was shocked at the levels of “cosmetic” related chemicals I had in my blood stream. This opened my eyes to the problem we have and started my involvement in trying to force manufacturers to disclose all the ingredients in their products. My biggest concern is mothers are being exposed to hundreds of chemicals every day and are passing them directly to their unborn children in the womb. Some of these chemicals are widely believed to affect their developing brains and organs leading to increases in chronic childhood diseases like cancer, learning disabilities and obesity.
Educate Yourself
Young women and teenage girls are at the highest risk, they are constantly bombarded with celebrity-endorsed ads with false promises. That is where I have an issue with celebrity-endorsed perfumes, like those from Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Rihanna.
Surely they would not knowingly endorse products that contain harmful chemicals – but they have.
Fortunately, there is a way you can go online and get information about the products you buy.
EWG launched its Skin Deep Cosmetics Database (ewg.org/skindeep), an online guide that rates the safety of more than 74,000 personal care products and offers advice to help us make safer, healthier choices. Skin Deep warns us about propylparabens in mascaras, formaldehyde in face powders and foundations, lead in lipstick and artificial fragrance in lip balm. It also raises the red flag and does investigative research on items included under “fragrances.”
Want Some Examples?
One of the worst-scoring products in the Skin Deep database is Cover Girl’s “natureluxe foundation.” A commercial for the product features singer and Cover Girl Taylor Swift boasting that the company “took out a heavy synthetic and put in a light touch of cucumber.” According to Skin Deep, however, it also contains octinoxate, which is linked to hormone disruption.
And then there are the chemicals not listed on the product labels. Lab tests commissioned by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (safecosmetics.org) and analyzed in 2010 by EWG, found 38 secret chemicals in 17 name-brand fragrance products. The average fragrance product tested also contained 14 secret chemicals not listed on the label. A published report, titled Not So Sexy: The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance (ewg.org/research/not-so-sexy), also included these disturbing findings:
• A pregnant woman’s use of some fragrances and other cosmetics frequently may expose her growing fetus to diethyl phthalate (DEP), a common perfume solvent linked to abnormal development of reproductive organs in baby boys and sperm damage in adult men. Research also links prenatal exposure of DEP to clinically diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder in children.
• The majority of products tested contained galaxolide and tonalide, two synthetic musks. A 2009 EWG study found these musks in the cord blood of newborn babies.
• Some of the chemicals listed on labels include sunscreens chemicals that can disrupt normal hormone development and function, as well as sensitizers that can trigger allergic reactions, such as asthma, wheezing, headaches and contact dermatitis.
It’s clear we can’t rely on the cosmetics companies, their celebrity endorsers or the federal government to protect us from harmful chemicals in the vast array of personal care products we buy. Knowledge is power! Use and spread the word about EWG’s Skin Deep database; support the work of EWG and other like-minded groups in their research studies and lobbying efforts for greater cosmetic safety and industry transparency; and use all you learn to vote with your dollar by purchasing safer products from manufacturers committed to the health and safety of you and your family.
You’ll find a wealth of information at www.ewg.org.
What you may not know about the artificial fragrance and other potentially harmful chemicals in your favorite celebrity-endorsed perfumes could hurt you. Here’s a snapshot of three celebrity perfumes that are currently being sold:
(Source: Environmental Working Group)
Taylor Swift’s Enchanted Wonderstruck Eau de Parfum
Listed ingredients include:
- “fragrance”
- citral, geraniol, limonene and linalool
- potent allergens
Beyoncé Pulse Eau de Parfum
Listed ingredients include:
- “fragrance”
- ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate
- common sunscreen chemical
- associated with hormone disruption
- benzophenone-3 (also known as oxybenzone)
- common sunscreen chemical
- potential hormone disruptor
- penetrates the skin readily
- associated with allergic reactions
- BHT
- causes liver cancer in rodents
- associated with reproductive and endocrine effects
Reb’l Fleur by Rihanna Eau de Parfum
Listed ingredients include:
- “fragrance”
- ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate
- common sunscreen chemical
- associated with hormone disruption
- linalool, citral
- potent allergens