Warning: What's in Your Makeup Bag?
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by Colette Bouchez
Environmentalists warn the average woman's makeup bag is a time bomb
waiting to explode with serious health consequences. The cosmetic
industry and the FDA say there's nothing to fear.
It's hard to ignore the headlines: The safety of cosmetics and personal care items is clearly being challenged on many levels.
To hear any well-versed environmentalist tell it, women are being set
up for the health hit of a lifetime. The weapon of mass destruction:
Our cute little cosmetic bags, filled to the brim with what some
believe is a toxic chemical brew that could cause serious health harm.
"Cosmetics and personal care products are potentially major sources of
chemical exposure—particularly if you look at the number of items women
use and the sheer number of chemicals in them. Twenty products with
over 200 chemicals is typical before a woman even walks out the door in
the morning," says Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe
Cosmetics and author of Not Just a Pretty Face.
These
chemicals, she says, are linked to a slew of health threats that range
from cancer to infertility to birth defects, documented by
organizations such as the World Health Organization and the CDC.
The beauty industry disagrees, saying that most of the alarming
accusations—including lead in lipstick—are a replay of old issues that
were addressed and dismissed by them, and the FDA, decades ago.
"Many of the issues that are coming up today are, in fact, a recycling
of old issues that the FDA considered in their context and decided that
no regulatory action was necessary on their part," says John Bailey,
executive vice president of science at the Cosmetics, Toiletry, and
Fragrance Association (CTFA), the leading beauty industry organization.
Bailey, the former director of the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and
Colors, adds that not only are cosmetics and personal care products
generally safe, they are, he says, "safest of all the products
consumers will use that are regulated by FDA including foods, drugs,
dietary supplements, and over-the-counter drugs, and it is well
documented in the number of consumer complaints that FDA gets compared
to other areas."
So where, exactly, does the truth lie? And do women have cause for concern?
Cosmetic Safety: The Major Issues
If you're like most women, you likely believe that, like the drugs in
your medicine chest, the cosmetics on your bathroom vanity were
scrutinized under an equally watchful eye of the FDA. And at first
glance, this seems to be the case.
But unlike drug manufacturers who must prove their products are both
safe and effective before being marketed, cosmetic firms have no such
regulatory obligation under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
"The act does not subject cosmetics to premarket approval," says FDA
spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek. In addition, the companies are not
required to substantiate performance claims or conduct safety testing.
What it does require of companies is that cosmetics be "safe when used
as directed in the labeling or under usual customary conditions of use."
The bottom line: Unless a lipstick or a jar of cream causes the kind of
public health issues raised by tainted lettuce or spinach, is
improperly labeled, or is harmful if used as directed, the FDA is
pretty much out of the beauty picture.
Bailey says the
cosmetic industry uses a self-policing system that works, including the
Cosmetic Ingredient Review board. Funded by the CTFA, this
inter-industry organization scrutinizes cosmetic ingredients from a
safety perspective and publishes their results in peer-reviewed
journals. Bailey says it's one reason why there is such a relatively
low level of consumer complaints about beauty products.
Malkan, however, says it's a little like asking the fox to guard the
henhouse. "The bottom line is they don't have to answer to anyone but
themselves," she says.
Cosmetic Safety: Specific Concerns
Environmentalists say they are less concerned with acute issues—like
skin rashes or allergies—then they are with the potential for long-term
health consequences from some of the chemicals commonly used in
cosmetics.
According to activists like the Environmental Working Group and the
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, these include parabens (used as
preservatives), petrochemicals and their by-products (found in skin
creams, foundations, lip balms, and more) mercury (found in mascara and
eyedrops), lead (found in lipsticks), dioxane (potentially found in
shampoos and body washes) and phthalates (found in some nail polishes,
hair sprays, and fragrances).
Not only have some of these
ingredients been identified by the World Health Organization, the CDC,
and others as carcinogens, but some also fall into a category known as
"endocrine disrupters," chemicals that mimic or block the effects of
hormones in the body. These have the potential to affect a variety of
hormone-related diseases and conditions.
"The evidence may not
be as definitive as some would like, but there are some strong
associations suggesting women routinely exposed to some of these
ingredients may increase their risk of developing breast cancer later
in life," says Vassar College professor Janet Gray, PhD, who, together
with experts from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute,
compiled a report on what we know so far about the environmental links
to breast cancer.
Of greatest concern, she says, are women
under 25, a time when breast tissue is developing and is more
susceptible to outside influences.
Making these and other
safety concerns even more relevant today: the relatively new science of
nanotechnology. This is the process of making chemical particles so
small that cosmetic ingredients can penetrate far deeper into the skin.
Moreover, many are also concerned about a chemical loophole known as
the "fragrance umbrella." This essentially allows companies to claim a
kind of proprietary formulation status that precludes them having to
disclose the ingredients.
Bailey says no one is hiding anything.
"Fragrances are complex formulations—that's the only reason all the ingredients aren't listed," he says.
Cosmetic Safety: Babies at Risk Too
While women are the biggest users of many of these products, they may
not be the ones at greatest risk. Studies show that unborn and nursing
babies may be the most vulnerable.
One study designed to measure chemical contaminants in the umbilical
cord blood of newborns found 287 potentially toxic chemicals—including
180 known to cause cancer in humans or animals—all before the baby even
left the hospital nursery.
Clearly, the study doesn't point to
the mother's use of cosmetics as the exclusive source of contamination.
Many of these substances can be found in everything from your iPod to
your shower curtain, and in soil, air and water.
Moreover,
with the exception of a handful of cosmetic chemicals known to be
harmful during pregnancy, such as Retin-A, even the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists has no rules that limit cosmetic or
personal care product use during pregnancy.
Still, some
doctors question whether the amount of chemicals found in cosmetics
could, for some women or their babies, eventually tip the scale in a
harmful way.
"Will you get cancer, or harm your baby, because
you use lipstick? Very unlikely. But what worries those of us involved
with cancer prevention is that we don't know the cumulative effects of
these chemicals, or the synergistic effects of one chemical with
another, or what role the chemicals found in cosmetics will play when
viewed in the broader scope of the overall chemical exposure we get
from all facets of our life," says Julia Smith, director of the Lynne
Cohen Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program at the NYU Cancer
Institute in New York City.
Bailey says there is no proof that
even those ingredients that fall within the same chemical family will
necessarily compound or be capable of synergistic activity. "It's like
comparing apples and oranges—there is no compounding effect," he says.
Without that evidence, he believes there is no cause for alarm or concern.
Smith takes a slightly more cautious approach. She suggests asking
yourself if using a product is essential to your life—and if it isn't,
do without it. "Then use the products you do think you need without
excess fear or worry. You do what you can and hope it might make a
positive difference in your life," she says.
Making Cosmetics Safer
While the cosmetic industry does not deny the presence of some
chemicals with a harmful profile, they maintain that in the levels
found in most personal care products there is no evidence of either
long- or short-term harm.
Environmentalists contend that poison, even in tiny amounts, is poison
we don't need to consume. And globally, a big victory came for this
point of view in 2004. That's when the European Union banned the use of
all chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of causing cancer,
mutations, or birth defects in cosmetic or personal care formulations
sold in those countries.
Though the U.S. has not instituted
such a ban, an environmental-based initiative is hoping to fill in the
gap. The Compact for Safe Cosmetics gives companies the opportunity to
make a voluntary pledge to follow the European Union's lead by
eliminating these same key chemicals in their products.
Some
600 companies have signed the pledge, including such major companies as
Belli Cosmetics, Motherlove, Burt's Bees, Aubrey Organics, and
Afterglow Cosmetics.
Steps You Can Take
To protect yourself, experts who spoke to WebMD offer the following tips for safer cosmetic and personal care use.
- When
choosing personal care products, remember that simpler is better. This
means not only looking for products with fewer chemical ingredients
(soap instead of shower gel, or moisturizers without fragrance), but
also using fewer products overall.
- Think about how necessary a
product is before you use it. For example, bubble bath for your baby or
for yourself. Do without if you can.
- Use your nose as a guide: If a product has a chemical-like odor, think twice about using it or where you will apply it.
- Read
ingredient labels for ingredients like parabens, but realize that many
of the most questionable chemicals (like phthalates) won't be listed;
instead, they're contained in the umbrella phrase "fragrance."
- Visit
product web sites to get more detail on ingredients. Many of them will
offer more disclosure than the label does. If you still want to know
more, email the company.
- Visit CosmeticsDataBase.com for an
up-to-date cross-reference of more than 22,000 cosmetics and a rating
of their chemical ingredients.
- Seek out products from
companies that have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics pledge. Visit
safecosmetics.org/companies/signers.cfm.
- Get the free CD
report from Vassar College on environmental links to breast cancer,
including the role of cosmetics and personal care products, at
ERBC.Vassar.edu.
Reviewed on November 06, 2007 by Louise Chang, MD SOURCES: Stacy Malkan, co-founder, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics; author,
Not Just A Pretty Face.
James Bailey, executive vice president of science, Cosmetics, Toiletry,
and Fragrance Association. Stephanie Kwisnek, spokeswoman, FDA,
Washington, D.C. Janet Gray, PhD, professor and chairman, department of
psychology, Vassar College, New York. Julia Smith, MD, director, Lynne
Cohen Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program, NYU Cancer
Institute, New York. EPA web site: "What Are Endocrine Disruptors?"
Environmental Working Group web site: "Body Burden: The pollution in
Newborns."
