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| Breast Cancer Facts: |
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Chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects do not belong in products we use on our bodies. Period. However, some popular brands of shampoo, nail polish, aftershave, face cream and other everyday products contain these dangerous chemicals. Why? Our government does not require safety tests for cosmetics, like they do for prescription drugs and food. And our government does little to regulate chemicals at all. The European Union (EU) has a new law that requires cosmetics companies to remove chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects from personal care products by September 2004. When they reformulate their products in the EU, these companies could make these safer products available to their other customers around the world as well. That's why the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is calling on all cosmetics and personal care companies to protect our health by phasing out the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health concerns in every market they serve. These companies need to make these safer products available for all of us! Face Facts: Toxic Chemicals in
While chemicals in any one product alone are unlikely to cause harm, we are repeatedly exposed to industrial chemicals from many different sources on a daily basis, including cosmetics and personal care products.
A new report by the Environmental Working Group, comparing ingredients in 7,500 personal care products against government, industry, and academic lists, found the following known and suspected chemical health hazards: Safety violations Fifty-four products violate recommendations for safe use set by the industry's self-regulating Cosmetic Ingredient Review board. Most of these products contain ingredients found unsafe for the intended use of the product they are found in . Examples include ingredients found unsafe for use on injured or damaged skin contained in products marketed specifically for use on chapped and injured skin and ingredients not safe for sprays but found in spray products. Brand name products found in violation of industry recommendations include Neutrogena, Herbal Essences, and Rite Aid.
Carcinogenic coloring Seventy-one hair dye products contain ingredients derived from carcinogenic coal tar. These products have all been granted a specific exemption from federal rules that deem products to be adulterated when they contain ingredients that can harm human health. Coal tar containing products include dyes made by Clairol, Revlon, L'Oreal, and others. Coal tar hair dyes are one of the few products for which FDA has issued consumer advice on the benefits of reducing use, in this case as a way to potentially "reduce the risk of cancer" (FDA 1993). Increased exposure Fifty-five percent of all products assessed contain “penetration enhancers,” ingredients that can increase a product's penetration through the skin and into the bloodstream, increasing consumers' exposures to other ingredients as well. We found 50 products containing penetration enhancers in combination with known or probable human carcinogens. Impure ingredients Nearly 70 percent of all products contain ingredients that can be contaminated with impurities linked to cancer and other health problems. Studies by FDA and European agencies show that these impurities are common, in some cases occurring in nearly half of all products tested (FDA 1996, DTI 1998). Some manufacturers buy ingredients certified by an independent organization called United States Pharmacopeia (USP). These ingredients may contain lower levels of harmful impurities, but the criteria for certification are not public. There are no federal standards for ingredient purity. While it seems likely that some companies purchase or manufacture refined, purified ingredients, it is equally likely that many do not. Consumers and government health officials have no way to know. The Problem: U.S. Laws Don't Protect Us Major loopholes in federal law allow the $35 billion cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no required testing, no monitoring of health effects, and inadequate labeling requirements. Self-policing Industry
The absence of government oversight for this industry leads to companies routinely marketing products with ingredients that are poorly studied, not studied at all, or worse, known to pose potentially serious health risks. In its 67-year history of monitoring cosmetic safety, FDA has banned or restricted just nine personal care product ingredients (FDA 2000). In its review of 1,175 ingredients, the industry's safety panel has found just nine ingredients (a different nine) unsafe for use in cosmetics (CIR 2003). By contrast, 450 ingredients are banned for use in cosmetics in the European Union. The regulatory vacuum in the U.S. gives cosmetic companies tremendous leeway in selecting ingredients, while it transfers potentially significant and largely unnecessary health risks to the users of the products. The Good News: New European Law Works to Make Products Safer
In January 2003, the European Union amended the cosmetics directive (76/768/EEC) to ban the use of chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, mutation or birth defects. The amendment bans carcinogens, reproductive toxins and mutagens from cosmetics. By September 2004 cosmetic companies are required to remove these chemicals from all personal care products sold in the European Union. The Solution: Make Safer Products Available Globally
However several major U.S. manufacturers have said that they were not planning to sell the safer reformulated products to U.S. consumers. Cosmetics companies need to make these safer products available for all of us! The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is asking companies to make safer, reformulated products readily available in the U.S. and in every market they serve—because everyone has a right to safe and healthy products! Take Action Today for Safe Cosmetics!
Join us in our demand for safer products and smarter laws and give the personal care products industry a makeover! Visit us at: www.SafeCosmetics.org
For More Information and to Get Involved Contact: Susan Roll Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition 617-376-6222 The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, women's, environmental and consumer groups. Our goal is to protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of chemicals that are known or suspected carcinogens, mutagens and reproductive toxins. We are asking cosmetics companies to make these safer products available in all the markets worldwide where they sell their products. Founding groups of the campaign include: Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, The Breast Cancer Fund, Commonweal, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, Health Care Without Harm, National Environmental Trust, National Black Environmental Justice Network Women's Voices for the Earth. In spring 2004, these groups and more than 50 other organizations signed a letter asking cosmetics companies to take our pledge, the “ Compact for the Global Production of Safer Health and Beauty Products .” Together we are working for safer products and smarter laws to protect our health and our families from toxic chemicals. Sources: Environmental Working Group, Skin Deep, 2004. Accessed online July 29, 2004 at http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep / Cosmetics Ingredient Review (CIR) (2003). 2003 CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC. Cosmetics Ingredient Review (CIR) (2004). CIR information available at http://www.cir-safety.org, accessed May 6 2004. Department of Trade and Industry, UK (DTI) (1998). A survey of cosmetic and certain other skin-contact products for n-nitrosamines. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (1993). Hair Dye Dilemmas. FDA Consumer. April 1993. Accessed online May 6 2004 at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-818.html. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (1995). FDA Authority over Cosmetics. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Office of Cosmetics and Colors Fact Sheet. February 3 1995. Accessed online May 6 2004 at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-206.html. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (1996). Are nitrosamines in cosmetics a health hazard? Accessed online May 6 2004 at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qa-cos25.html. Updated November 1996. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (1999). Diethanolamine and Cosmetic Products. Office of Cosmetics and Colors Fact Sheet. Dec 9, 1999. Accessed online May 6 2004 at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-dea.html. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (2000). Prohibited Ingredients and Related Safety Issues. Office of Cosmetics and Colors Fact Sheet. March 30, 2000. Accessed online May 20 2004 at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-210.html. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, women's, environmental and consumer groups. Our goal is to protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of chemicals that are known or suspected carcinogens, mutagens and reproductive toxins. Campaign Platform We call on all manufacturers of personal care products and cosmetics to: • Meet the standards and deadlines set by the European Cosmetics Union Directive.
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According to industry estimates, on any given day an average consumer may use as many as 25 different cosmetic and personal care products containing more than 200 different chemical compounds . 
Many of these chemicals have gotten into our bodies, our breast milk and our children. Some of these chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems that are on the rise in the human population. Some chemicals found in a variety of cosmetics - including phthalates, acrylamide, formaldehyde and ethylene oxide - are listed by EPA and the state of California as carcinogens or reproductive toxins. 
Cancer-causing compounds One of every 100 products on the market contains ingredients certified by government authorities as known or probable human carcinogens, including shampoos, lotions, make-up foundations, and lip balms manufactured by Almay, Neutrogena, Grecian Formula, and others. An astonishing one-third of all products contain one or more ingredients classified as possible human carcinogens . 
The toxicity of product ingredients is monitored almost exclusively by a self-policing industry body, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) panel. Because testing is voluntary and controlled by manufacturers, many ingredients in cosmetics products are not safety tested at all. In fact, almost 90% of 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety by the CIR or anyone else (FDA 2000, CIR 2003). 
The European Union has begun a promising trend for safer personal care products. 
Companies like Procter & Gamble, Revlon and Estee Lauder create the same name brands of perfumes, hair gels, nail polish and shaving creams for both the European and U.S. markets. When these companies reformulate for the European Union, they could make these safer products available globally. 
