News Coverage
Beauty Secrets Could Be Hiding Toxic Chemicals
Published August 21, 2008
The average woman uses nine personal care products a day and has no idea what chemicals her favorite shampoo, lotion and deodorant contain, the Environmental Working Group said.
The average man is only slightly better off, using six personal care products a day.
Consumers might think they don’t have to worry about toxic ingredients they put on the outside of their bodies, but those can be more hazardous than what they put in their mouths, said Craig Minowa, an environmental scientist with the Organic Consumers Association.
“Digestion filters out a lot of toxins,” he said. “But putting things on the skin puts them straight into your blood stream.”
Ingredients To Avoid
Parabens and phthalates are two toxic ingredients that have recently gotten attention, with many manufacturers claiming their products are free of those chemicals.
Parabens are preservatives and antimicrobial agents that help extend a product’s shelf life. But they can cause skin rashes and allergic reactions.
Some studies have linked them to cancer because traces of the chemicals have been found in tumors.
Phthalates, banned in the European Union from all cosmetics, are used as skin softeners and fragrance enhancers and to provide flexibility in nail polish. They are linked to cancer and damage to the reproductive system, according to information from the Environmental Working Group.
Phthalates are often found in synthetic fragrances, a group of ingredients that hide a lot of toxic chemicals, said Jovana Ruzicic, working group spokesperson.
Labeling laws consider fragrance a trade secret, freeing manufacturers from any obligation to list the ingredients used to make a fragrance, Ruzicic said.
Ingredients Not Listed
Ethoxylated ingredients are also something to watch, but not because they’re toxic themselves. Ethylene oxide is commonly used to make harsh detergents milder, Minowa said.
But one byproduct of the ethoxylation process is dioxane, an ingredient classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen.
Dioxane itself is usually not listed as an ingredient, but it could be contained in additives like PEG, polyethylene, polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, sodium laureth sulfate, oxynol, ceteareth or oleth, according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
Nanoparticles are another class of ingredients that might not be listed on product labeling and have consumer advocates worried.
Manufacturers use the tiny ingredients to get their products deeper into the skin and closer to the blood stream, Minowa said.
But nanoparticles, only one-one hundredth the width of a human hair, have not been tested by the Food and Drug Administration for human safety, he said.
The cosmetic industry is self-regulated, which means manufacturers can use just about any ingredient they want without providing any proof that it’s safe, Ruzicic said.
The Environmental Working Group is lobbying the federal government to require manufacturers to prove products are safe before they put them on the market. Currently the government has the right to remove products from the market after the fact, which can be a lengthy process, Ruzicic said.
Until then, a consumer’s best defense against toxic chemicals is to learn how to read labels, she said.
“Try to use products that are as plain as possible,” Ruzicic said. “The fewer ingredients, the better. And don’t trust the labeling claims.”
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On the Web
Check the toxicity of your favorite products through the working group’s Skin Deep cosmetic database
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Ten synthetic ingredients to avoid
• Imidazolidinyl urea and diazolidinyl urea
• Methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl paraben
• Petrolatum
• Propylene glycol
• PVP/VA copolymer
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
• Stearalkonium chloride
• Synthetic colors
• Synthetic fragrances
• Triethanolamine
SOURCE: the Organic Consumers Association
