News Coverage
Greenwire: Hormone-altering compounds from cosmetics found in teenage girls
Published September 24, 2008
Teenage girls carry high levels of hormone-altering chemicals in their bodies from cosmetics and personal care products, according to a study released today by an advocacy group.
The Environmental Working Group took blood and urine samples from 20 girls aged 14 to 19 and found 16 chemicals, including preservatives, fragrance and antimicrobial compounds.
The high levels can be attributed to several factors, the report says. First, adolescent girls typically experiment with more body care products than adults use. For example, teens in the study used an average of nearly 17 personal care products each day, while the average adult woman uses 12 daily, according to the report.
This matters because the chemicals are present when girls undergo hormonal and developmental changes that make them susceptible to trace levels of certain chemicals, the group notes.
Chronic, low-level exposures to a mixture of these as well as other untested industrial chemicals may contribute to decreasing levels of fertility, noted especially for American women under 25, as well as increasing rates of breast cancer, diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases, the report says.
In light of its findings, the group wants the federal government to set comprehensive safety standards for cosmetics and other personal care products.
The main trade association for cosmetics and personal care products, the Personal Care Products Council, points to its Cosmetic Ingredient Review, which it says reviews and assesses the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics and publishes the results in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.
The council's chief scientist, John Bailey, also noted that the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention says the detection of trace amounts of chemicals in the body does not mean that an individual is at risk for particular diseases or adverse health conditions.
The Environmental Working Group also wants to raise awareness in teenagers, so that they choose to use fewer products and carefully examine the ones they do use.
