California Assembly Bill 2762: The Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act
California law on cosmetic safety mirrors the inadequate federal law. It does not give state regulators enough authority to ensure that cosmetics sold to Californians are safe. What authority the law does provide to regulators is rarely used. When state agencies investigate harmful cosmetics, the results are limited and the products often remain on the market.
AB 2762, the Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act, will explicitly prohibit the use of the 12 of the most harmful chemicals and contaminants in cosmetics today. These “Toxic Twelve” ingredients include mercury, three types of formaldehyde, some of the most toxic parabens and phthalates, and the fluorinated compounds known as PFAS.
Keep Up With All of EWG's Latest Cosmetics News and Analysis
It’s not surprising that many nail polishes contain potentially toxic chemicals. Now a study conducted by researchers at Duke University and EWG finds that at least one of those chemicals could be ending up in your body.
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Hair straightening sessions are injuring clients and making stylists sick, so why are they still offered in salons across the country?
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Rates of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, are growing. More than ever, you need to shield your skin from harmful ultraviolet rays. One way to do that is to wear sunscreen.
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As the July 4th weekend approaches, EWG has added more than 30 new products to our 2015 Guide to Sunscreens! Twenty-one made our Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens and Best Moisturizers lists because they offer broad spectrum protection from UVA and UVB radiation and don’t contain harmful ingredients such as retinyl palmitate.
Consumers are demanding more information about the sun protection products they are using and the chemicals they are putting on their bodies, as evidenced by the overwhelming response to EWG’s 2015 Guide to Sunscreens.
Read MoreMoving to address a gaping void in the nation’s system of consumer protections, Senators Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) today (April 16) filed a bill – the “Personal Care Products Safety Act” -- that would create a long-needed bipartisan framework for ensuring that cosmetics ingredients are safe.
A bill introduced by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, would help the federal Food and Drug Administration ensure that cosmetics and other personal care products are safer.
Read MoreThe announcement by global cosmetics giant Revlon that it is removing some long-chain parabens and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals from its products is a step in the right direction, EWG Executive Director Heather White said today.
Read MoreNearly 3 million of these tiny plastic particles were found per square mile in parts of Lake Erie. And many of my favorite products were major offenders.
Read MoreLast month (July 28) a committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences confirmed a federal interagency group’s conclusion that styrene, a chemical building block used to produce a wide variety of everyday products, can cause cancer.
Read MoreIt started with a simple question – how many personal care products do people use every day?
Read MoreThe California State Assembly has overwhelmingly adopted a proposal to ban the use of plastic microbeads in cosmetics products because they contaminate oceans, other waterways and seafood.
Read MoreRenee Sharp, research director at the Environmental Working Group said today that the cosmetics industry’s legislative proposal to reform cosmetics law would deprive the federal Food and Drug Administration of the power to keep hazardous substances out of personal care products.
Read MoreEWG’s New Year’s resolution for cosmetic manufacturers: shed bad actor ingredients that disrupt the hormone system, cause allergies and may accelerate skin cancer.
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How did I spend my summer? I hung around department store makeup aisles, looking for the much talked about “miracle” makeup, BB and CC creams. You should have seen the looks I got as I dabbed the testers on my arm – mind you, I’m a 40-year-old man wearing cargo shorts and a ratty T-shirt.
Read MoreA new analysis by Environmental Working Group of 100 BB (beauty balm) and CC (color corrector or complexion corrector) creams concludes that they may expose users to fewer toxic chemicals than the moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen they are designed to replace.
Read MoreEWG has long sounded the alarm that the FDA does not subject cosmetics to similar premarket reviews for efficacy and safety. After you’ve read a few ads for anti-aging creams, you might be asking yourself, are these supposed miracle creams cosmetics or drugs? When do regulators insist on testing? Is there sufficient FDA oversight for anti-aging products? The answer may give you worry lines.
Read MoreAt EWG, we know how much you care about the safety of personal care products. Over the next several weeks we will delve deeper into some of the crucial issues surrounding these products. EWG's investigative series, "Exposing the Cosmetics Cover-Up," will take on a wide range of topics that should be on the minds of everyone who uses a personal care product. As EWG has long known — and as leading medical specialists recently underscored -- many cosmetics and personal care products contain potentially toxic ingredients. Major cosmetics companies have not publicly committed themselves to removing harmful ingredients. We'll look at deceptive claims made by some popular anti-aging products. And we'll help you sort out cosmetics safety facts from myths.
“Skin Perfector.” “Balance, brighten, renew and protect.” “Anti-aging.”
The ads sound too good to be true. BB (stands for beauty balm) and CC (stands for color corrector or complexion corrector) creams claim to be all-in-one moisturizer, concealer, foundation and sometimes sunscreen.
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