Cosmetics
Americans assume personal care products on the market today have been tested or approved by the federal government. However, they are largely unregulated. In fact, it has been more than 80 years since Congress last updated the federal law designed to ensure that personal care products are safe. The Food and Drug Administration does not even require the basic safety testing of ingredients in personal care products before they are used.
Although other countries have taken action to protect their citizens from chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive harm, FDA lacks the basic tools needed to ensure the safety of cosmetics and other personal care products.
Now a bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to change that.
A notoriously hazardous cosmetic ingredient now has another black mark on its record: Butylparaben – a hormone-disrupting chemical used as a preservative in personal care products and linked to cancer, sperm damage and environmental harm – was recently classified by the European Chemicals Agency as a substance of very high concern.
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Since EWG released its first Guide to Sunscreens more than a decade ago, many things about the products have changed. But myths about sunscreens persist.
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Today, the California Assembly passed the Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act, A.B. 2762. If enacted, the law would be the first in the nation to ban 12 toxic ingredients, including mercury and formaldehyde, from the beauty and personal care products Californians use every day.
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A piece of legislation winding its way through the California legislature could be the biggest influence on U.S. cosmetics safety for close to a century. The bill would ban a dozen of the most concerning ingredients commonly found in cosmetics sold in California.
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As states reopen and Americans leave their homes to venture outside, it’s important for them to remember to protect their skin from the sun’s harmful rays. Today the Environmental Working Group released its 14th annual Guide to Sunscreens.
Read MoreThe news, announced Tuesday, that Johnson & Johnson will soon end the sale of baby powder with talc is long overdue.
Because talc and asbestos can form in the same parent rock, cosmetics made with talc can become contaminated with the deadly carcinogen, which is responsible for the death of thousands of Americans every year.
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EWG today welcomed the news that Johnson & Johnson will soon end the sale of talc-based baby powders in the U.S. and Canada, and called on other cosmetic companies to end the use of talc in other loose powders
Read MoreAs many hair salons remain closed months into the national shutdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, at-home hair dyes are flying off store shelves. But many of these products may contain potentially harmful ingredients.
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The notorious human carcinogen asbestos has been found in two talc-containing eye shadow palettes, according to laboratory tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group.
Read MoreBeing stuck at home for weeks on end stinks. But it’s necessary to flatten the curve of the coronavirus, so let’s make the best of it.
EWG came up with ways to take advantage of this time of self-isolation with little or no contact with other people besides those in your pandemic “pod.” Here are five ideas to consider that can benefit your skin and your overall health.
Read MoreBy now you may have seen the effects of repeated handwashing, and they’re not pretty.
Read MoreAmericans are stocking up on hair dye, according to a new report by NPR. The article lists some of Nielsen's data about what Americans were buying the week ending March 21. Sales for hair dye increased by almost 20 percent from last year.
Read MoreEWG board member Michelle Pfeiffer applauded Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) for taking the first serious action towards updating the woefully outdated law governing the cosmetics industry.
Read MoreThis week AspenClean announced nine new cleaning products that meet EWG’s rigorous standards for health, ingredient disclosure and transparency to earn our EWG VERIFIED™ mark.
Read MoreMembers of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health today approved landmark cosmetics safety legislation, a significant step toward finally protecting consumers from potentially toxic chemical ingredients in personal care products.
Read MoreLaboratory tests commissioned by the federal Food and Drug Administration of talc-based cosmetics products found the notorious carcinogen asbestos in roughly 20 percent of the samples assessed.
Read MoreNearly 25,000 Americans are urging federal regulators to require the cosmetics industry to test for the presence of asbestos in cosmetics and to share the results.
Read MoreOn Thursday the California Assembly reintroduced the Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act, A.B. 2762. If passed, the law would ban 12 toxic ingredients, such as mercury and formaldehyde, from the beauty and personal care products Californians use every day.
Read MoreIn a breakthrough move, Revlon becomes the first global brand to bring an EWG VERIFIED™ cosmetic product to mass retailers, making affordable clean beauty a reality for millions of discerning consumers. Launched today, Revlon’s PhotoReady Prime Plus™ Perfecting + Smoothing Primer meets EWG’s industry-leading clean beauty standards.
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