Toxins in Personal Care Products - What You Should Know about the Effect Toxic Chemicals have on Women’s Health ~ mainewomenspolicycenter.org

1. Prepared by the Maine Women’s Policy Center, July 2012
www.mainewomenspolicycenter.org
The personal care products industry is a $50 billion business, yet it has been unregulated for
several decades.i
As a result, we have been exposed to lead in lipstick, shampoos and soaps
containing carcinogens, and lotions that have been linked to birth defects.
It is important that consumers are talking to policymakers about enacting laws that regulate
chemicals in our environment, and for women to increase their awareness of what to look out
for in their own personal care products each time they head to the store or salon.
 Women use, on average, 13 personal care products, ranging from lotion to shampoo, every day.
90% of the more than 12,500 chemicals in these personal care products have never been
evaluated for their impact on human health.ii
 Over one-third of all cosmetics and personal care products
contain chemicals that are known to cause cancer in
humans.iii
 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only bars the
use of 11 chemicals in cosmetics, despite evidence that
several ingredients found in personal care products are toxic
to women.iv
 Not all toxic ingredients found in personal care products are
itemized on the label. “Fragrances” is frequently listed, but it
is unclear what chemicals are included under this umbrella
term.v
 A 2010 study by the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine
found that the ingredients in cosmetics and personal care
products are almost entirely unregulated, and that many of
the products that we use contain ingredients linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental
problems, immune system problems, and other health effects.vi
 Just because products say they are “natural” or “organic” doesn’t mean they truly are, nor are
they guaranteed to be free of harmful chemicals. Even products with “USDA Certified Organic”
seals may contain toxins hazardous to your health.
Toxins in Personal Care Products:
What You Should Know about the Effect Toxic Chemicals have on Women’s Health
What You Should Know

2.  The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Actvii
(FDCA) allows the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to regulate cosmetics, including make-up and personal care products.
However, the law gives the FDA little authority over these products, and they cannot require
premarket testing of the ingredients, force companies to recall unsafe products, or ensure label
accuracy before placing products on the consumer market.viii
 The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976ix
(TSCA) is supposed to protect people from
hazardous chemicals, but it fails to protect consumer health because of loopholes and
weaknesses in the law. The TSCA may give the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
authority to require reporting and testing of chemical substances, but the same law excludes
food, drugs, cosmetics, and pesticides from their oversight.x
As a result, the EPA has required
safety testing for only 200 chemicals in 34 years, restricting only 5.

 Bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that mimics the female sex
hormone estrogen, and is used to make a number of consumer products from plastic baby
bottles to the tin can linings.
 Parabens. Found in deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, and moisturizers, parabens are the most
widely used preservatives in personal care products. They have been found to mimic estrogen
and have been detected in the tissue of breast cancer tumors.
 Lead. A recent study found more than 100 brands of lipstick still contain lead, a neurotoxin that
leads to learning disabilities, lower IQ, and behavioral problems. Pregnant women and children
are most vulnerable to the effects of lead exposure.
 Mercury and “Thimerosol”. Some mascaras and eye drops contain this neurotoxin known to
damage brain function.
 Items not listed on the label. Formaldehyde, 1,4—dioxane, and phthalates often hide in
products under the blanket term “fragrances,” and hazardous nanoparticles usually go
undocumented as well.
i
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, 2011.
ii
Environmental Working Group, Why this matters – Cosmetics and your health, http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/why-this-matters-cosmetics-and-your-
health, retrieved on July 6, 2012.
iii
EWG, Frequently Asked Question, http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/faq/, retrieved on July 6, 2012.
iv
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Ingredients Prohibited and Restricted by FDA Regulations,
http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductandIngredientSafety/SelectedCosmeticIngredients/ucm127406.htm, retrieved July 6, 2012.
v
Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, That’s a Killer Look: A study of chemicals in personal care products, 2010.
vi
Ibid.
vii
21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq. (1938).
viii
Mary E. Davis, PhD, “An Economic Cost Assessment of Environmentally-Related Diseases in Maine,” Staff Paper 579, University of Maine School of
Economics, February 6, 2009.
ix
15 U.S.C. §2601 et seq. (1976).
x
U.S. Environemntal Protection Agency, Summary of the Toxic Substances Control Act, www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/tsca.html, retrieved July 6, 2012.
Broken Laws and Poor Regulation
Ingredients to Look Out for In Your Personal Care Products