Personal Care Products and Cancer Risk?

by Christine Carpenter

The Environmental Working Group’s database, Skin Deep, pairs ingredients in more than 37,000 products against 50 definite toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind.

Why did a small nonprofit take on such a big project? Because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t require companies to test their own products. An estimated 100,000 synthetic chemicals are currently registered for use in the U.S. Fewer than 10% of them were tested for their effects on human health.

The use of chemicals in cosmetics and beauty products is NOT regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has no authority to recall products with questionable ingredients. It does not require manufacturers to disclose them as ingredients or list product ingredients.

Skin care companies do their own testing and no independent testing is required to insure safety before a product is brought to market. "Natural" implies ingredients are extracted instead of being produced synthetically. A product with even one ―natural‖ ingredient may use the word.

A "Certified Organic" label must contain 95% organic ingredients – herbs or plants grown without conventional fertilizers and pesticides. The other 5% may include either synthetic or natural ingredients – but only if they are not readily available in organic form.

Leading beauty care products frequently contain two classes of synthetic chemicals known as parabens and phthalates that can cause serious health problems.
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Parabens are used as preservatives to make products stay fresh longer, inhibit bacteria growth, yeast and molds and enhance skin absorption. It is found in underarm products. Phthalates are plasticizers and, in cosmetics, add texture and luster and disperse fragrance.

Parabens are shown to disrupt both male and female hormone functioning. Parabens also mimic estrogen which increases the risk of breast cancer. Other studies have found parabens in human breast tumors.

Phthalates were shown to cause cancer and birth defects in some animals, and sperm damage in adult men, childhood asthma, and allergies. There is evidence of phthalates’ dangerous effects on male reproductive development during pregnancy and after birth.

The average American woman applies about nine to 12 products every day that together average between 126 to 168 ingredients. Combined with air and water toxins, the exposure adds up. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, www.safecosmetics.org lists.

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