Health is Almost Everything

Posts Tagged ‘Product Safety’

Concern among women is rising. There is hard evidence that ingredients in their personal care products, such as skin creams, makeup, lipstick,  and other cosmetics, contain known carcinogens.

There are over 1100 chemicals banned from use in Europe. In America, these chemicals are, for the most part, left in the product. The FDA apparently has no oversight. As it says on its website: Does FDA pre-approve cosmetic product labeling? No. FDA does not have the resources or authority under the law for pre-market approval of cosmetic product labeling. It is the manufacturer’s and/or distributor’s responsibility to ensure that products are labeled properly. Failure to comply with labeling requirements may result in a misbranded product.”

It is apparent that the American manufacturers have little or no regard for the safety of their customers.  I predict one day there’s going to be a deluge of lawsuits against these companies for the egregious lack of concern for the safety of their products, and for the willful disregard of the facts concerning these ingredients.

Here is the report from Cosmeticsdatabase on a skin cleansing cream by a popular manufacturer:

• Given the incomplete information made available by companies and the government, EWG provides additional information on personal care product ingredients from the published scientific literature. The chart below indicates that research studies have found that exposure to one or more ingredients in this product — not the product itself — caused the indicated health effect(s) in the studies reviewed by Skin Deep researchers. Actual health risks, if any, will vary based on the level of exposure to the ingredient and individual susceptibility — information not available in Skin Deep.

Ingredients in this product are linked to:
	Cancer
	Developmental/reproductive toxicity
	Violations, restrictions & warnings
	Allergies/immunotoxicity
	Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes

Directions from packaging: Gently massage onto wet face. Rinse with water. Follow with Mineral Toning Water and then with Smoothing Moisturizer or Skin Replenisher.

That’s scary. The manufacturer hides behind the fact that while the individual elements have been shown to be toxic, there is no evidence that “their product” causes cancer. (Sigh. Do they all think we’re stupid?)

Fortunately, there are safe, non-toxic skin care and cosmetic alternatives arising in the marketplace (such as Ava Anderson non-toxic), but far too few.