1. True-False:  When a hand lotion manufactured in the U.S. has a label that says, “all natural ingredients,” this means that the product does not contain petroleum-based synthetic chemical compounds.
2. True-False:  Body oil that is manufactured in the U.S. and says “organic” on the label must include at least 50% ingredients that are grown without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
3. True-False:  FDA regulations prevent cosmetic manufacturers from including in their products ingredients that have been linked to cancer.

And the answers are . . . false, false, and false.  U.S. federal law does not require companies to test cosmetics for safety before they are sold.  The cosmetics industry regulates itself through the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), a group of industry-paid scientists.  A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that the CIR investigates only a small portion of industry products and in 80% of its safety recommendations, the CIR investigates whether products cause sensitivity or irritation, ignoring potential links to serious illnesses such as cancer, hormone disruption, or birth defects. 

In 2007, the EWG reported that,                                                        

"More than 750 personal care products sold in the U.S. violate industry safety standards or cosmetic safety standards in other industrialized countries.

Our analysis of ingredients in more than 23,000 products finds that 751 different products fail to meet one or more industry or government safety standards, including:

-- 383 products containing ingredients that are prohibited for use in cosmetics in Canada, Japan, or the E.U. (Health Canada 2007; Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 2006; EC 1999-2006; EWG 2007) (Table 1).

-- 447 products that industry safety panels have found unsafe when used as directed, including 86 found unsafe for all product applications by the CIR and the International Fragrance Association (Table 2), and 360 found unsafe by the CIR when used according to package directions (Table 3) (CIR 2007; IFRA 2007; EWG 2007).

98% of all products contain one of more ingredients never publicly assessed for safety."

Attempts by the FDA to regulate industry use of terms like “natural” have been rejected in court, which means marketers can by law assign such terms whatever meaning they choose.  Cosmetics marketers can interpret the term “organic” to simply mean “contains carbon.”

According to a 2008 study by the EWG, this state of affairs leaves children and perhaps adolescent girls in particular, vulnerable to health problems caused by personal care products.  Tiny hormonal changes, on the order of parts per billion, guide maturation during puberty, and emerging research suggests that hormone-disrupting chemicals may accelerate puberty.  Early onset puberty is, in turn, linked to greater risk of breast cancer, infertility, depression, and eating disorders.  The EWG reports that, “preliminary research suggest that exposures to phthalates (Colon 2000), the pesticide DDT and its metabolite DDE (Krstevska-Konstantivona 2001; Vasiliu 224), and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs; Blanck 2000), may be linked to early puberty in girls."

In the 2008 study, the EWG drew blood and urine samples from a group of 20 teen girls, aged 14-19, from various regions across the U.S. and various ethnic backgrounds.  They tested the samples for the presence of 25 chemicals commonly found in personal care products and cosmetics.  Sixteen of these chemicals were found.  Each young woman had between 10 and 15 of them in her body.  Nine were found in all 20 teens.  The 16 chemicals found were from four chemical families – phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks.  The EWG notes that, “Studies link these chemicals to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption.”

Short of abandoning makeup, what precautions can be taken?  Because terms like “natural” and “organic” are not regulated for cosmetic products, responsible consumers must turn elsewhere for reliable information.  Here are three suggestions.

Read the list of ingredients. 

The EWG recommends that you avoid the following:  DMDM hydantoin and imidazolidnyl urea (toxic contaminants), fragrance and dyes (linked to cancer, allergies, and damage to the nervous system), methylchoroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone (linked to allergies and nervous system damage), parabens (linked to hormone disruption), “peg” and “-eth” (toxic contaminants), sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate (skin damage, toxic contaminants), triclosan and triclocarban (thyroid and environmental concerns), triethanolamine (TEA) (allergies, toxic contaminants). 

Look for products that are certified by reputable third parties. 

Although the term “organic” is unregulated in this industry, companies can choose to have third parties certify that their product or ingredients are organic, and reliable certification programs will provide a clear definition of what this term means according to their standards.  Reputable certification organizations include IFOAM, JAS, the USDA, Australian Certified Organic, the UK Soil Association, Quality Assurance International, and Organic Food Chain.

Use the EWG "Skin Deep" database.

Although certification provides clarity in the absence of federal regulation, it is costly, and there are many smaller companies that sell genuinely low risk cosmetics, but choose to forego the cost of certification.  The EWG provides a valuable service for these companies by independently studying the ingredients in tens of thousands of cosmetic products and providing a publicly accessible database that shares their findings.  This “Skin Deep” database rates products on a hazard scale of 0-10 and reports on potential health effects of the particular ingredients found in each product.  While reports are not available for all products, they are now available for a substantial portion of cosmetics on the market.

Because our shopping site at Think 2100 lists only eco friendly and fair trade products, the cosmetics market presents a challenge for us.  Lack of federal regulation renders this market a mine field for potential health risks and deceptive marketing.  Therefore, we have decided to accept under our Health and Beauty category only cosmetic and body care products that meet the following standards. 

1. They must include a list of ingredients, and

2. They must include either third-party certified ingredients or a hazard rating from the Skin Deep database of 2 or lower.   

Although these measures will greatly narrow the range of beauty care products we can promote, fortunately, we have found a number of companies who do meet these standards with some or all of their products.  We want them to succeed, and we ask that you help us to support them in their effort to provide genuinely healthy alternatives to the beauty care chemical cocktails turning up in our bodies and waterways.