Daily Environment Report
Report Warns Consumers of Chemicals In Cosmetics; Industry Disputes Findings
Many of the best-selling cosmetic products contain harmful chemicals that may cause birth defects or damage the kidneys, liver, or lungs, according to a coalition of environmental and public health groups.
The report, Not Too Pretty: Phthalates, Beauty Products & the FDA, criticizes the cosmetics industry for its “unnecessary” use of phthalates, a family of chemical compounds used in cosmetics and other consumer products as a fragrance enhancer or plasticizer for product flexibility.
Industry officials immediately disputed the findings and said the study is not supported by scientific data.
The report, prepared by the Environmental Working Group, Health Care Without Harm, and the environmental organization Coming Clean, said that “lab results indicate that a substantial fraction of cosmetics companies may be hiding phthalates on store shelves within the containers of their products, with no warning for pregnant women who might want to avoid purchasing products that contain chemicals linked to birth defects.”
The report urges the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the marketing of all cosmetics used by women of childbearing age that contain chemicals known to cause birth defects and encourages manufacturers to voluntarily remove phthalates from their products.
Most Products Tested Contain Chemicals. The groups tested 72 of the most popular cosmetic products, including body lotions, deodorants, makeup, and fragrances, and found three-quarters to have phthalates in different concentrations ranging from trace amounts to nearly three percent of the product formulation, according to the report. Nine of 14 deodorants, six of seven hair gels, four of seven mousses, 14 of 18 hair sprays, two of nine hand and body lotions and all 17 fragrances contained the chemicals, the study found, and only one of the products identified phthalates as an ingredient on its label.
Animal tests considered relevant to humans indicate that aggregate exposure to phthalates damages various organs and biological systems, especially the reproductive system, by interfering with the growth of testes, Charlotte Brody, co-author of the study and executive for Health Care Without Harm, told BNA.
“Chemicals that cause birth defects do not belong in products marketed to women of childbearing age,” Brody said, citing a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found bodily concentrations of phthalates to be common in a study group.
Of 283 people studied, all had some amount of the chemical in their bodies, and women of childbearing age had the highest concentrations. However, the concentrations were at or below the levels determined by the Environmental Protection Agency to be safe.
Industry Says Chemicals Are Safe. Strongly opposed to the report’s findings are the Phthalate Esters Panel of the American Chemistry Council and the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association, an industry group for personal care products.
“Phthalates are among the best-studied compounds in the world, and there is ample evidence showing they are safe for use,” Gerald McEwen, vice president of science for CTFA, told BNA.
Phthalates are not labeled as a product ingredient because fragrances typically contain more than 600 ingredients, he said. “To try to list each one would be impossible,” he added.
FDA, EPA, Health Canada, and other scientific bodies in Europe, North America, and Japan have examined phthalates and allow their continued use.
Such regulators, however, only examined the effects of phthalates from individual products containing the chemical ingredient, the report said. Instead regulators need to assess the aggregate exposure of all phthalates to determine risk, Brody told BNA.
The chemistry council disagreed, asserting that aggregating exposure is only valid for substances that act via “additive mechanisms” and there is no evidence to support the idea that phthalate exposures are additive.
Review Panel to Study Phthalates. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel, an industry-funded panel of physicians and scientists responsible for assessing the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics, agreed last month to update their research on the safety of phthalates. The environmental coalition noted that the panel said in a report issued 26 years ago that phthalates “are safe for topical application in the present practices of use and concentrations in cosmetics.”
Another study by the National Toxicology Program has found that phthalates damage the reproductive health of rats and mice. The scientists involved in that study declared the findings relevant to humans, Brody said.
Adverse health effects on rodents are the result of much higher exposures than normally would be encountered by people, the chemistry council said in a statement.
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