Safety of Cosmetics
May 19, 2010 by
Filed under Articles Misc,
How safe are your cosmetics?
Most consumers are unaware of the abundance of carcinogens, known allergens, hormone disrupters and a host of other chemicals that reside in skin care products. Lots of scientists, as well as some doctors know about it, but it’s not been on the national radar. We’ve not seen any headlines warning: BEWARE OF THIS PRODUCT!
The cosmetics industry wants everyone to believe the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is the "watchdog" for the cosmetics consumer. But, when asked, the FDA points to the Cosmetics Ingredient Review Panel (CIR). The CIR is little more than the fox in the henhouse guarding the chickens. They are funded by the companies whose products they must review. There is little said by the CIR about allergic reactions, which are frequent, headaches, extreme fatigue, and even nausea brought on by the coal tar, commonly listed as FD&C or D&C, an ingredient commonly found in cosmetics, hair dyes and in some shampoos, especially dandruff shampoos.
No one will admit this, in the industry, but there is almost no testing being done by any official, governmental agency, on the products that women are wiping onto their skin.
Europe bans over one thousand chemicals from such skin care products. America doesn’t ban them and the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) seems to have no jurisdiction (or doesn’t want any). The FDA distinctly admits their circumscribed role: “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.”
One representative of a major makeup brand, Darin Stechman, said: “Product safety has always been a top priority at Clinique Labratories, and is ensured through state-of-the-art testing methods.” But, Stechman admits that does not include tests which look for the long-term toxity potential of a product, nor the carcinogenic properties, or the systemic absorption, and the effects of day-to-day use. The cosmetic companies concentrate their research and testing on animal and humans in a search for allergenic reactions and skin irritations. They do not look beneath the skin. They don’t look to see whether ingredients in their product will hurt the user, over a long span of use. In short, if there are no immediate ill effects within a short period of time, then the product is deemed acceptable.
Susan Roll of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition said: “One-third of personal-care products contain ingredients classified as possible human carcinogens.” The FDA does not actively assess the safety of cosmetic products to the consumer before they are wiped onto the skin of a user. Realize too, that the wiping of a cosmetic onto the skin is akin to putting that product, and all its ingredients, into your body, as though you swallow it. In fact, it's worse. It seeps down through the skin and into the tissues where it's absorbed, stored, and circulated through the body via the blood stream. According to Dr. Samuel Epstein, former head of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, “It is more dangerous to put a product on your skin than to eat it.”
That should send chills down every woman's spine.