What’s in My Makeup Bag?! Oregon women and their exposure to toxic ingredients from personal care products Styling Shampoo Products {43% use daily} {28% use daily} May contain parabens, chemi- May be cals with links to contaminated breast cancer. with formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical. Mascara {39% use daily} Colors may be made from fossil fuels with toxic impurities. Moisturizers {59% use daily} May contain oxybenzone, a hormone disrupter Lipstick {28% use daily} Found to carry lead, which builds up in the body and can harm brain function. 1 Survey says: Young women want more information about the ingredients in their personal care products For the purposes of this report, personal care products are defined asany product that is put on the body to cleanse, enhance, or cover up one’s natural features. This includes shampoos, conditioners, soaps, lotions, perfumes and colognes, as well as makeup and hair color. Which products do you use daily? According to the survey results, PSU women use a large range of products daily. % of survey Product respondents ThisGirlAngle who use daily Shampoo 43.0% Consumers want to believe that their trusted makeup, toiletries Facial Moisturizer 59.4% and other personal care products are safe. But in reality, most of these products contain untested and unregulated chemicals Hair Styling Products 27.8% known to be toxic when ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the Perfume, Cologne, 33.9% skin. Current law does not require personal product manufactur- Body Spray ers to list all ingredients on the package even though many pose risks to human health. Sunscreen for Body 8.3% Deodorant or 81.1% In the spring of 2011, Oregon Environmental Council and Metro Antiperspirant surveyed more than 1,000 Portland State University (PSU) under- Mascara 38.9% graduate women to learn more about their use of personal care products, their knowledge about the ingredients, and their opin- Foundation 30.6% ions about manufacturer responsibility to ensure the products Lipstick or Lip Gloss 28.0% they use are safe. Lip Balm 65.9% The survey revealed that these women use an average of 10 personal care products a day, most of which contain toxic Facial Soap or Wash 69.5% chemicals. Many of those chemicals are linked to hormone Hand or Body Lotion 54.0% disruption, cancer and other long-term irreversible health impacts. These young women care about the ingredients Shaving Cream or Gel 4.6% in the products they use, and believe that it is important Toothpaste 97.8 % to regulate these ingredients for safety. But in reality, they don’t know what ingredients these products contain and Acne Products 26.7% don’t have a full understanding of their health impacts. 2 A daily dose of chemicals: 10,000 ingredients, many toxic and untested and exposures have been linked to breast cancer, reproductive impacts, and nervous system damage.11-13 While the chemicals in these products exist in small amounts, exposures occur every day and in multiple combinations through the use of a variety of personal products and other sources in our environment. These exposures add up. The scientific community is just be- ginning to uncover what these multiple and cumulative exposures mean for our health and how tiny doses of some chemicals, such as endocrine disruptors, may be harmful.15 Age of most survey participants: 17-30 Claire L. Evans Number of products used daily: By some estimates, women who use personal 10 care products every day are exposed to dozens of toxic chemicals in these products.1 Women of reproductive age use twice as many personal For decades, scientists have demon- care products in more combinations than men, strated that exposure to toxics early in life, resulting in daily exposures to higher levels of either in the womb or during early stages toxics through their use.2 of childhood development, cause the most harm to human health. A developing fetus Independent scientific researchers have found is the most vulnerable. Pregnant women many unregulated and untested chemicals exposed to toxic chemicals also expose among the 10,000 ingredients widely used in the babies they’re carrying. In utero ex- personal care products.3-7 Some chemicals known posures to lead and mercury have been to have toxic properties, including formaldehyde,8 shown to harm the developing brain re- phenoxyethanol,9 and parabens,10 are used as sulting in lower IQ’s, impaired learning and preservatives in personal care products. Some of memory, and behavioral changes.14 Some these chemicals are known carcinogens, endo- personal care products contain these crine disruptors, and neurotoxins. Studies indi- kinds of chemicals. cate that these chemicals end up in our bodies, 3 Regulation of the personal care a costly endeavor, particularly when pitted product industry is weak against companies that have deep pockets or the chemical industry’s backing. The market for personal care products is strong, but regulation of the industry is weak. In the Alternatively, the FDA issues warning let- U.S., personal care product companies generate ters to companies or publicizes risks associ- billions of dollars of revenue a year. Four per- ated with certain personal care products. sonal care product companies are on the 2010 The FDA has authority to require warning Fortune 500 list with company revenue ranging labels for products that pose unique haz- from $7.3 to $79.7 billion.16 ards and to ban the use of certain ingre- dients. But the agency rarely does so, in As the scientific community turns more atten- part due to lack of complete information. tion to everyday chemical exposures, the gen- eral public is becoming increasingly concerned Unfortunately, as Congress continues to slash about possible health effects caused by daily the FDA’s budget, oversight for personal care product use, while regulation lags behind. The products generally takes low priority. As a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the result, these are among the least-regulated chief agency responsible for regulating personal products under the FDA’s authority. care products. But FDA regulation doesn’t begin until after products reach store shelves. And even then, the agency lacks the teeth to protect consumers. Here’s what the FDA does NOT do: • The FDA does NOT review Personal care products are one the safety of ingredients used of the least-regulated products in products before they go to under the FDA’s authority market. The FDA requires personal care products to • The FDA does NOT require carry labels identifying ingredients by order of companies to conduct safety prominence. But fragrances and trade secret assessments on personal care ingredients are exceptions to this requirement. If a manufacturer tells the FDA that their ingredi- products. ents are “secrets” important to the product and • The FDA require its profitability, the manufacturer does not have does NOT to list those ingredients.17 manufacturers to reveal all the ingredients in their products. Even personal care product companies that want to practice strict safety standards face • The FDA does NOT issue recalls obstacles. They may not have access to in- for products on the shelves.19 gredient information from the companies that supply “trade secret” protected fragrances.18 According to some watchdog groups, oversight failings by the If the FDA determines that a cosmetic is harm- FDA have resulted in many of ful, or misbranded with false or misleading label- the ingredients in personal care ing, the agency can work with the U.S. Depart- products not being evaluated for ment of Justice to stop companies from selling safety by any publicly account- them. However, such actions are rare because of able institution.20 the heavy burden of proving the case in court— 4 Survey results: Beliefs about personal care products What Oregon young women Survey participants were asked to rate carry in their makeup bags statements on a four-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. What does this all mean for today’s Oregonians and their Manufacturers should be health? Oregon Environmental Council (OEC) and Metro responsible for testing all conducted a survey of college-age women in order to better ingredients in personal care understand their daily personal care product use and their products for health impacts. beliefs and attitudes about product safety and the role of government and manufacturer responsibility in safety. Agree or strongly agree: 87.6% Survey results show these women use an average of 10 Product labels should be required products of day, most of which contain toxic chemicals that to list all ingredients. can have significant health impacts. These women want to know what ingredients are in these products and strongly Agree or strongly agree: believe that government regulation of personal care products 92.5% is important. Many are making purchasing decisions based on the perceived qualities—environmental and health impacts— There are health risks associated of the products they buy and use. Unfortunately, they don’t with using personal care products. have adequate information to make fully informed choices when purchasing personal care products, and as a result, are Agree or strongly agree: being exposed—oftentimes unknowingly—to toxic chemicals. 70.3% Who took the survey Don’t know: 12.8% OEC and Metro worked with Portland State University (PSU) The government adequately to survey all females enrolled as undergraduates at PSU. regulates personal care products. 1,008 female undergraduate students participated in the survey. Most survey participants were English-speaking Disagree or strongly disagree: Caucasians between the ages of 17 and 30, with an annual 45.4% income of less than $15,000. Don’t know: 20.1% Use and attitudes I know all I need to know about Survey results show that nearly all women believe in safety- the ingredients in the personal testing products for health effects and listing all ingredients care products I use.