Facts Don't Lie: Petition for Safe Cosmetics

Did you know many of the ingredients found in the beauty products we all use every day including childrens' personal care items may be dangerous?
There are more than 10,500 ingredients found in these products and only 11% have been tested for safety.[4] The Environmental Working Group provided startling information from a recent study:

• 33% contain ingredients linked to cancer.
• 45% contain ingredients that may be harmful to the reproductive system or to a baby's development.[1]
• 60% have ingredients that can act like estrogen or disrupt hormones.

Women who use hair color have a 50% higher risk of developing a cancer known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, The National Cancer Institute reported.
The FDA investigated talcum powder, an ingredient widely used in cosmetics. They found of the 40 tested 39 contained asbestos, a known carcinogen.[2]

So, what are your thoughts thus far? Is it really worth it? Some years ago cosmetologists began complaining of memory loss, headaches, asthma, and other respiratory problems. The government evaluated & studied 2,983 chemicals, finding 884 to be toxic. They found:

• 314 chemicals cause biological mutations
• 218 chemicals cause reproductive complications
• 778 chemicals cause acute toxicity
• 146 chemicals cause cancer tumors
• 376 chemicals cause skin and eye irritations[3]

Not much was done to help protect the men and women making a living in the beauty & health industry. There was even less done to protect consumers! Every day we apply these harmful and toxic ingredients unknowingly.

Why Aren't They Safe?
The guidelines used to regulate cosmetics were developed over 40 years ago. Then, scientists didn't believe what we applied to our skin was significantly absorbed if at all. Now, scientists very well know our body absorbs quite a bit, which is why we have medications, lotions, and other topical treatments. Many of them used because of the speed at which our skin will allow these products to enter.
The Cosmetics Office of the FDA is incredibly understaffed and underfunded. The man-power needed to search out the dangerous toxins in our products is just not there.[2]

Real Regulations.
The European Union, not being as limited as the FDA, did the research and discovered the many dangerous ingredients in their cosmetics and other personal care items. In fact, they banned hundreds of ingredients that were known or at least highly suspected to cause cancer, birth defects or genetic mutations.
Now, I don't know about you, but the fact that other countries around the world banned these products is enough for me to be upset that we are still being sold these items expecting to think our purchase was safe because it says "organic" or "herbal".

I have found through the website of safe cosmetics many startling facts that have got others moving to petition congress for safer ingredients in our products. I signed the petition and am hoping you will as well.


Petition Congress for Safe Cosmetics

Please join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics by signing this petition. We'll use it to tell our representatives in Congress that we need safer products and smarter laws to protect us from toxic chemicals in personal care products!

Chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other adverse health effects do not belong in products we use on our bodies. Major loopholes in federal law allow the $50 billion cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of virtually any chemical into personal care products with no required safety assessment, no required monitoring of health effects and inadequate labeling requirements.

Sources:

1. Malkan, S. Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. British Columbia, Canada: New Society Publishers ; 2007

2. Winter, R. A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients. New York: Three Rivers Press; 1999

3. Dadd, D. Home Dafe Home. New York: Putnam; 1997

4. Environmentsal Working Group. Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database. 2007. Available at www.cosmeticdatabase.com.

This information was also taken from a brochure found at x1tools.com