Spring has indeed sprung and so, it is time once again, to clean out the old stuff. This notion probably never crossed the minds of the infamously hoarding Collyer brothers who left 103 tons of garbage behind in their Harlem Brownstone when they died. Keeping them in mind, I was determined to be absolutely fastidious perhaps even merciless. So, the first stop during my spring cleaning was the shelf of cosmetic products. Before I began I read Stacy Malkin's Not Just a Pretty Face (The Ugly side of the Beauty Industry) which led me to the informative Skin Deep database where I was able to check the safety of the more than 42 beauty products I own. The most shocking part wasn't seeing how toxic hair dyes are (which I already knew) but, how many sunscreens are filled with stuff you'd never want to rub all over your skin. Of the eight sunscreens I had leftover from last summer and an early winter trip to the Caribbean, I am only keeping one. The rest have too many toxic* chemicals or are just not effective enough to protect against the sun. (*Causing Neurotoxicity, Cancer, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Organ system toxicity, Endocrine disruption.)
The reason I bring all this up is because the self-regulating beauty industry is allowed to put in anything they deem safe enough for us to use. No testing is required. The FDA has very little say in what goes in to cosmetics and the USA is years behind the European Community when it comes to higher standards in beauty products. Example: phthalates (used as a plasticizer and fragrance stabilizer) have been banned in Europe but not here. They have been shown to cause birth defects in the genitalia of infant boys. Yet, they are still used in many products ranging from perfumes, fragrances in skin lotions and shampoos, pet toys, children's toys, sex toys, nail polish, vinyl car seats and the list goes on. If they are banned in the EU then, we probably need tighter regulations on beauty products sold in this country. The problem is that in the USA we wait until people start getting sick or being born deformed before we think about doing anything about it. But the number one most effective way of combating unscrupulous companies in a money-driven society is to educate ourselves and not buy their products. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has a list of companies who have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics.
It's worth checking out.
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