Florida - You probably
check your food labels to see what you're eating.
But when it comes to
popular products, like shampoo, hairspray and cosmetics you use every day...
you may be surprised how many contain toxic chemicals.
In this 10 News Extra, we
show you how harsh chemicals banned in Europe, are still being used here....
and an easy way to find safer, everyday products for your family.
As 18-year-old Taylor
Traviesa gets ready for a graduation party, she goes through a beauty
routine she's been following for years.
- Taylor Traviesa, St.
Petersburg Teenager
-
“I use around 12 to 15
products if I want to know that I look somewhat good. That's from the
lotion to hairspray to shampoo to all my make-up.”
It's not easy understanding
what's in them...
- Taylor Traviesa, St.
Petersburg Teenager
-
“Octala… half of them I
can't even pronounce.”
or how chemicals in those
different products might impact her body.
- Taylor Traviesa, St.
Petersburg Teenager
-
“If you can buy it at a
drugstore, I would assume it's safe.”
You might think the Food &
Drug Administration requires hairspray, nail polish and cosmetic companies
to do extensive safety testing before their products hit the store shelves,
but that's not the case.
On the FDA's website, it
states “Cosmetics and their ingredients are not required to undergo approval
before they are sold. Manufacturers can use any ingredient, except for 10
prohibited substances, without government review.
But in Europe, the laws are
much tougher. Nearly 1200 toxic chemicals are banned from cosmetics.
Here at home, chemicals
such as some phthalates may soon require cosmetic warning labels in
California, but not in any other states.
- Dr. Steven Masley,
Medical Director Carillon Executive Health Program at St. Anthony's
Hospital:
-
“The phthalates we know
are associated with reproductive problems, cancer risk, metabolism
issues. Phthalates, which are very common in cosmetics, are a
significant known risk and they're still sold here everyday.”
They're sold in the U.S. in
products such as OPI nail polish to make it flexible and chip resistant.
But when the polish is sold
in Europe, the tougher standards mean the company has to remove the
phthalate.
- Dr. Steven Masley,
Medical Director Carillon Executive Health Program at St. Anthony's
Hospital:
-
“If you're going to put
a chemical compound on your skin and it's in contact with your skin,
you're likely to absorb it.”
Dr. Steven Masley with
Carillon Executive Health says even at low exposure, a daily dose of
different chemicals can add up over a lifetime.
- Dr. Steven Masley,
Medical Director Carillon Executive Health Program at St. Anthony's
Hospital:
-
“Low exposure over
long-term can be enormous. Low exposure for someone who doesn't remove
chemicals well... their parents had Parkinson's, they're chemically
sensitive they may not be able to remove it and they accumulate it. It's
enormous.
-
The bottom line is the
more things you use, the more it behooves you to check out the safest
products in these lines whether it's nail polish, hairspray or deodorant
to make sure you're making the best choices."
There is a website that
makes it easy for you to understand which products are safer (link below).
You can type in the name of
your favorite product to see if it gets a green light, which means the
ingredients are of low health concern, or a red light, which means higher
chemical concern.
The Environmental Working
Group, a non profit, research based, consumer advocacy group compiled an
electronic database of ingredient labels for 14,000 name brand products and
cross linked it with 37 toxicity or regulatory databases.
When EWG analyzed the
database results they found:
-
More than one-third of
all personal care products contain at least one ingredient linked to
cancer.
-
57 percent contain
“penetration enhancer” chemicals that can drive other ingredients faster
and deeper into the skin to the blood vessels below.
-
70 percent of all
products contain ingredients that may contain harmful impurities such as
known carcinogens, according to FDA or industry reviews. Impurities are
legal and unrestricted for the personal care products industry.
Dr. Masley says, while some
studies suggest chemicals in cosmetics can mimic estrogen and increase your
risk of cancer, he says the bottom line is we're guinea pigs. There are no
long term exposure studies that have been done on humans.
The FDA maintains it's not
clear what effect, if any, phthalates have on health.
Taylor says she isn't ready
to give up her cosmetics, but she is willing to search the database to find
safer options.
- Taylor Traviesa, St.
Petersburg Teenage:
-
“I would have no idea
that something in my body lotion or the shave gel might actually be
harmful.”
Check out chemicals
and health concerns in your favorite products.
Find safer options:
http://ewg.org/reports/skindeep/
See if your
favorite cosmetic company agreed to remove ingredients linked to cancer,
birth defects, hormone disruption and other negative effects:
http://www.safecosmetics.org/companies/signers.cfm
*300 cosmetic companies,
including The Body Shop, Aubrey Organics & Burt's Bees promised to replace
ingredients linked to cancer, birth defects, hormone disruption and other
negative health effects with safer alternatives.
*Neways
is a company manufacturing safe cosmetics for 20 years.
www.ineways.com/positivehealthyliving
The Breast Cancer Fund says studies show half of breast cancer
causes are environmental:
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/pp.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=43969
Also we received a
statement from OPI concerning these chemicals. It says:
There is no cause for
concern regarding the safety of cosmetic ingredients, including those of OPI.
All products and treatments produced and sold by OPI, including nail polish,
have been substantiated for safety as required under federal law by the US
Food and Drug Administration and qualified scientists, and found to be safe.
We believe, based on our
rigorous testing methods and documented scientific studies on these
ingredients, that OPI products -- whether used once or over a lifetime - are
safe for use by consumers. These are the same ingredients used by all
leading professional brands.
OPI is proud of our safety
record and is constantly re-examining all available scientific information
in regards to our products/ingredients. OPI is dedicated to working closely
with the regulators at FDA, federal and state policymakers, the Consumer
Federation of America, and others who are committed to objectively using the
best science to ensure the safety of our products.
