Toxic beauty
Environmental groups raise concerns about chemicals in cosmetics

By Shadi Rahimi

Grace Martin, 23, quit drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes as soon as she found out she was pregnant. Now three months into her pregnancy, she sees a doctor, eats healthy food, and rests often.

There's only one problem. Martin wears light pink Sally Hansen Hard as Nails nail polish – a product local environmental groups claim may seriously harm her unborn child.

Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG), which has an office in Oakland, and two other national groups, released a report July 10 that shows 52 out of 72 off-the-shelf products tested – including Cover Girl NailSlicks, Dove solid antiperspirant and deodorant, and Calvin Klein's Eternity – contain chemicals called phthalates, which have been shown to increase the likelihood of birth defects in lab animals.

A Food and Drug Administration spokesperson said the agency is reviewing the report but doesn't have evidence that phthalates (pronounced thah-lates) are harmful if products containing them are used properly. Environmental groups, however, think there is enough data to warrant a warning label or, at the very least, a comprehensive list of ingredients on the products' packaging.

"What we are concerned with is the vulnerable young child or the child in [the] womb," said David Baltz, California coordinator for Health Care Without Harm, one of the groups that coauthored the report. "In those cases we feel it's better to be safe than sorry."

Lethal loopholes

The FDA doesn't have the authority to review cosmetic products or their ingredients before they are on the market. Nor does it have the authority to require that manufacturers test their cosmetic products before marketing them, file data on ingredients, or report cosmetic-related injuries. The agency can require an item's label to read, "Warning: The safety of this product has not been determined." But it won't do this for products containing phthalates or other unhealthy substances until there is clear evidence of harm.

In the meantime, customers would have a hard time avoiding the chemicals. Cosmetic ingredients must be listed on a product label unless they are added as a part of the "fragrance," according to the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association. Because a fragrance might contain hundreds of materials, the law requires only that the term "fragrance" be listed.

That's simply not good enough, said Barbara Wilkie, president of the Bay Area-based Environmental Health Networks. Wilkie said she has been a victim of chemical-induced asthma her entire life. Wilkie knew that some people thought her illnesses were all in her head. "I was laughed at, scoffed at, even ridiculed by my manager," she said. But she refused to give up, collaborating with physicians to examine the role of the FDA in regulating cosmetics and writing petitions campaigning for cleaner air and warning labels on products containing toxic chemicals.

Wilkie told us that local organizations like EHN have known about the damaging effects of using phthalates in plastic softeners and solvents for more than two decades. In lab tests during the 1980s, scientists found that phthalates can be powerful reproductive and developmental toxicants for lab animals. Absorbed through the skin, inhaled as fumes, or ingested, phthalates were found to cause a range of birth defects, including declining sperm counts, physical deformities of the penis, undescended testicles, and testicular cancer.

Following up on this research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study in 2000 and found that all of the 289 people tested had a phthalate called dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in their body. But women of childbearing age had the highest levels, at estimates above the federal safety standard. This discovery led CDC scientists to speculate that cosmetics might be to blame.

Eight months later, California-based Urban Decay announced it had reformulated its nail-polish line to be DBP-free and called on other cosmetic companies to do the same. The EWG's report shows that now, after more than two years, many cosmetic companies still refuse to make phthalate-free products.

What is most frustrating to consumers and advocates is the fact that the $20-billion-a-year cosmetic industry can easily make products without phthalates. The EWG's report found the same big companies that produce phthalate-laced beauty products often make similar products without the harmful chemicals.

L'Oreal markets Jet Set nail polish without DBP but puts the chemical in its Maybelline brand, and Del Laboratories has phthalates in its Naturistics Super Shine Nail Gloss but not in its Naturistics 90 Second Dry! Super Fast Nail Color. Louis Vuitton took phthalates out of its Urban Decay nail polish but continues to use the them in its Christian Dior nail polish.

For a copy of the report and a list of products containing phthalates go to www.nottoopretty.org.