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Fitness & Well-Being

Beauty and the breast: Carcinogens in cosmetics

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In addition to observing it, observe more closely the ingredients in your daily-used cosmetics and hygiene products -- they could be contributing to your cancer risk.

By PlentyMag.comMon, Oct 20 2008 at 4:57 PM EST
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MORE THAN SKIN DEEP: It's worth it to pay for products that won't harm your health. (Photo: nromagna/Flickr)
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, dedicated to finding a cure for this leading cause of death in U.S. women ages 34 to 44. The rate of incidence among women has risen from 1 in 22 in the 1940s to 1 in 7 in 2004, and breast cancer is also on the rise in men. This is a month in which we can all become more aware of the many ways to reduce the risk of breast cancer, including an understanding of possible carcinogenic chemicals in the products we use on our bodies. And a new study about adolescent exposures to some of these substances underscores that it’s never too soon or too early to start thinking about prevention. Choosing greener, cleaner beauty products is one easy way to reduce iffy exposures.
 
The Environmental Working Group (EWG)  has tested 7,500 beauty products and found that 80 percent of them contained 146 chemicals linked to cancer. In this country, "12.2 million adults -- One of every 13 women and one of every 23 men -- are exposed to ingredients that are known or probable human carcinogens every day through their use of personal care products," EWG says. This is why watchdog organizations such as Breast Cancer Action (BCA) and the Breast Cancer Fund protest our government's lack of oversight over the $50 billion dollar cosmetic industry, allowing that "...a cosmetic manufacturer may use almost any raw material as a cosmetic ingredient and market the product without an approval from FDA" (FDA 1995).  Happily, consumers have healthier alternatives than to trust in this sorry state of affairs.
 
What you can do
1) Read ingredients lists. Check the label of the product for key ingredients that have been strongly linked with breast cancer. A few of the top offenders include parabens, a preservative found in human breast tumors; "fragrance," which is shorthand for synthetics fragrances containing phthlates, a plasticizing material used in polyvinyl chloride PVC which has been strongly linked to endocrine system disruption by the Center for Disease Control; and ethoxylated chemicals, linked to 1,4-Dioxane, a foaming agent that the state of California announced is linked to cancer back in 1988. And the list goes on. To see more of the most hazardous commonplace chemicals found in products, take along this Dirty Dozen shoppers' card.
2) Check up on the products in your cosmetics kit. To vet your favorite potions, go to the Skin Deep database, which has over 25,000 products tested and exposed for toxicity levels. Can't find your product there? Post a comment saying so and we'll research it for you.
3) Choose products certified as using safer ingredients. Look for personal care products that have been third party certified by USDA Organic, BDIH, ECOCERT, and the new Natural Product Association.
4) Take action. Sign the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics pledge urging major beauty companies like Estee Lauder, to stand behind their own Pink Ribbon Campaign and align their PR message with actually safer actual products. Use your dollars to support companies that are making equally effective cosmetics, but without jeopardizing our health. Great online organic beauty retailers include Future Natural, Nimli, or even Target's special Eco Beauty Section. 
 
 
Story by Margaret Teich. This article originally appeared in Plenty in October 2008. The story was added to MNN.com in September 2009.
 
Copyright Environ Press 2008
 
 

 

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Related Topics: Green Cosmetics, Green Products, Toxins & Chemicals

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anonymous
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I enjoyed my entire life upon a few personally made principles without regretted anything. My thinking is doubled now after reading article.
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anonymous
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Emilia 05/18/2010 03:36 AM

Good article. I agree that the beauty products available in the market are very harmful, though it enhances the beauty but there is a great health risk. Women’s are more addicted to beauty products as a result huge cases of cancer are seen in women. What have to do is just avoid the toxic products and enhance beauty naturally. http://healthinformationhub.com/

anonymous
Emilia 04/23/2010 02:03 AM

Good article. I agree that the beauty products available in the market are very harmful, though it enhances the beauty but there is a great health risk. Women’s are more addicted to beauty products as a result huge cases of cancer are seen in women. What have to do is just avoid the toxic products and enhance beauty naturally. http://healthinformationhub.com/

anonymous
Jill 04/16/2010 15:20 PM

Honeysuckle Flower Extract, when used as a preservative as with the Ava Anderson products, is a highly processed and highly concentrated paraben extraction. From a biological standpoint, they are virtually identical to the synthetic parabens we already know are harmful. As of this writing, there is no available evidence to indicate a naturally derived version of a paraben is any less toxic for the body than a synthetic version.

While all of us love using cosmeticdatabase.com for.... More

anonymous
Heather 02/19/2010 21:54 PM

I wanted to share that there finally IS a truly non-toxic option out there. We no longer have to choose. The safe alternative is Ava Anderson Non-Toxic. All the ingredients, and thus products, score a ZERO on the EWG's cosmetic safety database!! Check out her full line at: www.NonToxicBelle.com

anonymous
Dest 07/14/2009 15:11 PM

That is pretty weird that sometimes it is required to choose between beauty and health. Unfortunately in some cases it is impossible to get both of them. But only in some...
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