See and use the guide here.
Of 742 sunscreens (for beach and sports) tested, only 1 in 10 had both "superior sun protection" and "safer ingredients". (Note the word "safer" is used, not "safe".)
To quote the EWG (Environmental Working Group):
"Surprisingly, only 3 of 5 brand-name sunscreens either don't protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals - or both."
They also tested lots of other sorts of sunscreen products (a total of around 1,600), like lip balms, moisturizers with SPF, etc. Go check out your own products.
Read the interview with Stacy Malkan titled "I'll Have My Cosmetics With a Side of Infertility, Please." Stacy is a scientist with the EWG (Environmental Working Group) and is the author of the book chronicling her and others' research, Not Just A Pretty Face, truly a must-read for any woman. There is an epidemic of infertility issues among women in their 20's and 30's - something that has never before been seen in such young women. Many, many of the chemicals in cosmetics and body care products, as well as those in plastics and a multitude of other products from our mattresses to our carpets contain chemicals that impact our endocrine (hormone) system.
Be sure to check out the Cosmetics and Personal Care Products page (link is also found at the top of this page).
I received the email below from the Women's Lobby of Colorado. Fantastic to hear they are taking this issue to the legislature. They also sponsored EWG's Safe Cosmetics event that I attended at the University of Denver last fall. The turnout was wildly larger than what was expected, and worth the trip. Ironically, it was probably the most toxic place I'd been in years. Nothing like 500 women in a room, all wearing synthetically fragranced perfumes, synthetically fragranced lotions, and all donned in clothes washed in the ever more overpowering, toxic and permanently adhering chemical-fragranced laundry products.
The email:
Looking Ahead- Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
The Women's Lobby believes that toxic industrial chemicals do not belong in personal careproducts- or in our bodies. Learn more over free lunch!
When: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 12:00 noon
Where: Colorado Education Association, 1500 Grant Street, Columbine Room.
The 2009 legislative session has just ended, and the Women's Lobby is already planning for 2010.
Everyday, we use as many as 25 personal care products on our bodies, from shampoo to deodorant, to face cream and make-up. Some chemicals in these products are linked to caner, birth defects and infertility- and most have never been evaluated for health and safety at all. Because the Women's Lobby believes that we have the right to safe and healthy products, we plan to propose legislation to protect our health by eliminating the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems. We have been working with the national Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to run legislation in Colorado in 2010.
Visit www.safecosmetics.org for more information about the campaign and to access a database evaluating the safety of the products you use.
You are invited to learn more and provide input in the bill over lunch on Tuesday June 9th. We know the well-funded chemical industry will do everything to oppose our legislation, so we are building support starting now. We will need a broad coalition including women's organizations, safe cosmetics companies, environmental organizations, labor organizations, faith-based organizations, youth organizations, health care organizations, and interested individuals.
The Women's Lobby will provide lunch. Please RSVP to womenslobby@hotmail.com to reserve your free lunch.
This email from the Colorado Women's Lobby arrived in my mailbox this morning...
Email Subject: Safe Cosmetics Colorado
Thank you for your on-going interest in the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. We are preparing to fully launch a statewide Campaign here in the Fall of 2009. We are planning events in both Denver and Boulder to build the momentum to introduce legislation in the 2010 session. If you are interested in helping and/or have ideas for events and outreach, please let us know!
In the meantime, we will continue to share news from the National Campaign. Stay informed through http://safecosmetics.org and http://www.coloradowomenslobby.org.
Last month the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and partner organizations released a report http://safecosmetics.org//article.php?id=414 revealing that dozens of popular bath products for babies and kids contain at least two hazardous contaminants: 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde.
Both of these chemicals cause cancer in animals, and formaldehyde is also known to cause skin rashes in people who are sensitive to the chemical.
Parents around the world were particularly infuriated that Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, the iconic brand that many hospitals send home with new babies, contained both of these contaminants – neither of which is listed on ingredient labels.
The story was covered across the United States, around the world and online http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?list=type&type=42. Concerned moms called Johnson & Johnson – and then blogged http://organicmania.com/2009/04/10/the-aftermath-of-the-green-moms-carnival-hysterical-mommy-bloggers/ about the company’s dismissive response.
Of the report, J&J said, “The trace levels of certain compounds found by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics can result from processes that make our products gentle for babies and safe from bacteria growth,” and the Campaign should stop “alarming” parents.
We think parents have a right to know if the products they buy for their babies contain hazardous chemicals linked to cancer and skin rashes. Other companies are making safe and gentle baby products without hazardous chemicals. Instead of playing defense, J&J should live up to its promises of purity and be the safest, most responsible company it can be.
Whether you bathe your little ones using Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, you grew up with “No More Tears” in the tub, you’re a medical professional or you’re just outraged that there are carcinogens in shampoo, take a minute to tell J&J that safe products are important to you.
Take Action: Send a letter to Johnson & Johnson from our Web site http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5500/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1426
Learn More: Read our report, “No More Toxic Tub” [http://safecosmetics.org//article.php?id=414]
The bane of my existence? Laundry products and perfume. Sadly for me, the single most toxic place I ever find myself in is a room full of women. Perfume alone is so thick I can barely breathe and nearly always results in an immediate headache. But combined with the ever more heavily fragranced laundry products, it all makes for a toxic soup that will leave me feeling sick for a couple of days.
It isn't just that I'm sensitive. It is that these are truly harmful chemicals for everyone - and you can't learn which chemicals might be lurking in your products by reading the labels because the companies are not required to tell you what you are exposing yourself to.
One person, wearing clothing laundered in heavily scented products, is completely oblivious to how far their toxic scent spreads. It can fill a room in nothing flat, while they themselves claim to not be able to smell it. And it isn't just in the room, or in their home. Many are now complaining about what is being termed as "neighborhood pollution". In many places, one can no longer depend on being able to go for a nice, fresh-air walk outside without being inundated with clouds of fumes emitted from the laundry vents of homes. If you live in an apartment complex or condo development, the chances of walking in fresh air are even less.
A good basic article refers to a study done by Anne Steinemann, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and of public affairs at the University of Washington. You can read a July, 2008 article about it here: Toxic Chemicals Found In Common Scented Laundry Products, Air Fresheners.
The full and officially published study at sciencedirect.com is titled Fragranced Consumer Products and Undisclosed Ingredients.
There are endless and reliable sources, and good science, on this issue now.
EWG (the Environmental Working Group) has an expanded piece on the Steinemann study here.
EWG also has a page on Eco-Friendly Options for the Laundry. Or just buy the green laundry products such as 7th Generation, BioKleen, Ecover and a number of others.
And EWG's Enviroblog has a post titled Toxic Fragrance in the Air.
Here's a piece at Healthy Child Healthy World, titled Fragrances in Cleaning Products, Fabric Softeners and Laundry Detergents.
The Healthy House Institute has a long article titled Scented vs Unscented Products.
A collection of resources: living wage....Fair Trade.... organic food and agriculture issues.... pesticides and herbicides on our lawns....chemicals in our home products, furnishings and building materials, in cosmetics and body care products.... and how all these things impact the baby in the womb, the toddler on the floor and on the lawn, and we adults as well.
