October 18, 2011
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and its partner, the Environmental
Working Group (EWG), are on a crusade to scare consumers away from using
cosmetics and hygiene products that contain preservatives and other
useful chemicals. As part of their effort to ban the use of synthetic
ingredients from skin products, these environmental extremist groups are
working to incite fear among consumers, making outrageous and bogus
claims that we are poisoning ourselves by using lipstick, makeup,
deodorants, skin creams, and even baby products. Specifically, they
claim that the additives can cause cancer, create neurological
disorders, or cause hormone disruption—even though they are present in
trace amounts.
In fact, these preservatives protect users from bacteria. Present in
quantities so small—typically, less than 1 percent of a product’s total
weight—they are added to prevent contamination and to protect consumers
from the buildup of dangerous bacteria that can cause eye infections,
skin rashes, and even deadly infections such as E. coli and Salmonella.
Parabens, for example, are added to makeup, deodorants, moisturizers,
and body creams to prevent bacteria, fungi, and mold. According to the
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, parabens are linked to breast cancer and
can cause hormone dysfunction. Yet scientists have refuted the claims,
arguing that concentrations of parabens in cosmetics are too small to
have an adverse effect, and are at levels in our body thousands to
millions of times lower than naturally produced estrogens.
Another example is the chemical oxybenzone, used in sunscreens to
protect users from the ultraviolet rays that can cause skin cancer. The
Environmental Working Group warns consumers to stay away from oxybenzone
because it “contaminates the body” and can cause hormone disruption and
cell damage. Yet cancer research organizations such as the Skin Cancer
Foundation refute EWG’s assertions, arguing that there is no evidence to
back the claims of oxybenzone risks. These cancer foundations worry
that such fear mongering will scare consumers away from using sun block
products that protect consumers from the risks of skin cancer from the
sun’s rays.
In spite of the lack of scientific evidence of health risks from
these ingredients, the anti-chemical groups have been successful in
creating a climate of fear among many consumers—and lawmakers. The
legislation they are promoting, the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011, would
ban any cosmetic and skin care ingredients that exceed a one in a
million risk of an adverse health impact—which is to say it would ban
most ingredients since almost everything carries risk greater than one
in a million. While the risks from products not containing these
additives would be much higher, those risks would not be considered. In
effect, the bill would ban the very chemicals that protect consumers.
In reviewing the claims of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the
Environmental Working Group, as well as the scientific literature on the
use of these chemical additives, this report finds that these fringe
groups are pushing their own anti-chemical agenda at the expense of
human health. It shows that consumers are at far greater risk by
avoiding these essential ingredients, as backed by sound and
peer-reviewed science.
Full document available in PDF, please click :
Source :
http://cei.org/issue-analysis
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