Recent Reports on Chemicals in Cosmetics

A Poison Kiss: The Problem of Lead in Lipstick
Independent laboratory testing initiated by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in 2007 found that lipsticks from top brands contain lead. Two-thirds of the 33 samples we tested contained detectable levels of lead; of those, half were above the lead limit for lead in candy. Lead is a potent neurotoxin and linked to numerous other health and reproductive problems—and it doesn't belong in lipstick.

Skin Deep: A Safety Assessment of Ingredients in Personal Care Products (Web site): The Environmental Working Group's (EWG's) six-month computer investigation into the health and safety assessments on more than 10,000 personal care products found major gaps in the regulatory safety net for these products. Also available is an online rating system that ranks products on their potential health risks and the absence of basic safety evaluations. The core of the analysis compares ingredients in 7,500 personal care products against government, industry, and academic lists of known and suspected chemical health hazards.

Phthalates Linked to Feminization of Boys (Web site)
Concerns about the health impacts of phthalates continue to mount, with new research linking high phthalate levels with feminized genitals in baby boys.  A recent government-funded study by Dr. Shanna Swan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester, correlated prenatal phthalate exposure with a shortened anogenital distance (AGD) in male babies. The higher the levels of phthalates in the mother during pregnancy, the more likely the researchers were to find the shortened AGD. When this occurred, the boys were more likely to have incomplete testicular descent and smaller penises. The changes occurred at phthalate levels that have been measured in about one quarter of women in the United States.

See the Op-Ed by Dr. Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle » 


Not Too Pretty  (PDF)
Independent laboratory tests found phthalates in more than 70% of health and beauty products tested – including popular brands of shampoo, deodorant, hair mouse, face lotion and every single fragrance tested.

Aggregate Exposures to Phthalates in Humans  (PDF)
This Health Care Without Harm report documents the science on phthalates and shows that people are exposed to phthalates from multiple sources and that those exposures may be adding up to harm. The report shows how no government agency is looking at the big picture of multiple exposures to phthalates.

Pretty Nasty  (PDF)
Documents product tests in Europe that also found phthalates in the majority of products tested.