Jan 29, 2009 10:36 pm US/Eastern
Teens' Exposure To Cosmetic Toxins Poses Threat
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Because teens are still developing, researchers say chemicals in the cosmetics they use pose health threats.
WBZ
How many personal care products do you use everyday? If you take a minute to add them all up you may be surprised. There's soap, lotion, shampoo, shave gel and makeup. For many women, the number is usually well over a dozen. What concerns scientists is that number often doubles for teens.
That doesn't surprise Emma Spencer of Winchester. The college freshman has a neat stack of small drawers in her bathroom filled with eye shadows, blush and lipstick. But when she looks in the mirror to brush on her favorite lip color, she has a slightly different view than most teens.
Emma now understands why scientists are concerned. She gave a sample of her blood as part of a nationwide study to help researchers understand if the chemicals commonly used in cosmetics wound up in our blood.
"They found varying levels of different chemicals like phlatales and parabens and fragrances that are potentially harmful to everyone," Emma explained.
Read:
Full makeup study
Ruthanne Rudel is a toxicologist with the Silent Spring Institute in Newton.
She did not work directly on the study but she is familiar with the findings.
She said many of these chemicals are endocrine disruptors. "They can interfere with hormone systems," she said.
Because teens are still developing, they are far more vulnerable than adults.
"Hormones in their bodies are basically giving instructions as to how their bodies should develop, so if you interfere with that signaling, you cause actually permanent, irreversible damage," she said.
There have been no definitive studies on humans, but Rudel says animal studies have linked these chemicals to reproductive problems and hormonally driven cancer like breast cancer.
The
Personal Care Products Council responded to the makeup study on its Web site. A spokesperson said:
"Our companies take their safety responsibility very seriously and often surpass the requirements of the law with additional consumer safety measures."
But some worry those laws aren't enough. Right now, cosmetics don't need FDA approval, manufacturers do their own testing.
Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey told us it may be time to change that.
"I am currently working with several of my colleagues in Congress to explore the need for legislation to protect consumers from the potentially harmful components of cosmetic products," he said.
Emma says she hasn't stopped using cosmetics, but she does try to look for natural products. Even that's tricky because there is really no definition of what can be called a 'natural' product. That means almost any manufacturer can call their product natural.
"It's definitely scary," she said. "I've been using all these things all my life and not realizing it."
Emma is a perfectly healthy teenager and scientists admit even if she does develop a health problem later in life they won't be able to attribute it to the cosmetics. They do however say this is a real risk.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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