May 5, 2008 9:32 pm US/Eastern
Your Makeup Could Be Putting Your Health At Risk
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Whether they're trying to hide those little imperfections or just add a little color to their smile, for many women makeup is a must. "I have to have lipstick on because I feel naked without it," Raymonde Buissart told WBZ as she wandered through Terminal C at Logan Airport.
What Raymonde and many other women don't realize is that cosmetics do not have to be approved by the FDA. Some environmental groups believe many products are made with potentially harmful chemicals like phthalates and parabens. "Many of these compounds act like estrogen and link to our cells in our bodies like estrogen," said Erin Boles of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition.
Too much estrogen has been linked to breast cancer.
No one wants to use a product made with potentially harmful chemicals, but the cosmetic industry doesn't make it easy for consumers. These chemicals are often hidden under the vague term of "fragrance."
The
Personal Care Products Council says cosmetics are safe.
The industry group created an independent panel called the Ingredient Review Board to oversee the chemicals used in cosmetics. The organization's Web site says the board was formed to "… assess the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics in an open, unbiased and expert manner."
Still, those ingredient lists can be confusing for consumers. But there is help. The "
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics" created a database called "
Skin Deep"; it rates each item on a hazard scale of one to 10.
WBZ decided to try a test to see just what women know about the cosmetics they use every day. We brought a laptop to Logan Airport and asked women if they wanted to check items in their makeup bag against the database.
Lisa Silagyi of Harvard was surprised to find her lipstick has ingredients linked to reproductive and organ toxicity. "You just assume as a consumer that you buy something that's been approved by the FDA," she said. "You assume it's safe because it's on the shelf."
Julia Chaslow of Duxbury gave us her lipstick to try. She found that some of the ingredients are linked to cancer. "It's not worth it," she said, throwing her lipstick into the closest trash can.
The good news is that there are alternatives. Cheryl Patry uses products by
Jane Iredale, a Massachusetts company based in Great Barrington. The company uses all natural ingredients and its products all score very low on the Skin Deep hazard scale. "My whole philosophy is to control the controllable," Cheryl explained.
Cheryl is part of a growing trend. More companies are offering these natural cosmetics because consumers are starting to demand them. "I think it's essential in this day and age that we start making the manufacturers accountable," she said.
Raymonde says she'll be looking for a new brand after reading about the ingredients in her lipstick. "Cancer, wow, that's shocking," she said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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