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March 1, 2010Lead in Your Lipstick, Carcinogens in Your Hair Color
Most of the personal care products you use every day are damaging your health, argues Samuel Epstein in Toxic Beauty.
My story begins on a plane. All I did was ask the woman next to me for some lotion. Eyes wide, she looked at me like I’d asked for rat poison. She told me she did not use lotion anymore and launched into a long synopsis of the book that informed her decision: Toxic Beauty, Samuel Epstein’s frightening glimpse into the cosmetics and personal-care products industries.
My flight mate informed me that most if not all of the cosmetics and hygienic products that I used were bad for my health in one way or another. Then she dropped a bomb: cancer. That was more than enough to get my attention. “The book changed my life,” she said while massaging grapeseed oil into her hands, as I scribbled toxic beauty on my boarding pass.
As my friends can tell you, the only room I usually make for a recommendation in my long list of books to read is at the very end. But this one quickly moved to the front. And now it is my turn to say, “This book changed my life” — including the way I shop, the products I use, my health, my beliefs about responsible living, and my views on makeup.
Toxic Beauty’s central premise is that most of the cosmetic and personal care products (e.g., shampoo, lotion, and toothpaste) contain hazardous chemical ingredients, and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal regulatory agency that should be responsible for monitoring such ingredients, is recklessly negligent.
As Epstein, professor emeritus of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, notes, we assume that our products are safe because we believe the FDA would not allow unsafe products on the market. Not true. The law, says Epstein, “does not require cosmetics or personal-care products and their ingredients to be approved as safe before they are marketed and sold.” All that’s required is that ingredients that constitute over 1 percent of the product be labeled.
If you have looked at the back of any of your hygienic products, chances are you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients. The identity of ingredients is purposely masked and distorted, says Epstein; even if you knew what the ingredients were, you wouldn’t know what they do.
Not only are ingredient lists deceptive, words and phrases plastered to the front of bottles and tubes like “fragrance free,” “all natural,” “hypoallergenic,” and even “organic” are often arbitrary as well — there are no requirements a product must meet to earn such labels. The truth of those words and phrases is solely dependent on the integrity of the company.
Lead in your lipstick
According to Epstein, “most brand-name lipsticks sold in the U.S. contain detectable levels of lead . . . of thirty-three brands of lipstick sent to an independent laboratory for analysis, 61 percent contain lead.” Those levels are higher than what the FDA allows in candy, which is .1 parts per million. Lead is not an ingredient; it is a contaminant, a substance created during the manufacturing process.
Frequent and prolonged use of hair dyes, particularly black and dark brown dyes, which contain high amounts of ethylene oxide (the carcinogenic culprit), have been associated with significant risks for a range of cancers, including acute and chronic leukemia, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and bladder and breast cancers.
And talc powder, the common ingredient in baby powder and powder cosmetics, is a well-documented carcinogen and has been strongly linked to ovarian cancer. Women who use products containing talcum powder (which is in some sanitary pads and tampons) near their genitals have a threefold risk of ovarian cancer. Despite such clear evidence, the FDA continues to do nothing to warn consumers.
From toothpaste to deodorant, soap, hairspray, lotion, and nail polish, Epstein says, any beauty or personal care product you name is probably detrimental to your health.
The good news is that safe alternatives are available. The bad news is that they are usually harder to find and more expensive. Some reasonably priced and safe items are out there (I recommend Dr. Bronner’s line of soaps and lotions and Physicians Formula’s line of cosmetics). But I hear you about the higher costs. Besides not having the money, you also probably feel like you don’t have the time to research safe products, because you probably don’t have time for exercise, solitude, and that book you’ve been meaning to read. In short, you barely have time for yourself. You have bigger fish to fry than finding a safe product to combat crow’s feet.
Moreover, what does our use of makeup and other beauty products say about our cultural values? Researching and reconsidering the products I use have made me ask whether I actually need certain beauty products. Most of them aren’t necessary in order to survive or thrive. If cosmetics have negative effects on our health, the health of the children we bear and breast-feed, the environment, and the people who manufacture them, perhaps the right response is to not wear makeup — or to at least ask why we do (Is it to help with insecurity? To attract men? To appear professional in work settings?), and whether beauty products are the best means to meet those felt needs.
Voting with Our Dollars
The flaws of the cosmetics and personal care industries are symptomatic of larger, more overwhelming problems — ethical issues stemming from our over-consumption. There are so many serious moral issues concerning the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the energy and resources we use, and the people worldwide we indirectly exploit so that we can maintain our standard of living. In short, we are destroying the planet for ourselves and for future generations, the world that God calls us to steward well.
So why should we, as Christians, care about the cosmetics and personal care industries when there are so many other social justice issues that need attention? Because we can exercise considerable control over what we put on your skin, and it is as simple as changing the products we use. As consumers, we vote with every dollar we spend and with every dollar we don’t spend. When we collectively change our spending patterns, we can bring about enormous change.
Stephanie Krzywonos is an editor in suburban Chicago. You can e-mail her at Stephanie.Krzywonos[at]gmail.com. For more information about safe beauty products, visit cosmeticsdatabase.com, organicconsumers.org, safecosmetics.org,thenakedtruthproject.org, or lesstoxicguide.ca.
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Comments
Well said, and thanks for speaking on this important topic.
As you implied, it's much easier to justify spending more for less-toxic products we "need" (deodorant, shampoo) when we give up the ones we don't (make-up, wrinkle creams).
I'm constantly amazed by how many of these products we use. I have been gradually reducing the number I use, and I feel like I'm almost down to the bare minimum, but it still adds up to EIGHT, every day (toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, two different soaps, deodorant, hair gel, lotion, prescription psoriasis ointment). Crazy!
Posted By: Jenn | March 1, 2010 4:21 PM
Thanks for writing about this book. It makes me think twice about the products I buy (and why I buy them in the first place). Well done.
Posted By: Anna | March 1, 2010 5:07 PM
Powerful, yet brings outrage and unveils the deception we have been cloaked under. Thank you for this well written piece.
Posted By: Suzanne Arena | March 1, 2010 8:33 PM
While some of this may be true, and we should all learn how to read lables better, and the influence of corporate dollars can corrupt, a quick google search seems to indicate that Dr. Epstein is a bit of a (left-wing!) conspiracy nut, accusing the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute and the FDA of all intentionally conspiring with big business to stifle research into the causes of cancer. Yes, sometimes grand conspiracy theories have some truth to them, but presenting his ideas uncritically as the basis for "changing your life" without giving some sense of his worldview seems somewhat irresponsible to me.
Posted By: Christian Lawyer | March 2, 2010 7:39 AM
The number one cause of death in the US is heart disease - more than all cancers combined. And yet we still smoke, remain sedentary, and consume excess fat, cholesterol, salt, etc. If Christians are going to go to the trouble to change our cosmetics, we ought also to make the more difficult changes in our lifestyle.
Posted By: Anonymous | March 2, 2010 12:01 PM
Great article. I have this book and others that he has written. Good information and just reading the warning label on my toothpaste opened my eyes to better choices.
Posted By: MaryAnn Dunham | March 4, 2010 7:56 PM
Thanks! I guess I never thought a lot about what I rub on my face or in my hair. I think I have a lot of reading to do!
Posted By: Barb | March 8, 2010 7:16 AM
Thanks for writing about this! I'd encourage folks to check out the Cosmetics Database at http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ to see what ingredients their cosmetics/soaps/lotions contain and what effects they've been shown to have in laboratory tests. Very enlightening (and also a little scary!).
Posted By: AmyW | March 8, 2010 8:00 AM
An interesting and informative read. Yes, always ensure that the company is ethical. An interesting comment was made to my husband by his rheumatologist, which is also interesting. He said that the ideal dose of his medication was enough to get the best results, which is just enough not to poison him.
Posted By: Em | March 8, 2010 4:59 PM
Suzanne is correct. If you go to Amazon and read the reviews of Epstein's Toxic Beauty, you will see that his information is quite flawed. Read the 2 star review posted September 9, 2009. You will find the errors of Epstein's book and a suggestion of a better resource, Toxic Beauty: The Hidden Chemicals in Cosmetics and How They Can Harm Us by Dawn Mellowship. I have not read either. But I would hope that Stephanie will do more research before writing a blog that has the potential for harm.
Posted By: Penny | March 10, 2010 5:31 AM
Penny--it is difficult to review a book that has no criticism. As for the negative Amazon review, it is generally not good to trust a negative review written by someone who goes by "Anonymous." The author of Toxic Beauty, Samuel Epstein, M.D., is an international authority and leader on the causes and the prevention of cancer. He is professor emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, is active in public policy changes, has published several books for the public and has written hundreds of articles for the scientific community. In short, he has too many qualifications to name; he is more than qualified to write this book. Christian Lawyer--As for him being a "left-wing conspiracy nut" according to your quick Google search(which we all know is a totally reliable source), I suspect that some people want to paint him, and others who voice concern about problems in corporate industries, as villains.
Posted By: Stephanie | March 11, 2010 1:28 PM
Stephanie, we all know how reliable an airplane seat-mate book recommendation is. Seriously, did you not vet this guy at all before you became a disciple? The quick Google search suggestion is NOT that you should believe everything you read on Google. Rather, it merely highlights that significant additional information is/was out there about this guy IN HIS OWN WORDS that you apparently overlooked. I'm not talking about what any critics might say of him. (Although the fact that his book was published by a non-mainstream publisher and was not reviewed by any major media, even the lefty ones, might give you a clue that hardly anyone takes him seriously.)
The conspiracy theories are set out IN HIS OWN WRITINGS. As I said, he has expressly accused the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute and the FDA of intentionally conspiring with big business to stifle research into the causes of cancer. Here's a prime example: http://www.preventcancer.com/press/pdfs/Stop_Cancer_Book.pdf
He lists the "Dirty Dozen" consumer products containing toxic chemicals. One is Ajax cleanser, because it has "crystalline silica," which he says is carcinogenic. Crystalline silica is SAND. Yes, as a Florida girl, I can say it's likely that if you breathe or eat sand, it will probably kill you. But, cleaning a dirty toilet with it isn't going to kill you. NOT cleaning the toilet is probably more dangerous.
BTW, I'm a progressive, so I'm not hesitant to agree with those who challenge corporate America. He may have great credentials, but sometimes even folks with great credentials go completely around the bend. This guy isn't a villain. He's just a nut, even if he's a lefty nut.
Posted By: Christian Lawyer | March 13, 2010 9:27 PM
There are sure to be multiple arguments both for and against any position taken by any expert anywhere. I would bet the issues are far more complex than any media is able to present in a single book/documentary etc.
The people who are in the cosmetics industry, or who benefit from it, are never going to give credence to those who oppose it. Likewise, the entire global/environmental 'go green' movement, though full of good intentions, is also funded by people with less-than-upright motives and used for political purposes. So the naysayers may be nuts, but the so-sayers aren't any less so!
A middle of the road 'be sensible' approach is the best bet for me.
Posted By: Evonne | March 25, 2010 6:51 PM
Have these been proven ? I think the fluoride content in toothpastes is safe enough even to be swallowed so it makes me wonder if these claims have been proven.
Posted By: Dentists Roseville | May 6, 2010 4:05 AM
I for one, feel overwhelmed by a million other things I "should" be doing or not doing. I have been using products for years and so has everyone around me and most people are fine. Pretty much everything we do causes cancer I guess. I mean, like I have time to look into all these different things when I am already trying to not use plastic bags at the store, recycle, save gas, eat organically, not eat from metal cans that have BHP in them, not use plastic bottles, worry about conserving water, animal testing, puppy mills, our crazy government/economy just to name a few.
Posted By: grace | July 27, 2010 3:49 PM
Wow, thanks so much for this cosmetics exposé! I just found this article by googleing lead in hair color. Am definitely getting the book. My hair stylist has liver cancer. Hmmm.....
Posted By: Joan Maute | May 19, 2011 11:20 AM