business | consumer safety
simpler ingredient lists, in contrast to the offerings that currently dominate the cosmetics marketplace. The tone of these books is blunt and occasionally strident. They portray a manufacturing sector that has been graced with a light burden of regulation, despite the fact that its member firms deal in arcane, multi-syllabic chemicals that are known to do harm to human health. Moreover, this aspect of the industry tends to be eclipsed by the accompanying aura of glamour and sophistication. “It’s not that consumers don’t value safe cosmetics, judging by the number of beauty ads that emphasize the words healthy, clean, pure and natural,” writes Malkan. “But with no standards in the industry, the commercial advantage goes to companies that spend the most money on ads to convince consumers their products are pure — regardless of what’s actually in them.” Deacon, for her part, underscores the physical damage that could be wrought by cosmetics. Referring to the use of under-eye night creams, for example, she explains that the thin, porous skin around the eyes sits directly atop blood vessels that can serve as conduits to the body’s vital organs. In this way she casts a pall over what should be one of life’s happier moments, the venerable ritual that sees mothers introduce their daughters to the use of such products. “And yet without being selective about cosmetic ingredients,” writes Deacon, “they inadvertently begin a process of loading their precious daughters with toxins that do the very thing no mother would ever want done to her child — make her unwell.” Both authors are eager to link the intricate chemical cocktails found in cosmetics to known ailments, especially cancer. Readily accessible cosmetic ingredient databases offer up hundreds of candidates to consider, such as triethanolamine (TEA), which is found in three distinct types of commonly used products: sunscreen, body lotion and liquid makeup. “I delve deeper in the database and find that the chemical (spelled 32 different ways on product labels) forms carcinogenic nitrosamine compounds if mixed with other ingredients that act as nitrosating agents,” writes Malkan. “It is also a skin sensitizer and possibly toxic to the lungs and brain.” Malkan concedes that the amount of this agent found in any given batch of cosmetics can be all but undetectable. But she adds that the cumulative exposure — and thus the risk — from multiple sources could wind up being far greater. “Triethanolamine, I learned in my research, is also used in floor polish, pool cleaners, rug cleaners, laundry detergent, toilet bowl cleaners and other products I have been exposed to on the day I used the three beauty products. The risk assessment didn’t account for that. It also can’t tell me what happens when TEA is mixed in combination with the 16 other potential carcinogens, two dozen endocrine disruptors and other toxic substances in my daily routine. Few if any of the chemicals in my cosmetics have been tested in mixtures to understand the long-term health impacts of chronic use over time.” Joe Schwarcz, for his part, rejects this depiction as fear mongering. The McGill University chemist has made a second career out of soothing public panic over the chemicals around us. Schwarcz regularly harkens back to the Renaissance scientist Paracelsus, who is regarded as one of the founders of modern medicine. Among the
october 2011 CAnadian Chemical News 15