“HIGH HAZARD” TOXINS COMMON IN BEAUTY PRODUCTS

About one-third of about 318,000 ingredients identified in beauty and personal care items do not have public toxicological profiles, while about 45 chemicals thought to be “high hazard” are commonly added, a new comprehensive analysis of the industry’s products finds.

Among the common toxic substances used in the 8,500 products checked by ChemForward, a non-profit that promotes transparency around beauty ingredients, are chemicals linked to hormone disruption, cancer, lung irritation and other health issues.

The new report gleaned data from several chemical databases, such as the European Chemicals Agency. It will be turned into a “centralised repository” of hazard data accessible to personal care and beauty producers. The non-profit also developed a chemical grading system, while its toxicologists will rate chemicals’ safety.

Among ingredients most frequently added to products that are considered by ChemForward to be dangerous are cyclopentasiloxane, red 30 and butylated hydroxytoluene. Those and other chemicals in the list are used for a wide range of purposes, including as preservatives, colourants, emulsifiers and fragrances. Some are used to help spread active ingredients, improve products’ dry time or help the skin absorb ingredients, among other uses.

The report notes that safer alternatives exist for the most dangerous chemicals it identified, and the programme will prioritise those for which there are no profiles and are most widely used in products it checked. It found the mineral mica to be in 63% of assessed products, trimethylsiloxysilicate in 21% and nylon-12 in 20%.

Part of the problem in addressing the issue is industry secrecy – many companies legally claim chemical profiles are confidential business information.

– excerpts from The Guardian (4 November 2024)

Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/04/beauty-products-toxins-chemicals