Cosmetics Safety: What's in Your Makeup Bag?

Environmentalists warn the average woman's makeup bag is a time bomb waiting to explode with serious health consequences. The cosmetic industry and the FDA say there's nothing to fear.

By Colette Bouchez
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

It's hard to ignore the headlines: The safety of cosmetics and personal care items is clearly being challenged on many levels.

To hear any well-versed environmentalist tell it, women are being set up for the health hit of a lifetime. The weapon of mass destruction: Our cute little cosmetic bags, filled to the brim with what some believe is a toxic chemical brew that could cause serious health harm.

"Cosmetics and personal care products are potentially major sources of chemical exposure -- particularly if you look at the number of items women use and the sheer number of chemicals in them. Twenty products with over 200 chemicals is typical before a woman even walks out the door in the morning," says Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of Not Just a Pretty Face.

These chemicals, she says, are linked to a slew of health threats that range from cancer to infertility to birth defects, documented by organizations such as the World Health Organization and the CDC.

The beauty industry disagrees, saying that most of the alarming accusations -- including lead in lipstick -- are a replay of old issues that were addressed and dismissed by them, and the FDA, decades ago.

"Many of the issues that are coming up today are, in fact, a recycling of old issues that the FDA considered in their context and decided that no regulatory action was necessary on their part," says John Bailey, executive vice president of science at the Cosmetics, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA), the leading beauty industry organization.

Bailey, the former director of the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, adds that not only are cosmetics and personal care products generally safe, they are, he says, "safest of all the products consumers will use that are regulated by FDA including foods, drugs, dietary supplements, and over-the-counter drugs, and it is well documented in the number of consumer complaints that FDA gets compared to other areas."

So where, exactly, does the truth lie? And do women have cause for concern?

(Do you worry about what's lurking in your makeup? Talk with others on WebMD's Makeup Tips and Tricks message board.)

Cosmetic Safety: The Major Issues

If you're like most women, you likely believe that, like the drugs in your medicine chest, the cosmetics on your bathroom vanity were scrutinized under an equally watchful eye of the FDA. And at first glance, this seems to be the case.

But unlike drug manufacturers who must prove their products are both safe and effective before being marketed, cosmetic firms have no such regulatory obligation under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

"The act does not subject cosmetics to premarket approval," says FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek. In addition, the companies are not required to substantiate performance claims or conduct safety testing. What it does require of companies is that cosmetics be "safe when used as directed in the labeling or under usual customary conditions of use."

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