Toxicity of Personal Care Products Christine Girtain Toms River HS South NJESTA Board Member

Myth – FDA promptly recalls any product that injures people Fact – FDA has no authority to require recalls of harmful cosmetics ◦Manufacturers are not required to report cosmetics-related injuries to FDA ◦FDA relies on companies to report injuries voluntarily (FDA 2005)

More than 500 products sold in the U.S. contain ingredients banned in cosmetics in Japan, Canada or the European Union (EWG 2007b) Nearly 100 products contain ingredients considered unsafe by the International Fragrance Association (EWG 2007c)

Oxybenzone ◦In 60% of sunscreens ◦Potential hormone disruptor ◦Readily penetrates the skin and contaminates the bodies of 97% of Americans (EWG 2010, Calafat et al. 2008) Lead ◦61% of tested lipstick brands contain residues ◦(CSC 2007)

Objectives Use data base of personal care products to research an individual’s exposure ◦17 different categories See Table 1 Graph personal multiple exposures to identify and individual’s greatest risk category

Objectives Encourage students to be more conscience of their product decisions Discuss possible effects of student product choices

Product Toxicity Rating Scale

Banana Boat Sport Performance

Use tick marks to tally the # of ingredients in your products that are linked to: Issues:Tally Marks Cancer Developmental/reproductive toxicity Neurotoxicity Endocrine Disruption Allergies/Immunotoxicity Irritaiton Organ system Toxicity Persistence & Bioaccumulation

Issues:Tally Marks Cancer Developmental/reproductive toxicity Neurotoxicity Endocrine Disruption Allergies/Immunotoxicity Irritaiton Organ system Toxicity Persistence & Bioaccumulation