Aisles of colorful chemicals illuminated by fluorescent spotlights attract women looking to purchase anything that will help them meet the American standard. Among the multitude of make-up brands, including CoverGirl, Physician’s Formula, and Almay, is a danger hiding. Cosmetics, a thirty-billion-a-year industry, are not always safe.

One out of every thirteen women—over twelve million adults—are exposed daily to harmful carcinogens in their personal care products, according to the Cosmetics Safety Database, and more than four million women use personal care products linked to impaired fertility. By the time anyone walks out their door to greet the day they have already slathered hundreds of chemicals all over their bodies.

The most dangerous of these chemicals are parabens—used as a preservative in most cosmetics to keep makeup on the shelves for a prolonged period of time—and contain the surnames methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), these substances have an endocrine-disrupting action when absorbed into the skin, which absorbs chemicals ten times more quickly than ingestion does. The parabens enter the endocrine system—the hypothalamus, ovaries, and thyroid—and there is an overflow of estrogen, a horomone known to stimulate breast cancer.

The labels on many cosmetics products are misleading. Most companies are aware that the public has a general knowledge of harmful substances, so ingredients like formaldehyde, found in most brands of mascara, selenium, and lead aren’t listed properly.

According to an experiment done by The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, sixty-one percent of thirty-three red brand-named lipsticks tested contained anywhere from 0.03 to 0.65 ppm (parts per million) of lead.
None of the lipsticks listed lead as an ingredient on the label despite its link to learning and behavioral disorders, increased aggression, miscarriages, reduced fertility, hormonal changes, and menstrual irregularities. Lead also causes delays in the onset of puberty, which may affect young girls using make-up at a pre-pubescent age.

The experiment concluded that two of L’Oreal’s Colour Riche lipsticks contained the highest toxicity of lead, followed by Cover Girl’s Incredifull Lipcolor and Dior’s Addict. Despite the brand names and hefty price increases, they are no safer for the consumer than drugstore brands.

The European Union’s Cosmetics Directive is working for safer cosmetics standards. According to the EU’s Seventh Amendment, established in September of 2004, all CMRS—carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxins—are banned from the ingredient list of any brand of cosmetics sold within the EU’s twenty-five member states. If an American brand wishes to sell their product overseas, they must, if necessary, reformulate the ingredients.

In America, the FDA is responsible for validating the safety of products and ingredients before marketing. The Cosmetics, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA), also referred to as the Personal Care Products Council, says that, “Under [the] Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, the FDA has the responsibility to take action if it finds a product to be unsafe and has abundant legal authority to do so.”

Stacey Malkan, communications director at the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of Not Just a Pretty Face, says there are huge loopholes in the FDA system. For example, “Lead is a contaminant by-product,” says Malkan. “It’s not intentional, so it doesn’t have to be labeled.”

Fortunately, there’s a lot of will to change this coming from Congress. California State Senator Carol Migden authored and implemented the Safe Cosmetics Act in 2005. The bill states that all cosmetics manufacturers must list every ingredient of their product that appears on the state federal lists of chemicals that cause cancer or birth defects. The bill authorizes the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CalOSHA) to regulate potentially harmful products used in salons.

But Malkan thinks there’s still progress to be made. “We would like to see legal standards…[and] apply laws that already exist to the cosmetics industry [like] required safety testing and full labeling,” she says. “Organic and natural foods really do have a strict set of standards,” she prompts. Why not make up?