‘Gezondheids-waarschuwingen op cosmetica’
Veel van de stoffen die in cosmetica worden verwerkt zouden niet getest zijn en daarom zou het wel eens nodig kunnen zijn producten die onvoldoende getest zijn van gezondheidswaarschuwingen te voorzien.
Dat is een boodschap die de Amerikaanse overheidsorganisatie die toezicht houdt op medicijnen, de FDA, heeft gestuurd naar de Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, een organisatie van cosmeticaproducenten.
Een nieuwe angstcampagne op gezondheidsgebied lijkt te worden gelanceerd. De strijd tegen tabak heeft de effectiviteit van ‘health scares’ laten zien. Ze blijken dé geeigende methode te zijn om mensen je wil op te leggen…
Imagine reaching for a tube of lipstick or a can of shaving cream and finding this label: “Warning — The safety of this product has not been determined.”
Many popular cosmetics and personal care products could bear such warnings if the Food and Drug Administration decides they need them. The agency would act if it determines that their ingredients haven’t been adequately tested to assure their safety. It’s now working to decide that.
Last month the FDA informed the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, a Washington-based trade group, that manufacturers of untested products may have to add the warning.
There’s no hard evidence of any health impact from long-term, low-dose exposure to the kinds of chemicals in cosmetics, said Lauren Sucher, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Working group, a private nonprofit research center.
Some ingredients in cosmetics, such as methylpentan-2-one, found in nail polish, haven’t been tested. Others, including triethanolamine, used in skin scrubs, are among the chemicals that researchers fear might cause cancer.
Products that could be in line for FDA warnings, based on the Environmental Working Group’s study, include:
• Mascara, which can contain ingredients linked or potentially linked to cancer.
• Liquid hand soap, which may contain ingredients suspected of raising the risk of breast and skin cancer.
• Hair dye, which can contain coal tar, which has been linked to bladder cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“The bottom line is people don’t know what the health effects are of the many chemicals we’re putting on our bodies every day,” Sucher said.
A study last year by the Environmental Working Group found that only 18 of 7,500 common cosmetics and toiletries had had all their ingredients fully tested for safety.
