Safe Personal Care Products The Right Way

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Permalink Reply by Elise Muller on April 29, 2010 at 8:09pm

"Scare Tactics." Well said. My personal opinion, "scare tactics" are generated by large corporations (aligned with the Chemical Industry) who want to influence consumers that "mass produced / chemically laced everything" is the "safe" way to go. In choosing an opposite direction, we're vulnerable and often times labeled "quack." (I've written numerous articles on "who's a quack" and who's not), but that is for another discussion. My intent here is to simply "welcome" you, glad you've started a discussion ...

Elise

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Permalink Reply by Lisa M. Rodgers on May 6, 2010 at 7:37pm

Elise -

Thank you for your comments and warm welcome. Consumers need to be educated instead of told they or their family member(s) may get cancer from an ingredient that hasn't been tested in the levels found in cosmetics. I formed the group Safe Personal Care Products the Right Way because consumers deserve truthful information.

During the legislative session on the Colorado Safe Personal Care Products Act, proponent Susan Roll, Vice Chair of the Women's Lobby of Colorado, and a founding member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics was asked by Representative Daniel Kagan where the independent scientific studies are and why they had not been brought to their attention in the course of lobbying this bill. Ms. Roll replied, "I am not a scientist, I'm a social worker. I am reading what you are reading, also just trying to make some educated guesses about it, honestly". As a consumer, I don't want an educated guess. I want the facts.

Another example of the fear mongering is telling consumers manufacturers of lipstick are using lead in their formulation. Again, citing the legislation session in Colorado back in March, any ingredient that is from the soil, meaning, if it grew, would contain trace amounts of lead. Lead is not knowingly added to lipstick, however, trace amounts of lead may appear if it contains ingredients from the soil. Dr. Richard Adamson, a former cancer researcher, stated "You would have to consume 3 to 4 tubes of lipstick per day for 70 years to reach toxic lead exposure".

Courtesy of the Cosmetics Info website: http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/HBI/31/

"Lead is part of the Earth and occurs at an average level of 0.0013 % in the Earth’s crust (13 parts-per-million (ppm)). It is found in the air, water, and soil at levels that are usually below any concentration that would raise health concerns. Lead can be present in nearly all things we use and consume on a daily basis, including food and cosmetics."

Talking about ingredients as a whole, the absorption rate of skin care products varies by many factors. Due to the data gaps in the Skin Deep Database, the rating scale is pretty much useless because it only takes into consideration the hazard of the ingredient with no assessment of risk.

Again, I appreciate your comments and would welcome them at the LinkedIn group as well.

Have a great night!

Lisa

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