News Coverage
Study Finds Potentially Harmful Chemicals In Teen Cosmetics
Published October 3, 2008
Potentially harmful cosmetic-related chemicals have been found in cosmetics and body care products used on a daily basis, according to a study by a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) tests and detected 16 chemicals in blood and urine samples from 20 teenage girls between the ages of 14 and 19 that they say could be linked to health risks such as cancer and hormone disruption.
The researchers said that the study did not focus on effects that those chemicals may have had on the girls but emphasizes that since the teen bodies are still developing, the exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals could pose health risks.
According to Rebecca Sutton, lead scientist on the study by the EWG, one of the chemical, triclosan, affects the thyroid gland, and three, parabens, musks and phthalates act like hormones.
The group recommends that consumers avoid the certain cosmetics including anti-aging creams with lactic, glycolic, AHA and BHA acid, hair dyes with ammonia, peroxide, p-phenylenediamine, diaminobenzene, and/or all dark permanent hair dyes, liquid hand soaps with triclosan, nail polish and nail polish remover with formaldehyde, skin lighteners with hydroquinone.
The group also advises consumers to check the labels carefully before purchasing the products.
