If it's for sale on the shelf, it must be safe, right? Most people are surprised to learn that cosmetics are not regulated by the FDA in the same way that pharmaceutical drugs are. There is no pre-market health or safety screening for cosmetics. In fact, the $35 billion dollar beautry industry has been largely self-regulated in the US, which results in not much regulation at all.
Before we are even born, synthetic chemicals and heavy metals of all kinds begin building up in our bodies. This chemical "body burden" is the focus of the information you will find on this web site. http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/
Yes. This is true. I used to work in a toxicology lab that performed tests on all types of products. I did one month long study on a chemical a cosmetic company was looking to put in a product, and even a small dose of the chemical was lethal to lab animals. That's part of why I'm so into natural products.
Just because it's sold in stores doesn't make it safe.
Chemicals found in many everyday products can harm male reproductive development, research suggests.Phthalates are used in the manufacture of plastics, lubricants and solvents, and are found in cosmetics, medical equipment, toys, paints and packaging.
The University of Rochester team, New York, found exposure to the chemicals was linked to a higher risk of genital abnormalities in baby boys.
The study features in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Previous research on animals has suggested phthalates may damage reproductive development by disrupting hormone levels.
But until now evidence of a similar effect on humans has proved inconclusive.
The Rochester team, who examined 134 boys, found women with higher levels of phthalate-related chemicals in their blood were more likely to give birth to boys with undescended, or small testicles, small penises, or a shorter distance than usual between the genitals and anus.
It did not take exceptional levels of exposure to produce an effect - abnormalities were found in women exposed to levels below those found in a quarter of US women.
Lead researcher Professor Shanna Swan said: "We were able to show, even with our relatively small sample, that exposed boys were likely to display a cluster of genital changes."
Professor Richard Sharpe, of the UK Medical Research Council's Human Reproductive Science Unit in Edinburgh, said more work was needed to confirm the results.
But he told BBC News website: "It is significant. It is the first piece of evidence that we have that phthalates may cause adverse effects on reproductive development in human foetuses."
Wide-ranging effects
Professor Sharpe said the chemicals appeared to suppress production of the male sex hormone testosterone.
"Testosterone is absolutely critical to development - most of the things that make males different to females are down to pre-natal exposure to the hormone.
"It is not just the effect on genital development, but also on tissues throughout the body, including the brain."
The conservation group WWF, which campaigns against harmful environmental chemicals, described the findings as "startling".
Gwynne Lyons, toxics advisor to WWF UK, said: "This research highlights the need for tougher controls of gender bending chemicals.
"At the moment regulation of the chemicals industry is woefully inadequate, and something needs to be done about this immediately."
The UK government is looking at how the regulation of hormone-disrupting chemicals could be made more effective under a new EU chemicals law.
