Study Says: Many Major Personal Care Products Getting Safer, But Not All
July 30, 2009 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis 
Photo courtesy of All Natural Baby.
There is good news to report about some of the world’s leading personal care products. The Organic Consumers Association has released a study showing safety improvements for 23 products from the last time they were examined a year ago.
At the time, the results showed potentially dangerous levels of the contaminant 1,4-dioxane. A byproduct of using ethoxylation, a cheap shortcut process that provides mildness to harsh cleaning ingredients, 1,4-dioxane isn’t found on the ingredients label of any product.
The danger is that 1,4-dioxane is considered a possible carcinogen to humans by many health agencies including: the International Agency for Research on Cancer; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
“When laboratory animals were tested with 1,4-dioxane at the lowest part per billion level over the animals lives, they developed cancer,” according to the OCA.
The tests for this most recent OCA commissioned study and its predecessor were conducted by Exova, an independent third-party laboratory.
As was the case in the preceding study, the new results showed that products bearing the USDA organic seal were totally free of 1,4-dioxane.
Brands whose products showed significant improvement since the last study included: Earth Friendly Products, Ecco Bella, Giovanni, Jason, Johnson & Johnson, Kiss My Face, Life Tree, Method, Nature’s Gate, Planet Ultra, and Seventh Generation, which also donated $10,000 to help fund this follow-up study.
Several brands claimed to be working on product reformulations that were not ready in time for this study, including: Nature’s Gate, Healthy Times, and The Village Company.
Photo courtesy of the Center for Environmental Health.
In related news, several months backs Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) had a press conference introducing the Safe Baby Products Act (S. 925) into the federal legislature, as well as sent a scathing letter to Frank M. Torti, acting commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, stating that “due to complete and total lack of oversight, the products that we use to care for our children could be putting their health and lives at risk. I find it to be unacceptable that the FDA does not regulate personal care products, as it does food and drugs.”
Despite these initial strong words and actions, as of this GreenVitals posting, no further action has been taken on her bill since it was read and sent to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on April 29, 2009. A spokesperson from Gillibrand’s office today said, “It’s just still in committee,” which at this point means the bill is effectively dead.
The prior GreenVitals article written on Gillibrand’s bill can be found at: Outraged Senator Introduces Federal Act to Protect Young Children From Widespread Contaminants in Personal Care Products.
For more information on personal care product safety, please read:
- Safety Guide- Personal Care and Cleaning Products
- Myth vs. Fact: 1,4 Dioxane and the Cosmetics Industry