ask EWG: what is "fragrance"

A study by one of our founding members revealed that one third of cosmetic products on the market contain chemicals that are linked to cancer.

Of the more than 10,000 chemical ingredients in personal care products, 89 percent have not undergone safety testing.

On average, American women use 12 personal care products a day, and men average six products daily. That means an adult is likely to be exposed DAILY to 126 unique chemical ingredients in personal care products alone.

We know that the skin is not a solid barrier – it's a penetrable organ that can easily absorb chemicals, especially with repeat exposure. Derman absorbtion is commonly used to transmit chemicals to the bloodstream, notably with nicotine and birth control patches.

Toxic chemicals find their way into our bodies, our breast milk and our children. And diseases linked to synthetic chemicals – including breast cancer, testicular cancer and reproductive problems – are on the rise.
In response to pressure from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, some of the world's largest cosmetics companies, including Revlon and L'Oreal, agreed to globally reformulate their products when they work to meet European Union safety standards, which ban many carcinogens, mutagens and reproductive toxins from cosmetics and other personal care products. In addition, 600 companies have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, a pledge to phase out EU-banned chemicals and other chemicals of concern and replace them with safer alternatives.

These are great steps forward, but there is much more to be done. We need the support of organizations like yours to ensure that all the products we use on our bodies and our children's bodies, and that we release back into the environment, are safe.

Please show your support by endorsing the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Platform. We look forward to exploring other ways that we can work together moving forward!

Thank you, and we look forward to working with you on this important campaign!

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Platform

We call on all manufacturers of personal care products and cosmetics to sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, and thereby agree to the following:

* Meet the standards and deadlines set by the European Union Cosmetics Directive.

* Agree to make safe, non-toxic, reformulated products readily available in every market they serve – both domestically and globally.

* Complete an inventory of potential chemicals of concern in products (or by-products) to determine their toxicity to living things, their persistence in the environment, their ability to increase in concentration in the food chain, their contamination of our bodies or qualities they possess that pose hazards.

* Develop an aggressive substitution plan and timeline to replace emerging chemicals of concern with safe alternatives.

We call on the Food and Drug Administration to:

* Prohibit the marketing of all cosmetics and personal care products containing known or probable human carcinogens, reproductive toxins or mutagens.

Does your non-profit organization wish to officially endorse the Campaign? Use our online form »http://www.safecosmetics.org/action/endorserform.cfm