Cosmetic firms tie on pink ribbons in support of a cure, but there's a rub: health activists say their products may actually cause cancer

By Shelley Page, The Ottawa Citizen

They keep your mascara from running, help fragrances to linger longer, stop your nail polish from chipping and give your lotions a long shelf life. Chemicals called phthalates and parabens are the beauty industry's secret ingredient.

You won't read this story in the beauty magazines, where cosmetics are almost always portrayed as potent elixirs. But for three years, breast cancer and environmental activists in the United States have been demanding companies change their formulas for the sake of consumers' health.

"Everyone who wants to wear cosmetics is entitled to know they are safe. And you cannot depend on the company to set the standard because they are in the business of making money. We're in the business of trying to save lives," says Barbara Brenner, executive director of Breast Cancer Action (BCA), a scrappy, San Francisco-based group that bills itself as "the bad girls of breast cancer."

BCA questions the long-term effects of layering on, day after day, hundreds of different chemicals in products ranging from deodorant to hair spray to lotion to nail polish.

The group has concerns about the safety of two ubiquitous ingredients in cosmetics: parabens and phthalates.

Parabens are derived from a petroleum base and are used as a preservative in everything from shampoo to mascara to deodorant. They prevent fungal and bacterial growth and give toiletries long shelf lives. Parabens are known to disrupt endocrine (hormone) function because they act like estrogen in the body. They also easily penetrate the skin. BCA is worried that, because exposure to external estrogens has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer, repeated exposure to parabens in cosmetics might promote the growth of cancerous cells. Fueling this worry is a 2004 UK study which found five completely intact types of parabens in the breast tumors of 19 of the 20 women sampled. This again points to the possible connection to personal care products. When eaten parabens are metabolized, losing their estrogenic effect, but when they are applied to the skin they are absorbed intact.

"Industry has told us forever that this stuff is safe, that it doesn't penetrate the skin. It turns out we're swimming in this stuff. We ought to be looking at it more closely," Brenner said.

Phthalates, meanwhile, are a family of chemicals that are clear liquids resembling common vegetable oil. The larger-molecule phthalates make vinyl plastic flexible in everything from toys to kitchen flooring. Smaller-molecule phthalates are used to make the time-release coatings on drugs. They help make adhesives, lubricants, weather stripping and safety glass. Four phthalates in particular (DMP, DEP, DBP and DEHP) are used in cosmetics and personal-care products. DBP gives nail polish a plastic-like consistency that makes it flexible and chip resistant. When perfume fragrances are dissolved in DEP, DMP or DEHP, they evaporate more slowly, making the scent linger longer.

Hundreds of animal studies have shown that phthalates can damage the liver, the kidneys, the lungs and the reproductive system, primarily to male offspring, including testicular atrophy, reduced sperm count and defects in the structure of the penis. DBP was found to be particularly harmful to rats. While there had been no evidence about their presence in humans, it can be shown that phthalates are absorbed through the skin. The CDC and Environmental Working Group have conducted similar studies and wondered why women had the highest levels of phthalates, particularly DBP, in their urine. They suspect the culprit might be personal-care products.

There is good news though. The EU has now banned phthalates in products sold throughout Europe. This has prompted some companies to change there formulas sold in the US as well. L'Oreal now has their Jet Set Dry nail polish without phthalates and plans to have other products comply to EU standards as well. Activists, though happy with the progress, say they will continue to push until all personal care products are free of suspect substances.

For the full article, please visit http://www.breastcancerfund.org