The bill, introduced in July by democrats Tammy Baldwin, Jan Shakowsky and Ed Markey, gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to ensure that cosmetics do not contain ingredients detrimental to health.

This bill, known as the Safe Cosmetics Act, is promoted by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, including, among others, Friends of the Earth US, founding member of the coalition.

Among other things, the campaign aims to raise awareness on the population about the toxins found in cosmetics that can cause hormonal disorders and diseases such as cancer. In addition, the campaign´s website shows that there are carcinogen chemicals in shampoo (including baby shampoos) and lead in lipsticks. They also found high levels of mercury and other toxins in several other products.

According to the campaigners, this is a result of the fact that the cosmetics industry is self-regulated and that there are no regulations related to labeling. Thus, a company can choose which chemicals or toxins to declare in their products and they can claim that their product is natural or organic, since there is no control on the use of these terms.

The promoters of this bill developed an eight-minute documentary to explain the issue. The video is called “The Story of Cosmetics” and was produced by the Story of Stuff Project.

Photo: www.safecosmetics.org