UNMASKED
10 Ugly Truths Behind the Mythof Cosmetic Safety
Because
“USE DAILY”
shouldn’t bedangerousadvice
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
is a national coalition of health and environmental groups. The Campaign’s goal is to protectthe health of consumers and workers by requiring the health andbeauty industry to phase out the use of chemicals linked to cancer,birth defects and other serious health concerns—and replace themwith safe alternatives.
Founding members of the Campaign include:
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is also working with more than100 endorsing organizations and thousands of citizen activistsacross the country. The result: a nationwide movement to shift themarket toward safer alternatives and to demand governmentoversight of the personal care products industry.
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. SIGN UP FOR THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT COSMETICSAND YOUR HEALTH.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics sends e-mail news and actionalerts once or twice a month. We’ll tell you what’s happening rightnow with cosmetic safety and how you can make a difference. Signup at www.safecosmetics.org/join.
2. CHOOSE SAFER PRODUCTS.
Visit Skin Deep, the world’s largest searchable database of ingredi-ents in cosmetics, by clicking on the link atwww.safecosmetics.org. Find out if your favorite products containhazardous chemicals and find safer alternatives. Then use thisbrochure on your next shopping trip to help you make sense of ingredient labels and avoid the most toxic products.
3. TELL YOUR COSMETICS COMPANIES YOU WANT SAFE PRODUCTS.
Call, write or e-mail the companies that make your favoriteproducts to let them know you want safe products now! Lookon product packaging for a customer service hotline or Web site.Meanwhile, patronize the companies that have signed theCompact for Safe Cosmetics. The complete list of Compact signersis available at
www.safecosmetics.org
.
4. SPREAD THE WORD.
Tell your friends, coworkers and family about toxic chemicals incosmetics and tell them how they can learn more and take action.You can even host your own Healthy Cosmetics House Party.Download useful materials, including our Campaign in a Box, from
www.safecosmetics.org
or contact us for assistance.
THE TRUTH CAN ALSO BE BEAUTIFUL
Many companies are already making safer products, and arestriving to make even safer products in the future. More than 600companies have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, a pledgeto remove hazardous chemicals and replace them with safer alter-natives. Many well-known companies in the natural productsindustry have signed the Compact. However, none of the cosmeticindustry giants have signed… yet. We need your help to convinceAvon, Revlon, L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, Proctor & Gamble and otherlarge corporations to sign the Compact and commit to removingtoxic chemicals from theirproducts.The good news is that thecosmetics industry is startingto pay attention to consumerdemand for safer products.Recently, the Campaign forSafe Cosmetics—in partnershipwith consumers and nail salonworkers—pressured the world’slargest manufacturers toremove some of the worstingredients commonly used innail products. Many brands have removed the “toxic trio” of ingre-dients: formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate. This changewill protect the health of millions of women, especially salonworkers who breathe in the fumes from nail products for manyhours every working day.Safer nail polish is a good first step, and there is much more wecan do together to convince manufacturers to make safe, non-toxic products. With your help, the Campaign for Safe Cosmeticswill continue to work toward the day when personal care productsused at every stage of life—from baby shampoo to hair dye—areas safe as they can possibly be.
PLEASE JOIN US IN OUR EFFORTS TO GIVE THECOSMETICS INDUSTRY A MAKEOVER!
Toll-free customer support lines:
L’Oreal
(
Garnier, Maybelline, Lancome, Redken
)
:1-800-322-2036Estee Lauder
(
MAC, Prescriptives, Origins, Aveda, Clinique
)
:1-877-311-3883Procter & Gamble
(
Clairol, Cover Girl, Max Factor, Olay,Noxzema
)
: 1-800-725-3296Revlon
(
ColorStay, Almay, Flex
)
:1-800-473-8566Avon: 1-800-445-AVON
OPI Update:
OPI Products, the world’s largestnail polish manufacturer,responded to the Campaign’s con-sumer pressure by removingdibutyl phthalate and toluenefrom its nail polishes. This big stepin the right direction shows thatsafer alternatives to toxic prod-ucts can be made available.
Campaign contacton the East Coast:
Clean Water Action
262 Washington Street, Suite 301Boston, MA 02108617.338.8131
On the West Coast:
Breast Cancer Fund
1388 Sutter Street, Suite 400San Francisco, CA 94109415.346.8223
• Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow• Breast Cancer Fund• Clean Water Action• Commonweal • Friends of the Earth• Women’s Voices for the Earth• National Black Environmental Justice Network• Environmental Working Group• Massachusetts Breast CancerCoalition• National Environmental Trust
Skin Deep
,
a report by the Environmental WorkingGroup, is a review of ingredients found in nearly 25,000name-brand personal care products crossed-referencedagainst 50 toxicity databases (2007). Click on the SkinDeep button at
www.safecosmetics.org
to check thesafety of your personal care products.
Campaign for SafeCosmetics activistsparticipated instreet actions, whichhelped convince OPIto reformulate nailproducts with saferingredients.
www.safecosmetics.org/takeaction
Printed with vegetable oil-based ink on processed chlorine-free,100% recycled, 50% post-consumer waste paper
Leave a Comment
hi. how can I download it??