The Story of Stuff Project
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Story of Stuff creator Annie Leonard is doing for beauty products what she did for bottled water, cap and trade, and well, Stuff in general, in her new video, The Story of Cosmetics. It offers a concise explanation of how toxic chemicals end up in our personal care products: Because the FDA can't require companies to assess cosmetics ingredients for safety, or disclose their entire ingredient list to consumers — in fact, it can't even require product recalls. And the video also explains why that's bad news for consumers: Because studies have shown that those chemicals are ending up in us.
Take a look-see:
So what needs to happen now? Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., announced a few hours ago that they are introducing the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (H.R.5786). Here's what it will do, per the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics:
* Phase out ingredients linked to cancer, birth defects and developmental harm;
* Create a health-based safety standard that includes protections for children, the elderly, workers and other vulnerable populations;
* Close labeling loopholes by requiring full ingredient disclosure on product labels and company web sites, including the constituent ingredients of fragrance and salon products;
* Give workers access to information about unsafe chemicals in personal care products;
* Require data-sharing to avoid duplicative testing and encourage the development of alternatives to animal testing;
* Provide adequate funding to the FDA Office of Cosmetics and Colors so it has the resources it needs to provide effective oversight of the cosmetics industry; and
* Level the playing field so small businesses can compete fairly.
Of course, the industry isn't so excited. In a press conference this afternoon, Personal Care Products Council spokesperson Kathleen Dezio described the Story of Cosmetics as a "harsh and unscientific shock-umentary" with "repugnant and absurd" charges about the health risks of cosmetics. They unveiled their own five point plan for cosmetics regulation reform last week and say that the Safe Cosmetics Act goes too far. "If the proposed new safety standards for personal care products were applied to other categories at FDA, they would ban a glass of water, vegetables, and most prescription and non-prescription drugs," said John Hurson, EVP at the Personal Care Products Council. (For more on how the industry has responded to consumers' safety concerns over the years, check out Campaign for Safe Cosmetics co-founder Stacy Malkan's latest blog post.)
We'll be watching to see how all of that shakes out. In the meantime, if you think fewer carcinogens in your baby shampoo sounds good, you can read the full text of the bill here and get involved here.
Read more:
Questions for Annie Leonard, Part 1: The Problem With Greensumption
What's in Your Cosmetics Bag?
President's Cancer Panel Says Chemicals Do Cause Cancer
