More Food for Thought
Revlon and L'Oreal announced that they would voluntarily follow the anti-toxics rules initiated by the European Union. The European Parliament passed a rule banning hundreds of known or probable carcinogens from perfume, makeup, hair dye and other cosmetics.
One of the elements, DBP, dibutyl phthalate, is used in most nail polishes. L'Oreal stopped using DBP several years ago. Revlon states that their formulas are already in compliance.
A spokewoman for the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association said that DPB is the main chemical which would be lost to the cosmetic companies. This spokesperson also adds that DBP hasn't been shown to cause health problems.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, of which the Breast Cancer Fund is a major supporter and partner, is talking to other companies, such as Procter and Gamble, Schering Lough, Aveda, Avon and Estee Lauder, about voluntary compliance. The FDA has only prohibited nine chemicals in cosmetics, to date. These include mercury and vinyl chloride. The California Legislature has tried to eliminate DBP unsuccessfully. Compliance with the EU directive will eliminate acrylamides, nitrosamines and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
Does this mean you should swear off cosmetics and beauty products? Of course not! Do some research and decide how comfortable you are with the cosmetic industry.
For more information, check out:
http://www.noharm.org/details.cfm?type=d...
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare...
New Carcinogens
The Department of Health and Human Services recently added seventeen substances to the list of cancer-causing agents.
The six added to the list of "known" carcinogens added to the Report on Carcinogens (RoC) are:
Hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) viruses: These viruses in chronic condition may cause liver cancer. There is a vaccine to prevent HBV. The major risk factor for HCB is illegal intravenous drug us.
Human papillomarviruses (HPVs) are sexually transmitted and may cause cervical cancer in women. Most infected people do not have symptoms, but may develop genital warts.
X-radiation and gamma-radiation are included because exposure may cause leukemia, thyroid, breast or lung cancer. This risk is based on age at time of exposure. Childhood exposure is linked to leukemia and thyroid. Exposure in the reproductive years is associated with breast cancer, and exposure in your older years, with lung cancer. cancer, and exposure later in life increases risk for lung cancer. Exposure to X-radiation and gamma radiation has also been shown to cause cancer of the salivary glands, stomach, colon, bladder, ovaries, central nervous system and skin.
Neutrons cause genetic damage. Most exposure to neutrons is from cosmic radiation that penetrates the earth's atmosphere.
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