Toxic Mother's Day Gifts

Your mom will certainly appreciate the thought behind the personal care products you give her, but some of those gifts may contain harmful ingredients.

Mothers across the country will be opening presents from loved ones this weekend as part of a Mother’s Day tradition that encourages gift giving. Spa days, perfumes, makeup, and bath products are all popular Mother’s Day treats, and I promise you, they won’t go unappreciated.

Unfortunately, some Mother’s Day gifts may give more than intended.

Few Canadians are aware that many of our personal care products, from shampoos and soaps to lotions and cosmetics, contain ingredients that may be toxic for both humans and the environment. Fewer still know that of the thousands of industrial chemical ingredients currently used in our personal care products, only a small portion have ever been tested for long-term safety.

In fact, in Canada it is possible for companies to use ingredients that are known to be carcinogens or toxins when used in large quantities. Our regulatory bodies say that some of these substances pose a low risk to human or environmental health when used in smaller quantities (as with cosmetic products). Ironically, it is not unusual for personal products on the market in Canada to contain chemical ingredients that are on our federal government’s own “toxic substances” list.

Here’s a recent example. Only last year, the federal government officially deemed two silicone-based chemicals as “toxic substances.” Known as D4 and D5, they are commonly found in shampoos and conditioners to give hair a “silky” quality, and in lotions and deodorants to provide that “smooth” feeling. The two chemicals have been linked to cancer and other health problems when used in high doses in animal experiments, stay in the environment a long time, and may harm fish and aquatic organisms.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that a “toxic” designation means a chemical cannot be used as an ingredient in beauty products that are for sale right now in your local supermarket – but you’d be wrong. When a substance is labelled “toxic,” it is added to a list of hundreds of potentially dangerous chemicals to be reviewed by federal scientists and considered for further regulation – a process that may take years, and may focus on possible short-term health effects. In the case of D4 and D5, the government is now proposing to set a concentration limit to minimize the amount used in personal care products – but they will still be permitted.

As it stands now, ingredients in everyday cosmetics are not reviewed for safety before they are put on sale. Health Canada does require an ingredient list – but only after a product is already on the market (10 days later, to be precise). There is a Health Canada “hotlist” of ingredients that are prohibited or restricted, but this does not address many cosmetic ingredients that are of concern to international health organizations or established to be carcinogens or possible carcinogens based on current studies.

According to Stacy Malkan, co-founder of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the average person uses twelve personal care products a day, containing more than 80 chemicals. The David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) states that there are 82,000 common chemical ingredients in personal care products, one in eight of which qualify as industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors, and more. Do the math – and get concerned.

Admittedly, the problem is a complicated one. Few studies of industrial chemicals have addressed how we actually use personal care products – in combination (meaning multiple chemicals used together) and over long periods of time – or at what stages in our lives (pregnancy, puberty) exposure may be most harmful, not to mention our multiple exposure to the same chemicals from other products. But saying that the issue is complex does not mean we know nothing at all.

The Canadian government has made strides in this area. The Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals study undertaken by Health Canada is a five-year initiative that will measure the extent to which pregnant women and their babies are exposed to environmental chemicals in several of our major cities. Results are expected in 2012 and will address exposure to a number of important naturally occurring heavy metals and man-made industrial chemicals.

Similarly, the Canadian Health Measures Survey has been collecting biological samples and health, lifestyle, and environment information from 5,000 Canadians from across the country, aged six to 79.

While such programs are well worth the investment in expertise and funding, they will largely provide “benchmark” data to help us measure exposures and diseases over time. They are not enough to keep our personal health products safe now.

So what can be done? We could, as Breast Cancer Action Montreal (BCAM) has been advocating for years, adopt tighter controls on chemicals used in cosmetic ingredients. We could also require “carcinogenic labeling” on all cosmetics that include known carcinogens, or better yet, prohibit the use of any chemicals in cosmetic products that are known carcinogens or toxins.

We could also, as the DSF and others advocate, take a precautionary approach to chemicals suspected to have harmful effects on human health and the environment, and substitute safer alternatives, particularly where the so-called “Dirty Dozen” chemicals – those widely used in cosmetics but already associated with adverse affects – are concerned.

We most certainly should, as taxpayers, require that the safety testing of chemicals and nanoparticles used in personal care products be the responsibility of the companies that produce them, and that the safety tests be comprehensive, including both short- and long-term data. Producers should have to provide this data to Health Canada before a product goes on the market. Full disclosure of all chemicals and nanoparticles used in personal care products should be the rule, and labeling regulations should ensure compliance.

For those of you – like myself – who love your pamper-me products and who may not yet have bought mom her special something for Mother’s Day – don’t despair. You don’t have to choose between your beauty (products) and your health. Several organizations, like BCAM, the DSF, and Toxic Free Canada provide links to helpful consumer guides chock full of cosmetic companies that use safer ingredients.

Thankfully there are many of us who want beauty products that go only skin deep.