C A N C E R
…Personal care products
© Cancer Prevention Coalition 5/03
1

Many formulations contain harmful ingredients that have extremely small molecules. These molecules penetrate the skin and the blood system and quickly build up in the organs and tissues.
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
2

Concerns were expressed by Senator
Kennedy at hearings on the 1997 FDA cosmetics reform bill. "Our message is that cosmetics can be dangerous to your health. --
The American people have a right to full and fair information about the actual and potential dangers of the products they use every day."
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
3

Why are toxins & carcinogens not disclosed on personal care product labels?
“Ingredients of cosmetics and personal care products
(CPCP) are generally identified on their labels by a long list of chemicals. However, this is meaningless to the overwhelming majority of consumers, let alone to expert toxicologists and cancer prevention professionals.
This critically necessitates a “Red Flag” warning of the wide range of multiple carcinogenic ingredients, contaminants and precursors in most mainstream industry products.”
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
* Dr. Samuel Epstein, Page 17 Unreasonable Risk 4

1%
12%
Unsafe
54%
33%
Insufficient
Safe w/
Qualifications
Safe
Pg 46 Unreasonable Risk
* Based on review of 917 ingredients
5
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

• Gel/Mousse/Pomade
• Hand Soap
• Mouthwash
• Shampoo
• Toothpaste
• Body Lotion
• Body Wash
• Conditioner
• Deodorant
• Hair Spray
(about 10 daily)
* Page 26 Unreasonable Risk
6
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

…Personal care products Used daily
• Hand Soap
• Shampoo
• Toothpaste
(about 3 daily)
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
Pg 26 Unreasonable Risk 7

• Body Lotion
• Body Wash
• Shampoo & Conditioner
• Deodorant
• Face & Hand Lotion
• Face Soap
• Hair Gel/Mousse/Pomade
• Hair Spray
• Hand Soap
• Mouthwash
• Toothpaste
(about 13 daily)
8
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

• Blush
•
Eye Shadow
• Face Powder
•
Foundation
• Lipstick
•
Mascara
(about 6 daily)
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
Pg 26 Unreasonable Risk 9

ce
•
•
78 IARC seen monographs since 1972
•
500 National institutes of Health Technical Report
Series on individual carcinogens
Pg 28 Unreasonable Risk 10
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

Cancer Risks of Smoking Tobacco Products
Compared to Mainstream Industry Cosmetics and
Personal Care Products
Cancer Risk
INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE
REGULATORY KNOWLEDGE
CONSUMER KNOWLEDGE
REGULATION
WARNING LABELS
EXPOSURE
ONSET EXPOSURE
ROUTE EXPOSURE
POPULATIONS EXPOSED
RESPONSIBLE CARCINOGENS
Smoking Tobacco
Products
WELL DOCUMENTED
WELL DOCUMENTED
WELL DOCUMENTED
LIMITED
EXPLICIT IN MOST NATIONS
VOLUNTARY
USUALLY IN ADOLESENCE
INHALATION
Largely lower socio-economic
(except in some Asiatic nations)
MULTIPLE
Use of Cosmetics and
Personal Care Products
WELL DOCUMENTED
WELL DOCUMENTED
VIRTUALLY NONE
VIRTUALLY NONE
NONE
INVOLUNTARY
INFANCY
SKIN & INHALATION
VIRTUALLY UNIVERSAL
MULTIPLE
* Page 129 Unreasonable Risk
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
11

In September 10, 1997 hearings on the FDA reform bill (HR 1411), Senator Edward M. Kennedy stated:
"The cosmetic industry has borrowed a page from the playbook of the tobacco industry by putting profits ahead of public health."
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

With rare exceptions, such as children’s bubble baths, the FDA has never required industry to label PCC products with any warning of well-documented toxic or cancer risks, nor has it banned the sale of unsafe products to an unsuspecting public.”
13
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

Food
Beef Frankfurters – (e.g. Oscar Meyer Foods Corporation
Whole Milk – (e.g. Borden or Lucerne)
Household Products
Ajax Cleanser – Colgate – Polmolive, Inc.
Zud Heavy Duty Cleanser – Reckitt & Colman, Inc.
Lysol Disinfectant Spray – Reckitt & Coleman, Inc.
Zodiac Cat & Dog Flea Collar – Sandoz Agro, Inc.
Ortho Weed-B-Gon Lawn Weed Killer – Monsanto Co.
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
* Page 18 & 19 Unreasonable Risk 14

Cosmetics & Toiletries
Talcum Powder – Johnson & Johnson, Inc.
Cover Girl Replenishing Natural Finish Make-up (Foundation) – Proctor
& Gamble, Inc.
Crest Tarter Control Toothpaste – Proctor & Gamble, Inc.
Alberto VO5 Conditioner (Essence of Neutral Henna) – Alberto-Culver
USA, Inc.
Clairol Nice n’ Easy (Permanent Haircolor) – Clairol, Inc.
* Presented by the Cancer Prevention Coalition at a September 21, 1995 Washington, D.C. press conference, cosponsored by Ralph Nader, launching publication of The Safe Shopper’s Bible (Appendix 2C)
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
* Page 18 & 19 Unreasonable Risk 15

Talc: Women, in the IR reproductive years, regularly dusting their genital area with Talc after bathing or showering are at approximately 3-fold increased risk of developing ovarian cancer.
Permanent hair color: Women using permanent or semipermanent black or dark brown hair dyes are at increased risk for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, chronic leukemia, and also breast cancer. In fact, there is growing evidence that use of these hair dyes accounts for about 20% of all non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas in U.S. women.
Pg 19 & 20 Unreasonable Risk 16
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

Frank – those ingredients that are carcinogenic themselves.
Hidden – not carcinogenic themselves , but under certain conditions may have carcinogenic properties
* Page 29 – 30 Unreasonable Risk
17
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

Beef Frankfurters: Children eating up to about a dozen each month are at approximately 4-fold increased risk of brain cancer & 7-fold increased risk of Leukemia. (This is due to the formation of a nitrosamine carcinogen, by the interaction of nitrite, used in colorant, and natural amines in meat).
Pg 17 Unreasonable Risk 18
© Cancer Prevention Coalition


778 can cause acute toxicity

218 can cause reproductive complications

314 can cause biological mutations

146 can cause tumors

376 can cause skin and eye irritations
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
19

“Concerns on the cancer risks from PCC products are emphasized by: lifelong use of multiple products by the majority of the U.S. population; the ready skin absorption of carcinogenic ingredients, further increased by detergents, especially when left on the skin for prolonged periods: and by decades-long suppression of information by the FDA and industry, abetted by a roll-over media, in flagrant denial of consumers’ right to know. Mainstream industry products thus pose major risks of avoidable cancer.”
* Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., undisclosed Carcinogens in Cosmetics and
Personal Care Products pose avoidable risks of Cancer warns Samuel
Epstein, MD, 1/15/01 PRNewswire
* Unreasonable Risk
20
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

Medical
Industrial
•
Oral Contraceptives
•
Estrogen replacement therapy (high doses & prolonged use)
•
Premenopausal mammography
•
Non-hormonal prescription drugs (antihypertensives & tranquilizers)
•
Silicone gel breast implants (polyyurethane foam)
Lifestyle
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
21

“So for all these reasons, it must be emphasized that cosmetics & personal care products are one of the most important, if not the single most important, causes of avoidable and involuntary lifelong exposure to multiple carcinogens.”
* Page 129 Unreasonable Risk
22
© Cancer Prevention Coalition

Personal care products produced for beauty without concern for the long term effect on the user need to be eliminated!
Take action now by eliminating them from your use and replace them with safe products.
© Cancer Prevention Coalition
23

Join the CPC
Educate yourself
Be aware of local issues/work place
Reward/Patronize responsible parties
Visit www.scorecard.org
24
© Cancer Prevention Coalition 3/03

Cancer Prevention Coalition c/o University of Illinois at Chicago
School of Public Health
2121 West Taylor Street, MC 922
Chicago, IL 60612
Phone: (312) 996-2297
Email: epstein@uic.edu
www.preventcancer.com
© Cancer Prevention Coalition 3/03
25