Not So Sexy: Secret Toxic Chemicals in Fragrances

May 12, 2010 www.safecosmetics.org
New Report Reveals Secret, Not-So-Sexy Chemicals in Fragrance; Ask Congress and Celebrities with Fragrance Collections to Take a Stand for Our Health!

Check out the report, and take action!
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A new analysis by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and Environmental Working Group reveals that top-selling fragrance products - from Glow by JLO and Calvin Klein Eternity, to Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce and Old Spice body spray - contain multiple allergens and hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to asthma attacks, headaches and serious long-term effects such as infertility, thyroid problems and increased risk of cancer. Many of the chemicals were not listed on labels, and most have not been assessed for safety by the beauty industry's self-policing review panels.

Check out our report, "Not So Sexy: The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance," along with actions you can take, personal and political, to protect your family from toxic chemicals in fragrance.

How can so many popular perfumes - including scents endorsed by celebs like Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Halle Berry and Miley Cyrus - contain toxic, untested and unlabeled chemicals? Well, in the United States, companies are allowed to put nearly any chemical into cosmetics, with no required safety assessment, and a huge loophole in federal law explicitly exempts fragrance ingredients from being listed on labels. So the public is in the dark about what's in these products, and how they are impacting our bodies.

Clearly, the system is broken. Here are two ways you can help us make change:

1. Our cosmetics laws must be updated to ensure cosmetics are safe. Please ask Congress to give the FDA the authority and resources it needs to ensure the safety of cosmetics and ensure full disclosure of ingredients so consumers can make informed choices; and
2. We have the right to know what's in the products we put on our bodies, and we expect companies to make the safest products possible. Sign on to our letter to the celebrities whose fragrances we tested - Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Halle Berry and Miley Cyrus - and ask them to show their true leadership by taking a stand against toxic chemicals in personal care products, beginning with their own fragrance lines.

Thank you for joining the movement to make our body care products safe, and please spread the word!

-Stacy, Mia, Genevieve, Marisa, Lisa and the entire Campaign for Safe Cosmetics team