I asked Angela Klein, founder and owner of Raindance Cosmetics, Canada's premiere healthy cosmetics retailer, to write an article for Anarres' January Newsletter. Here's she tells the story of how she came to reject conventional cosmetics and start her own safe cosmetics business. I am proud to work with Angela to create a range of face, body and baby care products especially for Raindance.
Angela writes:
It was this time 3 years ago that I was faced with the same question. It was my daughter's first year in school and she experienced a painful reaction to the soap used there. It took a while to figure out because who reacts to soap, right? I looked on the bottles for ingredients but they were not listed. Luckily, since a school is a "work place" (for janitorial staff), the boxes of soap included a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).
It said there were 4 ingredients: water, sodium laurel sulfate, cocamide DEA and colour. 3 of those ingredients (not the water of course) were listed as Common Hazardous Ingredients in Personal Care Products by the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia. Here's how they defined them:
DEA / MEA /TEA are hormone disruptors. They are also known to combine with nitrates to form cancer-causing nitrosamines. If a product contains nitrites (used as a preservative or present as a contaminant not listed on labels) a chemical reaction can occur either during manufacturing or after a product is made. There is no way to know which products contain nitrosamines because government does not require manufacturers to disclose this information on the label.
A 1997 study by the U.S. National Toxicology Program found that these compounds themselves might also be carcinogenic. Repeated skin application of DEA was found to cause liver and kidney damage in animals. The study also discovered that when absorbed through the skin, DEA accumulated in organs. TEA may also cause contact dermatitis in some individuals.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate - This chemical is a known skin irritant and enhances allergic response to other toxins and allergens. The U.S. government has warned manufacturers of unacceptable levels of dioxin formation in some products containing this ingredient. The chemical can react with other ingredients to form cancer-causing nitrosamines. Sodium lauryl sulfate is used as a lathering agent. It is present in ninety per cent of commercial shampoos, as well as skin creams and some brands of toothpaste.
Sodium Laureth Sulfate may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, a carcinogen. Dioxane readily penetrates the skin. While dioxane can be removed from products easily and economically by vacuum stripping during the manufacturing process, there is no way to determine which products have undergone this process. Labels are not required to list this information.
FD&C Colours - Used extensively in personal care products, FD&C colours are made from coal. Coal tar colours have been found to cause cancer in animals and many people experience allergic reactions like skin irritation and contact dermatitis. They are listed as FD&C or D&C, followed by a colour and a number. Example: FD&C Red No. 6, or D&C Green No. 6.
After reading this, a million questions ran through my mind. "Is this what our children are washing their hands with!? What should I do now? Aren't there laws protecting us from these kinds of chemicals? Should I contact the school board, they'll want to know, won't they?"
I collected studies and warnings from the FDA(1), Cancer Prevention Coalitions(2), National Toxicology Programs. Cancer Scientists and Researchers with 40 years experience are warning that lifelong use of DEA pose a major avoidable cancer risk (3).
I contacted the School Board with this information. At first I was completely ignored, then after a few more emails (and copying everyone on the school board, politicians, etc.), I received a response "thank you for following up...our Health and Safety officer who I know has been involved in reviewing your concerns and seeking out a solution". That was all the response I was given.
The following September the soap was changed to a new one that was no longer pink but included all of the same ingredients. The School Board then listed a statement on their website saying that there would be no changes to the soap used in the school.
That was that. A brick wall. Now what?!
We have a right to have all of the information available to us to make informed choices for ourselves and our families. As consumers, we do not receive a Material Safety Data Sheet with our lipsticks or lotions. Our personal care product purchases do not include carcinogenic and reproductive toxin warnings like we would have if we were exposed to the same ingredients in our workplace.
With this knowledge, I was driven to learn more about what is used in commonly available personal care products and was shocked to find harsh chemicals and commonly-known carcinogens throughout their lists of ingredients.
Fortunately, there are groups like the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) who are testing for lead in lipsticks, mercury in mascara and carcinogens in mainstream lotions and baby products. They have no authority to ban chemicals or products, but through education and consumer campaigns, they are helping consumers make safer choices for their families. The EWG has a database called Skin Deep www.cosmeticsdatabase.com that now includes more than 52,000 products and close to 9,000 ingredients. This is where people can search the safety of their current products by ingredient or by brand. It cross references Material Safety Data Sheets and ingredients in personal care products to give hazard ratings 0 being safest and 10 being highest hazard.
In 2004, there were over 1100 chemicals banned by the European Union for use in cosmetics and personal care products for being carcinogenic, mutagenic and reproductive toxins. Meanwhile, in the United States only 10 chemicals were banned and not many more than that were taken out of Canadian products according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
Canada has a New Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist that is supposed to protect us from dangerous chemicals in our cosmetics and personal care products. Chemicals like 1,4-dioxane are on the list however, Canadian Companies are not required to test or list it as a by-product contaminant.
The Environmental Defence Fund (EDF) of Canada says, 1,4-dioxane is "an unwanted byproduct of an ingredient processing method called ethoxylation (where ethylene oxide, a known breast carcinogen, is added to other chemicals to reduce the risk of skin irritation for petroleum-based ingredients) and it readily penetrates through the skin. It is a European Commission Category 3 carcinogen.
So, the EDF is wondering why is it in 46% of personal-care products tested by two non-governmental organizations, and in more than 22% of the 25,000 products in the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetics Database. 57 % of baby soaps tested positive for the chemical as well.
According to FDA statistics, 89% of the 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety by the Food and Drug Administration, the Industry-appointed Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel, or anyone else.
It is wise to search all brands and ingredients even those claiming to be "all natural" or made with "organic ingredients" purchased from health food stores as some may still contain chemicals like DEA and unlisted by-products like 1,4-dioxane.
Inspired by The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics www.safecosmetics.org, I created Raindance Cosmetics www.raindancecosmetics.ca and want to share information that affects the Canadian public. At Raindance, we are concerned about the health of our families and friends, therefore we wish to provide access to safer personal care products which are also beautiful and delicious to use.
Raindance Cosmetics is a family business, interested in selling only products that we have personally tested and use in our own home - we have done the research for you! We have been working hard to figure it all out and offer it to you in a simple, accessible way.
Knowledge IS power. In 2010, please check how safe your current products are.
If you would like a lead free lipstick, mercury free mascara, safer personal care products, recipes to make your own home made products or access to more information on harmful chemicals in personal care products and why we found it necessary to offer alternatives, visit Raindance Cosmetics. www.raindancecosmetics.ca
At Raindance Cosmetics we make it easy to shop online. Most products have samples available to try from $1.99 and we offer $5 flat rate shipping to all Canadian homes!
It's 2010 and now we all have access to information to make safer products choices, Happy New Year!!
~ Angela Klein
Owner and founder of Raindance Cosmetics
1. http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/ The National Toxicology Program (NTP) completed a study in 1998 that found an association between the topical application of diethanolamine (DEA) and certain DEA-related ingredients and cancer in laboratory animals. For the DEA-related ingredients, the NTP study suggests that the carcinogenic response is linked to possible residual levels of DEA." (CFSAN/Office of Cosmetics and Colors, December 9, 1999; Revised, October 27, 2006.)
2."DEA is a precursor of nitrosodiethanolamine (NDEA), a proven carcinogen as recognized by four Federal agencies and institutions and the World Health Organization. "(Chicago. October 22, 1996, press release from the Cancer Prevention Coalition)
3.Cancer Prevention Coalition/CONTACT: Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago, School of Public Health and Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition
4. The Ugly Side of Cosmetics (2009-01-08) Standards Council of Canada