Over the past decade, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and our
allies have analyzed hundreds of personal care products at
laboratories. Our partners at Environmental Working Group have
built the world’s largest database of chemicals in cosmetics,
Skin Deep, which analyzes 68,000 cosmetic ingredients using
definitive government, industry, and academic sources. This
research indicates that many personal care products – from
deodorants and lotions, to make-up and even baby shampoos –
contain chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, learning
disabilities, skin problems, and other health effects. For
example, more than 1 in 5 personal care products contain
chemicals linked to cancer, 80 percent contain ingredients that
commonly contain hazardous impurities, and 56 percent contain
penetration enhancers that help deliver ingredients deeper into
the skin. The companies say it’s just low levels of toxic
chemicals in the products – just a little bit of carcinogen in
the baby shampoo, for example. The problem is, most