Did you know that of the 10,000+ chemicals used in the personal care industry, only about 11% have been reviewed for safety?  Guess who reviews them... an industry-led panel!  In addition, of the chemicals that have been reviewed only under 20 have been banned or regulated!

A study by the Environmental Working Group found:

• More than 500 products sold in the U.S. since 2008 contain ingredients banned from cosmetics in Japan, Canada, or the European Union.
• One in 5 of all products contain chemicals linked to cancer, 80% contain ingredients that commonly contain hazardous impurities, and 56% contain penetration enhancers that help deliver ingredients deeper into the skin, according to EWG’s 2007 analysis.
• Lead, formaldehyde, and placenta are among the ingredients used by the industry and sold to consumers.  (See here.)

All of this is about to change.  The Personal Care Product Safety Act is a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress by Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME).  The legislation will protect consumer health and strengthen the Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to regulate ingredients in personal care products. The bill will update 80-year-old federal safety rules for the $60 billion personal care products industry. 

The Personal Care Products Safety Act would: 

• Require the FDA to evaluate a minimum of five ingredients found in personal care products per year to determine their safety and appropriate use. 
• Provide FDA the authority to recall personal care products that threaten consumer safety.
• Provide FDA the authority to require labeling of products that include ingredients not appropriate for children and those that should be professionally administered.
• Require complete label information to be posted online, including ingredients and product warnings.
• Require companies to provide contact information on their products for consumers and report serious adverse events to FDA within 15 days, including death, hospitalization and disfigurement. Health effects that could have resulted in hospitalization without early intervention would also be required to be reported.
• Require manufacturers to register annually with FDA and provide the agency with information on the ingredients used in their personal care products.
• Direct FDA to issue regulations on Good Manufacturing Practices for personal care products.

To fund these new oversight activities, the bill would authorize FDA to collect user fees from personal care product manufacturers similar to what is done for medications and medical devices.

“As President of a small business its’ been very rewarding to be involved with this legislation.  I indeed support regulatory intervention on this issue because it is human health that is at stake," said Daniel Sperling, President of Makes 3 Organics^®.

It's a small step, but it's a step in the right direction.  We hope you join us in supporting this legislation and making personal care products safer for our families.

~The Makes 3 Organics® Team

#organicforeveryone I Makes3Organics.com I @makes3organics