In fact, 89 percent of all ingredients in cosmetics have not been evaluated for safety by any publicly accountable institution. Over 90% of all ingredients in commercially available cosmetics are of synthetic origin. Many of these are directly linked to serious health risks like cancer, infertility, kidney and liver disease and severe skin issues. Of the 20,000 different off-the-shelf cosmetic products that are for sale in the US and Canada, over 80 percent of the products surveyed contained one or more ingredients that have caused documented adverse reactions in humans and animals.
The FDA has banned or restricted only 9 ingredients in personal care products in its entire 67 year history (FDA 2000). On September 6, 1997 the Boston Globe reported that “The General Accounting Office, the investigative branch of Congress, has identified more than 125 cosmetic ingredients suspected of causing cancer- and others that may cause birth defects.”! Many of the harmful chemicals still used abundantly in cosmetics in North America have been long banned in the rest of the world’s countries.
The typical adult uses nine cosmetics/ personal-care products a day with an average daily load of around 126 chemicals. Most of these chemicals are absorbed into your body through your skin. Others, found in lipstick and lip balm, you actually eat as they come off your lips when eating, drinking or wetting your lips.
