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Boston Globe
07-05-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
How everyday beauty products could pose a toxic health threat
The study monitored 70 Black and Latina women as they used over 1,100 personal care products, averaging 17 products a day. According to the research, approximately 53 percent of the participants used products with preservatives that release formaldehyde. Advertisement Some women used multiple products containing the preservatives, while others used products such as lotions and hand soaps multiple times a day. And more than 70 percent of the formaldehyde-releasing products were used at least twice over the study period. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Robin Dodson, the associate director of research operations at the Silent Spring Institute and the study's lead author, said that while a lot of necessary attention has been paid to products that are used occasionally, there needs to be a greater focus on everyday products. 'I'm really concerned that we have a carcinogen that is basically intentionally being released into these products,' Dodson said. 'These chemicals are in products we use all the time, all over our bodies. Repeated exposures like these can add up and cause serious harm.' Advertisement Tesia Williams, a spokesperson for the Personal Care Products Council, a national trade association representing cosmetics and personal care products companies, said that formaldehyde-releasing agents are not equivalent to formaldehyde and do not present the concerns associated with breathing formaldehyde. She added that the agents have been used for decades and 'are widely considered safe and effective in protecting consumer personal care products against a broad spectrum of microbial contamination.' Researchers found formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in dozens of everyday items, including 20 body lotions, six body soaps, and three shampoos. The preservatives were found in hair products such as gels, edge controls, oils, and curl creams that are routinely used by Black women, as well as in eyeliners and eyelash glues. One eyelash glue specifically listed formaldehyde as an ingredient. Dodson's study is the latest entry in a growing body of research on hair straightening chemicals and other personal care products marketed to women of color. Many of these products contain hazardous chemicals that are linked to a range of serious health issues, including breast cancer, ovarian and uterine cancers, fibroids, and other reproductive harms. In 2022, a groundbreaking study showed a link between the use of hair relaxers and the increased risk of developing uterine cancer among Black women. David Andrews, the acting chief science officer at the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization, said that 'formaldehyde and chemicals that release formaldehyde both pose significant health concerns' and have been 'linked to higher rates of skin allergies and sensitivities.' The European Union banned the use of formaldehyde in cosmetics in 2009, though formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are permitted with restrictions and labeling requirements. In 2023, the Food and Drug Administration proposed banning the use of formaldehyde as an ingredient in hair relaxers, but failed to meet an April 2024 deadline. Advertisement The FDA did not respond to a request for comment. In the absence of federal regulations, some states have moved to ban formaldehyde in cosmetic products. California's ban went into effect Jan. 1, and Washington state has proposed restrictions that could be adopted this year. Researchers say that the study points to critical gaps in how personal care products are regulated in the United States and their disproportionate health impacts on women of color. Kizzy Charles-Guzman, the chief executive of Center for Environmental Health, an advocacy group, said that without stronger protections, the health and well-being of women of color will continue to be compromised. 'Women, and particularly women of color, are impacted not just by what's on the shelves, but by how these products are marketed to us - and by the glaring lack of federal regulation that allows toxic ingredients to be used without meaningful oversight or clear labeling,' Charles-Guzman said. Dodson said warning labels could help steer people away from personal items containing formaldehyde. She also encouraged consumers to look at the ingredients label, but acknowledged that many formaldehyde-releasing preservatives have obscure names that could be challenging for shoppers to avoid. 'We need some regulatory steps to really make sure that we can protect ourselves, because we should not be putting the burden on consumers to figure out these long, complicated names whenever they're standing in the aisle of a store,' Dodson said.
New York Times
18-02-2025
- Health
- New York Times
California Bill Seeks Age Minimum on Anti-Aging Skin Care Products
In February of last year, as videos of tweens racing to Sephora for beautifully packaged creams and serums that contained anti-aging chemicals flooded TikTok, a legislator in California tried to end that trend by introducing a bill that would stop stores from selling those products to them. It failed. Now, even though the chatter around tweens using these products has quieted down, the same legislator has reintroduced the bill, with a few tweaks. The assembly bill, which will receive a formal name on Tuesday, would make it illegal for companies to sell over-the-counter anti-aging products to shoppers under 18 years old. It would cover products with ingredients like vitamin A and its derivatives, including retinoids and retinol. It would also cover cosmetic products that have alpha hydroxy acids, including glycolic acid, ascorbic acid and citric acid. Toral Vaidya, a dermatologist in New York City, said she regularly sees young patients seeking 'products that are geared toward anti-aging or exfoliating,' many of which contain ingredients listed in the bill. 'These are products that can be great for a different age range,' Dr. Vaidya said. 'But for younger kids, they actually can wreak havoc on their skin.' She said the products, when used on juvenile skin, could cause redness, itching and irritation. If passed, the law in California would require stores to verify the buyer's age and identity through methods such as checking a driver's license or state-issued ID. The bill could have national implications because California is a major consumer market — it has the fifth-largest economy in the world — and companies that do business in California often have their operations influenced by the state's standards. The legislator introducing the revamped bill is Assemblyman Alex Lee, a Democrat who represents a district that covers Alameda and Santa Clara Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. The new legislation comes with some adjustments to last year's bill — A.B. 2491 — which would have applied to children under 13. The Personal Care Products Council, a cosmetics industry group, opposed that bill, saying that while it was 'well-intentioned,' it fell short on addressing the problem. Instead, the lobbying group said the bill created 'restrictions so complicated that compliance or enforcement would be largely impossible.' The group also said the issue was complicated because the off-limits ingredients were included in basic products like sunscreens and moisturizers. Mr. Lee said in an interview that many of those criticisms were 'specious and not genuine.' In the new version of the bill, Mr. Lee said he addressed one criticism he felt was valid: The complication of how to determine a child's age, because younger tweens and teens do not often carry ID. To account for that, he raised the minimum age to 18. 'We already verify age at movie theaters and M-rated games,' Mr. Lee said. 'The industry can self-police, but they don't want to self-police either. So I'm like, 'Well, I'll give you a model right here.'' Sephora and Ulta have said that they train their staff on how to educate young shoppers about the appropriate products they need. Mr. Lee said that the training amounted to 'soft education' and that he believed manufacturers and retailers in the beauty industry needed to do more, especially given that a sizable percentage of the industry's sales came from children. Skin care spending by Gen Alpha — the cohort just behind Gen Z — doubled compared to the average buyer from 2022 to 2023, according to a study conducted by NIQ. 'They're very reluctant to do anything to harm their sales,' Mr. Lee said of the beauty industry. Dr. Vaidya, the dermatologist, said she still regularly interacts with tweens and teens clamoring for anti-aging products. 'Even though it's out of the headlines, it's definitely something that's still relevant to my practice and also for my family members,' she said, adding that her nieces had begun to ask her about products containing active ingredients. She was skeptical a ban could fully keep these products away from children, but hoped increased education about them would help. When it comes to enforcement, there are other ways that children could get these products, including parents purchasing them for their child. Since Mr. Lee's previous bill failed last spring, other states have sought to address the phenomenon of young children purchasing skin care aimed at adults. In November, the office of Connecticut's attorney general sent a letter to Sephora about its marketing toward young children and cautioned parents about the harm that anti-aging skin care products could have on children. It's not yet clear what, if any, traction a bill like this could have on a national level. But Mr. Lee is hopeful. 'If it is to pass, I really think it would change the business practice for the whole country,' he said, 'as has happened many times, when we have a unsafe chemical bans of products.'
