More than half the cosmetics sold in the US and Canada likely contain high levels of a toxic industrial compound linked to serious health conditions, including cancer and reduced birth weight, a new study says.
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame tested more than 230 commonly used cosmetics and found that 56 percent of foundations and eye products, 48 percent of lip products and 47 percent of mascaras contained high levels of fluorine — an indicator of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), so-called “forever chemicals” that are used in nonstick frying pans, rugs and countless other consumer products.
Some of the highest PFAS levels were found in waterproof mascara (82 percent) and long-lasting lipstick (62 percent), according to the study published on Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
Twenty-nine products with high fluorine concentrations were further tested and found to contain between four and 13 specific PFAS chemicals, the study found. Only one item listed PFAS as an ingredient on the label.
The results were announced as a bipartisan group of US senators introduced a bill to ban the use of PFAS in cosmetics and other beauty products.
“There is nothing safe and nothing good about PFAS,” said US Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who introduced the cosmetics bill with US Senator Susan Collins, a Republican. “These chemicals are a menace hidden in plain sight that people literally display on their faces every day.”
Graham Peaslee, a physics professor at Notre Dame and the principal investigator of the study, called the results shocking.
Not only do the cosmetics pose an immediate risk to users, but they also create a long-term risk, he said.
“PFAS is a persistent chemical. When it gets into the bloodstream, it stays there and accumulates,” Peaslee said.
“This should be a wake-up call for the cosmetics industry,” said David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based non-profit that has worked to restrict PFAS.
The products tested in the study “are applied each and every day by millions of Americans. It is critical that we end all non-essential uses of PFAS,” Andrews said.
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