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Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary
(23rd Edition) describes a carcinogen as "any cancer-producing substance".
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy
(14th Edition, 1982) - which provides useful information to
physicians, medical students and other health professionals - defines
a carcinogen as "a chemical or physical agent that has the potential of
producing neoplasia (i.e. formation of any new and abnormal growth)".
Science - and research - based educational
institutions in the US (like the Texas A&M University) consider a
chemical to be a carcinogen if:
-
it has been evaluated by the WHO's
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and found to be a
carcinogen or potential carcinogen;
-
it is listed as a carcinogen or potential
carcinogen in the Annual Report on Carcinogens published by the US
National Toxicology Program (NTP); or if
-
it is regulated by the US Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as a carcinogen.
(The IARC coordinated and
conducts research on the causes of human cancer and develops scientific
strategies for cancer control while the NTP is part of the US Department
of Health & Human Services, which provides information about potentially
toxic chemicals to US regulatory and research agencies and the public.)
Carcinogens / Cancer-causing
Chemicals in Cosmetics & Daily Use Products
In an exhaustive market survey and random
label analysis of 120 cosmetics and daily use products, all are found to
be containing at least one or more of the following:
- ingredients which are known human
carcinogens (cancer-causing agents);
- substances which may be contaminated
with carcinogenic (cancer-causing) by products;
- substances that can react with other
chemicals to form potent carcinogens during storage and use; or
- chemicals which are suspected human
carcinogens or which have been linked to cancer in animal tests.
The research found at least 60 known or
suspected carcinogenic chemicals that can be commonly found in cosmetic
products. A quick check of the ingredient declarations stated on
these120 products that were surveyed found at least 50 such chemicals to
be present or are likely to be present.
What is shocking is that all the
categories of cosmetics (eg; eye shadows, eyebrow pencils, eyeliners,
mascara, foundation, nail plish, makeup removers, toners, compact and
loose powder etc.), personal care products (eg; hair gels and sprays,
fragrances, antiperspirants and deodorants, and sunscreens etc.) and
daily use items (eg; toothpaste, mouthwash, soaps and shower creams,
shampoos, and conditioners etc.) that were checked are potentially
carcinogenic.
Human Carcinogens
Among the carcinogenic (and potentially
carcinogenic) chemicals found in the label check are mineral oil, coal
tar ingredients (i.e. phenylenediamines, synthetic colors and
saccharin), benzene derivatives (chemicals labeled as just "fragrance"
on products) and talc are identified as human carcinogens.
Sun-treated and mildly treated mineral
oils, coal tar, benzene and talc containing asbestiform fibers are 4 of
70 chemicals classified as Group 1 Carcinogens, i.e. "materials known to
be carcinogenic to humans", by the World Health Organization's
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
- A total of 23 products contained
mineral oil. They range from baby lotions and face creams to eye
shadows and hair conditioners. (This does not include 5 samples with
petrolatum, better described as a "mineral oil jelly", which exhibits
many of the same harmful properties as mineral oil, and should thus be
treated with the same caution.)
- Coal tar ingredients turned up on the
labels of at least 71 products that we checked. They range from
lipsticks and eye shadows to face crams and perfumes. Of these 120, 66
had either one or more of 4 notorious synthetic colors - FD&C Blue
No.1 (in 20 products), FD&C Yellow No.5 (25 products), FD&C Yellow
No.6 (9 products) and D&C Red No.33 (12 products). FD&C Blue No.1 is a
know carcinogen. As for FD&C Yellow No.5 and No.6, and D&C Red
No.33, impurities found in commercial batches of these colors have
been shown to cause cancer not only when ingested, but also when
applied to the skin. Some artificial coal tar colors also contain
heavy metal impurities, including arsenic and lead, which are
carcinogenic.
- Phenylenediamines turned up in at
least 3 products - all hair dyes.
- Saccharin, a synthetic compound
derived form coal tar, and artificial sweetener that has been proven
to cause bladder cancer in animal studies, turned up in 2toothpastes
that were checked. Saccharin can also promote the cancer-causing
effects of other carcinogens.
- "Fragrance" was found in a whopping 68
products - ranging from baby lotions and baths to face creams and
cleansers, deodorants, shaving creams, shampoos and conditioners.
ontrary to what its name implies, the word "fragrance" does not denote
just one ingredient. Fragrances used in cosmetics are derived from
mixtures of 600 or more raw materials and synthetic chemicals.
According to the 1986 Report by the Committee on Science & Technology
of the US house of Representatives, some 95% of chemicals used in
fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum. Some of the
compounds could thus include benzene derivatives which are known to be
present in petroleum. Carcinogenic fragrance chemicals can be absorbed
through the skin. Fro example, one widely used fragrance throughout
the 1970s, acetylethyltetramethyltetralin (AETT) was shown in animal
tests to be readily absorbed through the skin. The chemical not only
dyed the inner organs of test animals blue, but also damaged the brain
and spinal cord. It was banned only after products containing it have
been widely distributed and used by consumers for many years.
- Talc was listed on 12 products checked
in the survey. cosmetic talc is reportedly carcinogenic as it can be
contaminated with asbestos fibers, which can be inhaled when applying
makeup. (There is no safe level for asbestos exposure.) clear evidence
exist that inhaling talc and using it in the genital area causes
ovarian cancer. Asbestos
is also known to be a concarcinogen, i.e. it can potentiate the
activity of substances that cause cancer.
Regulated Carcinogens
Besides the above, a total of 34 products
are found to contain formaldehyde; and ingredients like
2-bromo-2-nitropropane, 1, 3-diol (also known as BNPD or Bronopol),
urea, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin and
Quaternium-15 -- all of which either contain formaldehyde, may release
formaldehyde, or may break down into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a
carcinogen and neurotoxin. It is regulated by the US Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) as a carcinogen, and is one of 57
chemicals in the IARC's Group 2A list of substances that are "probably
carcinogenic to humans".
Mutagenic & Potentially Carcinogenic Chemicals
Also sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and the
alcohol form of SLS, sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) were found in a total
of 17 samples.
Japanese studies have found SLS to be a
mutagen. According to toxicologists, any chemical capable of causing
mutations is likely to increase the risk of cancer. Alone the chemical
is harmful enough. But it can also react with other chemicals used in
cosmetics to form nitrates. Nitrates are known cancer-causing agents.
According to experts, once nitrates have
formed, they can enter the bloodstream in large numbers from shampooing,
and from using bubble bath, shower gels and facial cleansers.
SLS and SLES are reportedly the only
known cleansing agents in shampoos and cleaners to enter the blood
system.
Carcinogenic Cosmetics Long Known
The toxicity and cancer-causing potential
of many ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care products have
long been know.
- for example, the
US FDA has known since 1979 that cosmetics may be
contaminated with cancer-causing nitrosamines. In
the 1970s it published a notice in the Federal
Register which urged the cosmetics industry to
remove nitrosamines (namely nitrosodiethanolamine,
in short NDELA) from cosmetics. Although the
industry has made some progress by using higher
quality control standards in its selection of raw
materials, an FDA report from the late 1980s noted
that some 37% of the products tested still
contained carcinogenic nitrosamine impurities.
(Note: According to some reports, cosmetics are
the second source of cancer-causing nitrosamines,
after tobacco.)
- According to
researcher-lecturer Debra Lynn Dadd in her
1986book, the Nontoxic Home, "an investigation
done by Consume Reports magazine (published by the
US Consumers' union) revealed about 20 different
chemicals used regularly in hair coloring products
that are potential human carcinogens".
- In 1989, a house
subcommittee asked the US OSHA (Occupational
Safety and Health Administration) to analyze 2,983
chemicals used in personal care products. The
results were as follows; 884 of the ingredients
were found to be toxic. Of these, 778 can cause
acute toxicity, 146 can cause tumors, 218 can
cause reproductive complications, 314 can cause
biological mutation, and 376 can cause skin and
eye irritations.
- More recently, the
Boston Globe reported that the US General
Accounting Office (a nonpartisan agency within the
legislative branch of the US government) has
identified more than 125 cosmetic ingredients
suspected of causing cancer-- and others that may
cause birth defects.
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