Thanks to Michael Burkhart for forwarding me this article entitled, “Beauty Secret: Your Make-Up Can Kill You” by Jacqueline Houton, about the lack of oversight of the cosmetic industry. If you thought the FDA provides safeguards to protect us from toxins or known/suspected carcinogenic ingredients in cosmetics, you would be sadly mistaken. The FDA has no authority to approve or regulate cosmetic products or ingredients unlike its European counterpart, which has banned over 1000 ingredients for use in cosmetics.

The reason we should be concerned is that the skin can absorb these toxins. Of the 33 name-brand lipsticks tested, 1/3 of them contained lead levels that exceed FDA limits. Why is this allowed? Well, the safety board that oversees this is established and funded by the cosmetic industry – a case of the fox guarding the hen house.

You might want to check out the groups and organizations that provide information to consumers about these harmful ingredients found in everything from lip gloss to hair coloring products. For the names of these groups, you can skip to the last paragraph in the linked article.