Last week I launched my podcast, Toxin-Free Talk. You can find it here or wherever you listen to podcasts.
One of the first episodes focuses on the lack of regulation on the products we use and bring int our homes.
Sadly, the US government isn’t protecting consumers. Just because it is sold on shelves doesn’t mean that it is safe.
I think this quote from Rebecca Sutton, PhD, senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, sums it up nicely:
“In terms of household cleaners, neither ingredients nor products must meet any sort of safety standard, nor is any testing data or notification required before bringing a product to market.”
US Regulations Don’t Protect Us - We Have to Pay Attention
Cleaning products are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and manufacturers are only required to disclose those chemicals listed on the "chemicals of known concern" list. This means that in some cases you can’t even find the list of ingredients on the label. The EPA doesn't test to see if the products are harmful and they don't require that manufacturers test them for safety. They are considered "Safe until proven dangerous."
Cosmetics are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. The federal law that governs this 84 billion dollar domestic cosmetics industry is only 2.5 pages of the 829-page Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and has not been updated since 1938.
If you’ve ever navigated the personal care product section of Target, you know that’s a LOT of products for only two pages of regulation.
Europe has much higher standards for product safety.
Many companies make the very same product for global distribution, but the ingredients are different based on where the product is sold!
There are also some major loopholes in our laws
When it comes to product labels, the Fair Package and Labeling Act of 1966 has a major loophole. The ingredient “fragrance, natural fragrance, or parfum” is considered a trade secret under this regulation, allowing companies to hide ingredients and not disclose the full ingredient list. That means, you really have no idea what is in a product if it includes “fragrance”.
The cosmetics industry is an $84 Billion industry with an estimated 12,500 chemicals used. Our cosmetics industry uses roughly 10,000 industrial chemical ingredients in personal care products, and the vast majority have never been assessed for safety by any publicly accountable body.
All of this info here is why I think it’s so important to read your ingredient labels! If you’ve found this info helpful, please comment below and share my post or podcast with a friend!
