Environmental group rates personal-care goop

Health studies and safety testing on many products are not required.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
People slather a lotta goop on their bodies -- an average of 10 products and 126 ingredients every day.
You think they're all safe? Guess what -- the government doesn't require health studies or safety testing for all those shampoos, soaps, toothpastes, lotions and cleansers we use.
The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization has just released a new version of its Skin Deep report that includes safety ratings on 14,113 products based on research from 37 toxicity and regulatory databases.
The easy-to-use, online guide allows you to search by product type or brand name, and includes 991 brands of lotion, lip balm, deodorant, sunscreen and other popular products -- and their 6,869 ingredients.
The site allows you to compare brands and create a custom shopping list, based on their safety ratings of 0 to 5, with 5 being of highest concern.
Easy approval
The EWG says 10,500 industrial chemicals are basic ingredients in personal-care products, and the government approves an average of seven new chemicals daily -- 80 percents, with or without safety tests.
Here are some other EWG findings:
U 51 percent of products on the market contain at least one ingredient linked to cancer.
U 57 percent of all products contain "penetration enhancer" chemicals that can drive other ingredients faster and deeper into the skin to the blood vessels below.
U 74 percent of all products contain ingredients that may contain harmful impurities like known human carcinogens, according to FDA or industry reviews. The FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors says a "cosmetic manufacturer may use almost any raw material as a cosmetic ingredient and market the product without an approval from FDA."
An EWG analysis found that in its 30-year history, the industry's self-policing safety panel has reviewed the safety of just 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients used in personal-care products.
This doesn't mean you should toss all those bottles cluttering your bathroom. The group says the results for some products might be cause for concern, but more study is needed.
Take the pledge
And things are changing. More than 200 cosmetic manufacturers have signed a pledge to remove possible carcinogens and mutagens from their products and to work on safer formulations. That's a result of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of environmental and public health groups.
To find out more about the campaign, read the pledge and see which companies have signed, go to www.safecosmetics.org.
To look up the safety of the products you use on your hair, skin, nails, teeth and other body parts, go to www.ewg.org and click on the Skin Deep link.