The Story of Cosmetics
Posted on Jul 22, 2010Thanks to our friends at the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and The Story of Stuff!
Webinar with the author of Slow Death by Rubber Duck
Posted on Mar 30, 2010

Please join us for a virtual book club Webinar, featuring the “fascinating and frightening,” “cheeky” and “hard-hitting” new book, Slow Death By Rubber Duck. It's on Tuesday, April 6 at 5 p.m. Pacific/8 p.m. Eastern. Rick Smith, author and Executive Director of
Environmental Defence Canada, will read from Slow Death By
Rubber Duck, and we’ll discuss toxic chemicals found in products as
common as hand soap and what you can do to protect your family and the
planet.
Studies show that harmful toxic chemicals are common in household items, including rubber ducks and bubble bath, and that many of these chemicals are also found inside of our bodies. Over a four-day period, Slow Death By Rubber Duck authors Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie used every day household products suspected of causing harm to our ecosystem and to human health. By revealing the pollution load in their bodies before and after the experiment, Rick and Bruce tell a unique inside story of common toxins and body burden.
Read more...
Safe Cosmetics Workshop in Boston
Posted on Mar 24, 2009Toxic chemicals are commonplace in personal care products, and no one is minding the store - not the cosmetics industry, not the FDA.
Baby bottles, food cans, toys, furniture and electronics may also contain chemicals - some of the same nasty stuff in cosmetics - linked to obesity, ADHD, heart disease, reproductive problems and cancer.
So what can you do?
Come meet Mia Davis of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Down2Earth conference in Boston on April 4th!
Read more...No More Toxic Tub
Posted on Mar 12, 2009
It shouldn’t be too much to ask that baby products be free of toxic chemicals. This is apparently not the case: according to a recent report (PDF) released by Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, dozens of commonly used baby shampoos and lotions contain hazardous ingredients, most prominently formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane.
Companies argue that the amount of formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane contained in these products is small enough to not cause any cause for concern. The use of these chemicals is so widespread, however, that many parents unwittingly use products that contain one or both of these chemicals every time they bathe their child.
Read more...
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Posted on Jan 5, 2008
Did you know that in the United States no government body regulates the safety of cosmetics and that personal care products companies don't have to test ingredients or products for long term health effects like cancer or reproductive problems?
While over 1,100 ingredients have been banned from personal care products in Europe because of health concerns the U.S. has banned only 10.
Many of the chemicals in products we use on our skin every day are linked to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities, developmental problems and more.That's why the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow is part of the nationwide Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC).
Read more...New Product Tests Find Lead in Lipstick
Posted on Oct 11, 2007
The phrase “beauty is pain” has now become “beauty is poison,” according to a report released today by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The study found that 61 percent of the brand-name red lipsticks tested contained detectable levels of lead, a proven neurotoxin that can cause a variety of learning, language, development and behavioral problems.
Again demonstrating an alarming deficiency when it comes to regulating toxic chemicals, the Food and Drug Administration has not taken any action to protect consumers from lead in lipstick. As lipstick products are directly ingested into the body, the standard set for the amount of lead permissible in candy is comparable; one third of the lipsticks tested exceeded this limit.
Read more...Cancer-causing 1,4-Dioxane Found in Children’s Bath Products
Posted on Feb 8, 2007
Women’s Shampoos and Body Wash also Contaminated
A hidden cancer-causing petrochemical has been found in dozens of children’s bath products and adults’ personal care products, in some cases at levels that are more than twice the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s lenient recommended maximum.
Laboratory tests released today by the National Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow revealed the presence of 1,4-Dioxane in products such as Hello Kitty Bubble Bath, Huggies Baby Wash, Johnson’s Baby Wash, Scooby-Doo Bubble Bath and Sesame Street Bubble Bath.
Read more...

