For the first time in 70 years, Congress is ready to close the gaping holes in the outdated federal law that allows chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities and other illnesses in the products we use on our bodies every day.

On July 21, Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (H.R.5786), which gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to ensure that personal care products are free of harmful ingredients.

This legislation will affect every American—everyone who puts on moisturizer or uses shampoo or deodorant. More and more people are concerned about unsafe chemicals in our everyday lives, and getting these toxics out of the stuff we rub on our bodies every day is just common sense. It will also help the cosmetics industry by fostering the development of the safer products American consumers are demanding.

Good for Consumers, Businesses and Innovation

When there's cancer-causing chemicals in baby shampoo, hormone disruptors in fragrance and lead in lipstick, you know the regulatory system is broken. That's what you get when you have an entire industry that's practically self-regulated.

Existing law – the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act of 1938 – cedes decisions about ingredient safety to the cosmetics industry. Under the current law, the FDA can't require cosmetics companies to conduct safety assessments, and can’t even require product recalls. In a recent example, the FDA could not recall skin whitening creams that were found to contain illegal levels of toxic mercury.

This legislation will be good for consumers, but it will also level the playing field for businesses that are making the safest products. New advancements in science have exposed the health risks of repeated exposures to low-dose hazardous chemicals – while also enabling green chemists to develop safer, non-toxic formulas. The cosmetics industry as a whole has not kept pace with safety innovations due to a weak regulatory system that encourages ignorance about chemical hazards and allows companies to hide the true toxicity of products.

What's in the Legislation?

According to our understanding of the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, provisions of the legislation will:

• Phase out ingredients linked to cancer, birth defects and developmental harm;
• Create a health-based safety standard that includes protections for children, the elderly, workers and other vulnerable populations;
• Close labeling loopholes by requiring full ingredient disclosure on product labels and company web sites, including the constituent ingredients of fragrance and salon products;
• Give workers access to information about unsafe chemicals in personal care products;
• Require data-sharing to avoid duplicative testing and encourage the development of alternatives to animal testing;
• Provide adequate funding to the FDA Office of Cosmetics and Colors so it has the resources it needs to provide effective oversight of the cosmetics industry; and
• Level the playing field so small businesses can compete fairly.

What You Can Do

Ask your U.S. Representative to support the Safe Cosmetics Act. Congress needs to know that this issue is important to constituents!

Learn more about this issue and get your friends and family involved: Watch the short film, The Story of Cosmetics, and share it with people in your life.

More Information

Press release: Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetics: New Legislation to Prevent Exposure (July 21, 2010)

Cosmetics manufacturers: What does this bill mean for your business?

Library of Congress: Bill text for H.R.5786

Contact for legislative offices: Janet Nudelman, Director of Program and Policy, Breast Cancer Fund, 415-346-8223 x24