AR-News: chemical testing

[Mary Finelli]

DIS AND MAKEUP
Most U.S. Cosmetic Companies Resist Calls to Phase Out Suspect Chemicals
Daily Grist, April 19, 2004


A growing controversy over phthalates -- chemicals frequently used in 
cosmetics, including nail polish and fragrances -- highlights dramatic 
differences in the way potential toxins are handled by U.S. and European 
Union regulators.  Phthalates have been shown to cause adverse reproductive 
effects in laboratory animals, but no harm to humans has been conclusively 
demonstrated.  Acting on the "precautionary principle," the E.U. has voted 
to ban two common phthalates as of September.  Despite a March appeal by the 
Breast Cancer Fund to U.S. cosmetics companies to do the same, only two -- 
Procter & Gamble and Estee Lauder -- have announced that they will phase out 
the chemicals.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates cosmetics 
only after they are already on the market, often based on consultation with 
the industry-funded Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel.  "It's the fox 
designing and building the henhouse," says Ken Cook of the Environmental 
Working Group.

straight to the source:  The Wall Street Journal, Thaddeus Herrick, 19 Apr 
2004 (access ain't free)
http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2331

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