What’s in Your Lipstick? Study Finds ‘Forever Chemicals’ Common in Cosmetics

• A new study found that almost half of the cosmetic products tested contain potentially harmful chemicals.
• These chemicals, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have been linked in early research to cancer, reproductive harm, and damage to the immune system.
• PFAS are often used to increase a product’s durability, spreadability, and wear.

The researchers tested 231 products purchased from retailers in the United States and Canada and found these forever chemicals in 48 percent of the products.
Two-thirds of liquid lipsticks, two-thirds of foundations, and three-fourths of waterproof mascaras contained high levels of fluorine, one of these chemicals.
In addition, another in-depth look of 29 products found that 28 of the products in which PFAS were identified did not disclose the chemicals on their product labels.
The findings were published as a group of senators introduced a bill to ban the use of PFAS in personal care products.
Though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates cosmetic products, the agency does not evaluate or approve the ingredients for safety.
In addition, the FDATrusted Source technically requires cosmetic companies to disclose all ingredients used in their products. However, many loopholes have allowed companies to not disclose all of the ingredients included on the product labels.
In the United States, “Cosmetics and personal care products are not closely regulated to ensure that they do not contain toxic chemicals,” said Luz Claudio, PhD, a professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

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