Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says FDA fails to protect public
Fourteen months after CSC published a report on lead in lipsticks; the group is accusing FDA of not taking necessary action.
In November 2007, a number of senators urged FDA to test a range of lipsticks for lead and report on the results – action which it claims the regulatory body has not taken.
“The typical turnaround time in a laboratory for lead tests is 10 days. There’s no reason for FDA to sit on its lead in lipstick research for over a year,” said Stacy Malkan from CSC.
FDA is compared unfavourably to the equivalent Canadian regulatory body Health Canada which, according to CSC, recently reported finding lead in a number of children’s face paints.
“FDA appears to still be operating under Bush-era tactics of secrecy and delay. It’s time for new leadership and new direction at FDA, so the agency can do what Americans expect it to do: ensure the safety of cosmetics products,” said Malkan.
CSC also applauds the Canadian government’s testing and reclassification of a number of ‘high priority’ chemicals.
Regulations expected to control use of silicones
Last week, Health Canada and Environment Canada classified siloxane D4 and D5, which are widely used in personal care products, as substances of concern to the environment because of fears they may threaten wildlife.
The government said concentration limits would be developed for D4 and D5 for products and wastewater produced during the manufacturing process.
The CSC called this ‘an important step toward regulating dangerous substances out of consumer products.’
