Life Kit - What's in your lotion? A guide to personal care product safety

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

It's easy to get overwhelmed by long ingredient lists when it comes to personal care products like shampoo, makeup and lotion. Which substances could be potentially harmful? Which are safe to use? In this episode, we cover current ingredients of concern, alternatives and how to decide which products you actually need in your life.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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We're going to start this episode in 1933 when a new mascara and eyebrow dye came on the market called lash lure. The advertisements promised women that they would radiate personality when they used this product. But LashLore contained a chemical dye that blinded several women and led to another's death. That was at a time before the Food and Drug Administration had the power to ban dangerous chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products.

Partly because of LashLore, Congress eventually passed a law, the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, and that gave the FDA the ability to regulate cosmetics. So problem solved, right? Not exactly. On the one hand, our laws are stricter than they were in 1933. If another product like LashLore came onto the market, something that made people go blind. The FDA would have the power to ban it and most likely would do that. But in reporting this episode, we were surprised to find out there's still a lot the FDA can't and doesn't do

when it comes to the safety of personal care products. When the FDA approves drugs, it looks at safety and efficacy, and it does that before a drug can be sold to Americans. But for cosmetics, which include not just makeup, but shampoo, body wash, hair spray, lotion, anything designed to cleanse, beautify, or alter your appearance. FDA regulates cosmetics all post-market. We do not review any applications beforehand, and we evaluate post-market for safety. We do not evaluate for efficacy. There safety. We do not evaluate for efficacy.

There's one exception for certain color additives. That was Dr. Linda Katz, by the way, former director of the Office of Cosmetics and Colors at the FDA. We interviewed her in October 2024, and she retired a few months later, this January. The FDA has confirmed to us that this information is still accurate. So again, companies don't have to present cosmetic products to the FDA for approval before they go to market. And there aren't actually that many chemicals that the FDA bans or restricts in cosmetics. There is a list, but it's a short one, with only 11 ingredients, including chloroform and mercury compounds. More than half of those

regulations happened in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. And some of the ingredients in cosmetics today, like formaldehyde, phthalates, and parabens, are concerning to the scientists who study their effects on human health. Adana Yiannos is an epidemiologist at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. There are well-known studies and lots of evidence that support that many of the personal care products that we use on our skin and our hair, they contain endocrine disrupting chemicals. We're also seeing that there are some classes of personal care products that also can contain carcinogens. A carcinogen is a substance that can cause cancer. And when a chemical is endocrine disrupting, that means it interferes with your body's

hormones and how they function. That's an area of huge interest in public health and really understanding how these exposures contribute to increased risk of various hormone-mediated cancers, but also many other hormone-mediated conditions, like uterine fibroids, endometriosis, PCOS. On this episode of Life Kit, we've got a guide to personal care product safety. We'll talk about some current ingredients of concern, according to the latest research,

how to find alternatives and make the switch, and how to decide what products you actually want or need in your life. One thing I want to note here because this topic can be overwhelming, you don't have to rush to your medicine cabinet, toss everything in the trash, and vow to never use face cream or lipstick again. We'll talk about how to prioritize what you replace and to take this one step at a time. replace and to take this This Podcast from NPR. Following the news out of Washington, D.C. can be overwhelming. I'm Scott Detrow and

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One thing we were wondering when we reported this, if these cosmetic ingredients are so concerning and there's evidence linking them to endocrine disruption or cancer, why hasn't the FDA banned them? We got a couple answers to that. One, and this is our first takeaway, is that the safety of some cosmetic ingredients

is still being debated. On its website, the FDA says, U.S. law, cosmetic companies are responsible for marketing quote safe, properly labeled products using no prohibited ingredients. But what does safe mean? Here's Linda Katz, formerly of the FDA. Actually, it's in section 608C2 of the FD&C Act, as amended under MoCRA, where it defines safe to mean that the cosmetic product, including any ingredient thereof, is not injurious to users under the conditions of use prescribed in the labeling thereof or under such conditions

that are customary or usual. She says to be considered injurious or unsafe, a product would have to cause a serious adverse event like significant hair loss, persistent rashes, disfigurement, birth defects, inpatient hospitalization, a life-threatening experience, or death. Of course, if you get cancer or if your hormones are going haywire, it's

hard to pin that to using a particular product with a particular ingredient. Emily Barrett is an epidemiologist at the Rutgers School of Public Health. That's not necessarily something that you're going to detect right away. There's not going to be like an obvious outcome like a rash. But instead, it might mean that, you know, 20 years from now, you're at greater risk of breast cancer or 20 years from now, your child is going to have fertility problems because the reproductive system developed in just a little bit different way because of the differences in the hormonal environment. So it's a lot trickier to kind of connect the dots between the exposure and the outcome when you think about chemicals that have like a much kind of longer lag time until the outcome

emerges. The science is more settled on some ingredients than others, and we will get into that. And there are a couple cosmetic ingredients listed as known or expected carcinogens on the American Cancer Society's website. But Emily says it's especially hard to prove that something is a carcinogen. It's difficult and expensive, and so a lot of the evidence we have on cosmetics comes from animal studies.

Were we to do the definitive studies on this topic, you might want to recruit people really early in life, maybe in childhood or even in utero, because we don't know kind of what the critical periods are sometimes for cancerous, and follow them for decades, and look at their cosmetic use over their entire lifetime and then see who among this cohort develops cancer. And as you can imagine, that type of study is like impossible to do, right? So the way US research is funded, it usually is in like five-year increments and you would have to apply over and over and over. Not to mention like who wants to sign up for a study that's going to follow them for 60

years, probably not most people. Emily says just because we don't have those definitive studies doesn't mean there's no link between certain cosmetic ingredients and cancer. The American Cancer Society gets at this in a statement on its website where it says, quote, human studies of the long-term effects of most cosmetics, except perhaps hair dyes, don't exist, end quote. And so there's, quote, little evidence and little is known about the health effects of long-term exposure to many ingredients and cosmetics. Linda Katz told us that the FDA reviews the published literature and any data that's presented

to the agency on each of these ingredients of concern. And she said it's a long process, adding chemicals to the band list. So here we are, because the FDA's powers are limited and because the process is a long and bureaucratic one. And because they don't feel like they have enough evidence yet on these ingredients, we as individuals have to look closely at the ingredient list on each of our personal care products and make these decisions for ourselves. Takeaway two, learn about ingredients of concern starting with fragrance. A quick note here, we're gonna cover some of the major ingredients of concern, the ones that kept coming up as we talked to epidemiologists, but this is not an exhaustive list. Epidemiologists study disease in the population.

We talked to ones who focused specifically on the safety of ingredients in personal care products, and they told us one of their big red flags when they're reading a product label is the word fragrance. That's because of a law about product labeling. Under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, companies have to list a cosmetic product's ingredients on the label.

Except for anything that gives the product its scent. They can describe that using one word. Fragrance. Sometimes there's hundreds of different chemicals that go into making that fragrance. And what exactly those chemicals are, are all protected by trade secret. And so because we often do not know what those constituent ingredients are, it's just hard to say that those ingredients are safe. That's Melanie Benish, an attorney and vice president for government affairs at a nonprofit called the Environmental Working Group. Some chemicals that fall

under this fragrance umbrella have been linked to long-term health effects. Emily Barrett at Rutgers says phthalates are an example. They're a class of synthetic chemicals and they're in all kinds of products. Nail polish, hairspray, cleansers, shampoos, lotions, perfumes. The purpose of phthalates is to make plastics more durable. They can also be used as a solvent.

They're just very good at holding on to fragrance and color. So they're kind of like carriers of scent and color in products. Phthalates are known hormone disruptors. So the work that we've done in particular is really looking at phthalate exposure during pregnancy and how that might impact the health of the child. There have been many studies showing a link between high phthalate levels in pregnant women and preterm birth, for instance. Given what we know at this point, Emily's first piece of advice. Probably one of my top

recommendations for folks who are looking to potentially reduce their exposure would be to avoid products that have fragrance listed in the ingredients. This is something she started doing about 15 years ago when she was pregnant with her son. I was increasingly reading the literature and seeing all of the ways in which phthalates might be affecting fetal development. I was like, oh my gosh, I really need to look

a little bit more carefully at the products I use. And so for me, the first change was like, I'm going to stop using perfume, right? Like that's a very easy fix. And then, you know, over time, I increasingly like phased out the products that had fragrance in them, phased in cleaner products. So you can either avoid fragrance entirely, or you can look for products that say on the label that their fragrance is phthalate free.

By the way, phthalates are used in other products even if they don't have fragrance. Nail polish, lipstick, eyeshadow, foundation, blush, the list goes on. So you can look for phthalate free versions of those products too. Again, the FDA hasn't banned phthalates. It says on its website, at the present time the agency, quote, does not have evidence that phthalates as as used in cosmetics, pose a safety risk. On that note, you should also know, we're exposed to phthalates in a lot of other ways, like when we eat and drink from plastic containers and use plastic toothbrushes, for instance,

though you can find ones that are labeled phthalate-free. Okay, next up, takeaway three, let's go over some other ingredients of concern. A big one is formaldehyde. If you've ever done chemical hair straightening or smoothing at home or at a salon, like a Brazilian blowout service, you've likely been exposed to formaldehyde gas. It is a known carcinogen, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and it's released when these products are heated during the straightening process.

Formaldehyde gas can cause other health problems too, from short-term lung irritation and eye irritation to headaches, dizziness, and asthma with repeat exposures. The Environmental Working Group filed a petition with the FDA in 2021 to get the agency to ban formaldehyde and hair straightening ingredients. The FDA has indicated that they are going to ban formaldehyde, but we haven't seen a proposed rule. We don't know if and when that's coming out, but those are products to avoid. The FDA told us they are planning to propose a rule on this, but it's still in process.

Another common chemical of concern is 1,4-dioxane. According to the FDA, this is a contaminant that can show up in trace amounts in some cosmetics. It's a byproduct of the manufacturing process. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identifies it as a potential carcinogen, and the Environmental Protection Agency calls it a likely human carcinogen based on animal studies. The FDA says 1,4-dioxane may be present in ingredients that contain the prefix, word, or syllables PEG, polyethylene, polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, F, or oxynol. But the agency also notes that according to some analyses, the amount contained in cosmetics

is likely too low to cause health problems. So again, this is up to you. Okay, the last ingredient of concern I'm gonna mention are parabens. Parabens are synthetic anti-microbial chemicals added to cosmetics because they act as a preservative, which allows companies to keep products on shelves and for you to keep them in your makeup drawer longer.

Increasingly, evidence from both the toxicological studies, so those are the ones in animal models, and then also studies in humans, shows that they interfere with hormone levels in our bodies. Our hormone levels are very tightly regulated, and so they can be disrupted pretty easily by external things like parabens coming into our system. There have been some links between parabens and poor reproductive health. And researchers are also looking into a potential link between parabens and breast cancer, but

the evidence is limited. So Emily says the research isn't quite settled when it comes to parabens, because there just haven't been enough studies yet. I don't think we have a slam dunk yet with parabens. I think the jury's still out a little bit on, you know, what are the health outcomes that they may be causing. But I would say there's enough evidence to, you know, at least make you think twice before you put something that says parabens on the label on your body.

You can find out if a personal care product has parabens by looking at the label. There are a variety of different parabens, but they almost all have parabens in the name. And you can also look for products that say paraben-free. The unfortunate reality here is companies might be replacing parabens with other preservatives that could ultimately prove harmful. They just haven't been studied widely yet. But Adana Yiannos at Columbia University says given the current data... I do think that searching for products that are paraben free would be a good idea. Because at least we have data on parabens and their activities and their potential for adverse

health. All right, takeaway four. It's time for our personal care product audit. Look in your medicine cabinet, in your shower, on your makeup table, and see what you have. Emily's team did a study a few years ago where they asked people to walk through their beauty routine. What products did they use every day? You know, did you use shampoo today?

Which shampoo was it? Did you use floss? What floss was it? And in our study, we found that the average woman used about 19 products every day and average man used about seven. You can even see things like people who use perfume have higher levels of the phthalates that are often found in perfume than people who don't use perfumes. Another finding across many studies is that black women had higher levels of phthalates

in their bodies than white women. Researchers have also found that personal care products marketed to black women, like hair relaxers and skin lightening creams, are more likely to contain harmful chemicals than other products. And researchers have evidence of negative health outcomes linked to these differences. This was a pretty big project with lots of authors looking across like many studies within the US. The study looked at phthalates in personal care products and food packaging. So black women are much more likely to deliver preterm. We know that they have higher levels of phthalates in their bodies and so we were kind of trying to connect the dots between all of those factors to say like if we were able to lower black women's phthalate exposure

to that of white women, would we see a reduction in preterm births? And so we did kind of like some mathematical modeling to estimate that and it showed that indeed we would reduce the number of preterm births if we could do something like that. So back to how many products we use every day. Remember that each of them might contain dozens of chemicals, and those exposures can add up. That survey Emily's team did, she took it too, and she found that she used an above average number of personal care products.

So she started asking herself some questions. You know, I took a hard look at like, why am I putting so many products on my body every day, and are these all really things that I need to kind of make me feel my best? Some of this is just good marketing, right? Companies make us think we need their products, that they'll make our lives better or happier.

I think a lot of it has to do with society, media, pressure to look a certain way, to conform to certain beauty ideals. Earlier in my career, and also when I was growing up, I was told that I should put on some makeup to look more polished, presentable, professional. The same thing happens with hair, especially for black women.

If they wear their natural hair, they may be called unprofessional. And Adana says, even if an employer isn't discriminating against you for these things, the people in your life, your coworkers, dates, family members, they'll often show you their preferences. Maybe they're not telling you, oh, you need to straighten your hair or you need to wear more makeup, but it's their reactions to you when you present yourself a certain way.

So let's take a moment to acknowledge that a lot of us use personal care products to fit in, to be taken seriously, to survive. There's no shame in that. And Melanie says it doesn't feel fair that this is so hard to navigate. These are products that we use every day, and these are products that we put on our kids every day. And I think consumers deserve to have the peace of mind

that they know that they're safe and that there is a government regulator that's looking out for them. All right, so takeaway five is to cut down on the number of products you use and make smart swaps. We have our list of products. Emily says, now we can ask. What do you actually need

and what's sort of essential in your routine and what are the extras that kind of maybe you don't need and you could scale back. Adana says keep in mind this is a long game. Yeah I think it's really hard for people to just cold turkey give up all the products that they love if they found out that they were more toxic than they would have liked. Especially if a product is a central part of your routine or if it's the one thing you know makes your hair look amazing.

It's much more sustainable to do it slowly. You can select one product, the product that you can't live without, and find out if that product is sort of nontoxic or if it's really toxic. And if you have to find an alternative, like a safer, less toxic product. You can also make swaps as you finish a product. Let's say you run out of your shampoo and you're curious about,

might there be something out there that maybe has a safer ingredient list? Go onto the apps, go onto the apps, go onto the websites, identify a safer shampoo, and then swap out the one that you just finished for one that's maybe a little bit safer and go from there. The apps and websites she's talking about allow you to run names or product barcodes through them, and then they'll give you a safety rating. The environmental working group has a free one called Skin Deep, another is called Yucca, and Melanie Benish says

EWG also gives products that it vets and approves a verified seal. Those products have really been vetted by our experts and they meet our safety criteria. They don't include any of our ingredients of concern and they have good preservatives in them to make sure that they won't spoil. As you look for safer alternatives, some things to keep in mind. Just because a product label says green or all-natural doesn't mean it's safe. I think like as the industry has realized there's like a lot of kind of consumer appetite for things that are safer, there's also been this like green washing movement of like trying to suggest that every product is cleaner and better and safer and I think there are probably a lot of false claims out there right now. Also consider

alternatives with ingredients that you could eat. You know I'm Trinidadian so the way my granny would use natural products I think that's great if we could get back to that. There are many natural products that could accomplish the same purpose as many of the products that we're buying. Coconut oil and shea butter can be great for moisturizing, and you can often find those at the grocery store. Also, sometimes local farmers will make lip glosses or skincare products. There's a papaya face wash that I get in Puerto Rico that's made with all natural ingredients grown locally. Sometimes you can find stuff like this at the farmers market.

I mean, we can do the same thing with, like, deep conditioners for our hair, right? Like, all the natural things, avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, like these are things that are healthy. We're not telling you that you have to always avoid synthetic chemicals. Some of them work really well and they're not known to cause health problems. That's like I think one of the real challenges with this area is that, you know, right now all of the burden is sort of on the consumer to try to navigate like all of these chemicals, many of which have very long and complicated names. You know, wouldn't it be nice if we

had a scenario where there was more regulation so that it's not up to us to figure out what we think is safe and what isn't, but it just wasn't put on the shelves if there was like potentially a risk to our health. All right, it's time for a recap. Takeaway one, the safety of some cosmetic ingredients is still being debated, and it takes the FDA a long time to ban ingredients. So it's up to us to learn about the products we're using and make these choices. Takeaways two and three, learn about the current ingredients of concern, including fragrance, which often includes phthalates. Phthalates can also be present in other products. There's also formaldehyde, 1,4-dioxane, and parabens. Takeaway four, do

a personal care product audit. Look in your medicine cabinet, in your shower, or on your makeup table and see what you have. And then takeaway five, cut down on the number of products you use and make some smart swaps. Remember, this isn't about being perfect. It's about making healthier choices. And a lot of this is going to be personal. It's about what risks you're willing to take and which products are the most important to you. For more Life Kit, check out our other episodes. We have one on breast cancer detection and another on personal hygiene. You can find those at npr.org slash LifeKit. And if you love LifeKit and want more, subscribe to our newsletter at npr.org slash LifeKit

newsletter. Also, we love hearing from you, so if you have episode ideas or feedback you want to share, email us at lifekit at npr.org. This episode of LifeKit was produced by Claire Marie Schneider. Our visuals editor is Beck Harlin, and our digital editor is Malika Grieb. Meghan Kane is our supervising editor, and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagel, Margaret Serino, Sam Yellow Horse Kessler, and Sylvie Douglas.

Engineering support comes from Arthur Laurent and Neil Rouch. Special thanks to Carmel Roth. I'm Ariel Cigarra. Thanks for listening. This is Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. You'll see your favorite actors, directors, and comedians on late-night TV shows or YouTube, but what you get with Fresh Air is a deep dive. Spend some quality time with people like Billie Eilish, Questlove, Ariana Grande, Stephen Colbert, and so many more. We ask questions you won't hear asked anywhere else. Listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHYY. Shortwave thinks of science as an invisible force showing up in your everyday life. Powering the food you eat, the medicine you use, the tech in your pocket. Science is approachable because it's already part of your life.

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