The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent revelation that the fluorinated “forever chemicals” known as PFAS are much more toxic than previously believed makes clear it’s beyond time to ban their use in cosmetics and other personal care products.
PFAS have been used for decades to make frying pans nonstick and carpets stain-resistant. But the PFAS coating used to make your pan nonstick is also being used to make your skin smooth and your eyes sparkle – even though we know the chemicals cause harm.
EWG has found hundreds of cosmetics and other personal care products that include PFAS. They’re added to condition the skin or make it look shiny, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Recent tests found that PFAS chemicals were most frequently detected in eye shadow, lipstick, mascara and foundation, especially those advertised as water-resistant or long lasting.
PFAS are incredibly persistent – they never break down in the environment, and many PFAS remain in our bodies for years. PFAS have been found in the blood of people around the world.
PFAS can be absorbed through the skin or ingested when used in lip products. Once they enter the body, PFAS bind to blood proteins. They have been linked to serious health harms, including cancer and harm to the reproductive and immune systems. Some studies even suggest PFAS can reduce vaccine efficacy – the last thing we need in a pandemic.
State legislatures in California and Maryland have banned some PFAS from cosmetics, and legislatures in Maine have passed a law banning non-essential uses of PFAS in products like cosmetics. But EWG’s research found 13 types of PFAS still used in hundreds of products. The most common PFAS in cosmetics is PTFE, or Teflon.
Even the cosmetics industry recognizes that there’s a problem. In a PFTE safety assessment, the sector noted the National Toxicology Program’s warning of “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity” after exposure to rats, while declining to vouch for the safety of most PFAS.
So why are PFAS still in your cosmetics?
Federal cosmetics law is badly broken – it hasn’t been updated since 1938. Cosmetics manufacturers can add almost anything to personal care products, including PFAS linked to cancer.
The good news is that’s about to change. This year, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) introduced the No PFAS in Cosmetics Act to ban all PFAS from cosmetics.
Some companies aren’t waiting for Congress to act.
For example, H&M has committed to removing PFAS from their products. Sephora and Ulta have updated their clean ingredients programs to prohibit the use of PFAS. The number of cosmetics containing PFAS has been cut in half in recent years.
Still, many large companies have yet to make the switch. Urban Decay, Maybelline New York and Anastasia still use PFAS chemicals in their products. According to the ingredients lists on their websites, Urban Decay and Anastasia use PTFE in some eyeshadow products, and Maybelline New York uses perfluorooctyl triethoxysilane in some foundation products.
A ban on PFAS in cosmetics alone will not keep us safe from PFAS. But it will help. We must also ban them from other non-essential everyday products, including food packaging. And the EPA must move more quickly to reduce industrial discharges of PFAS into the air and water and direct water utilities to remove PFAS from our drinking water.
