Kayla Ashilla Putri Maudia

1706042636

DANGEROUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES IN COSMETICS

Some of the ingredients in beauty products aren’t that pretty. Many cosmetic chemicals
are designed to penetrate into the skin’s inner layers, and they do. U.S. researchers report that one
in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including
carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors. Imagine what it does to your
skin, and to the environment. What is commonly discussed nowadays about cosmetics are mercury
in skin creams, lead in lipstick, and parabens in cosmetic products.
First of all, we’ll talk about mercury in skin creams. Skin creams can be used as a
moisturizers and it also has a function to soften our skin. Mercury is a metallic element used as a
preservative and antiseptic known to damage brain function. According to EWG’s Skin Deep
database, it is a possible impurity in 1.9 percent of products, including lip gloss, lip liner, eye liner,
brow liner, moisturizer, mascara, baby lotion, lipstick, and eye shadow. Other than that, a FDA
investigation found imported skin creams may contain toxic levels of mercury and other heavy
metals, so it can be concluded that not all of skin creams are safe for everyday use. With
accumulations in the body over time, heavy metals can impair the brain and nervous system,
disrupt hormones, and potentially cause cancer.
As we know, teenagers and women nowadays can’t get rid of the usage of lipstick
everytime and everyday. Most of us didn’t notice what is actually contain, either it is always good
for us or it has many side effect. The rumor that some lipsticks contain lead turned out to be deadly
true when the FDA tested hundreds of lipsticks following an alert issued by the Campaign for Safe
Cosmetics. Two consecutive FDA investigations found lead in 100 percent of the lipsticks tested.
In the body, lead will either accumulate in tissues, especially bone, but also in the liver, kidneys,
pancreas, and lungs. For teenagers, it affect the central nervous system and it is not a problem that
we can ignore.
Parabens are widely used preservatives that prevent the growth of bacteria, mold and yeast
in cosmetic products. It actually has a good function if we use it properly, but if we use parabens
out of control, it does more than that. Parabens can mimic estrogen, so it is known that it plays a
role in the development of breast cancer. The European Commission on Endocrine Disruption lists
parabens as Category 1 priority substances because of evidence they interfere with hormone
function.

Sources:

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/04/10/you-have-the-right-to-know-17-chemicals-to-
avoid-in-cosmetic-and-personal-care-products/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2012/03/12/dangerous-beauty-top-5-contaminated-
beauty-products/#d7aefda699a7