Members of the EDC-Free Europe campaign urge the EU to take swift and ambitious actions to ban endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in cosmetics and personal care products without delay.
Cosmetics and personal care products can contain many different substances including harmful endocrine disrupting chemicals. As some consumers can use different products on a daily basis, some of which are even re-applied throughout the day, these cosmetics can represent a significant source of our daily exposure to EDCs.
In fact, international surveys suggest that on average, women use between 12 - 16 personal care products per day [1][2]. Results of biomonitoring studies have shown evidence of EDCs frequently used in personal care products and cosmetics are found in the amniotic fluid [3], the placenta [4][5] and even breast milk [6]. The effects of these substances on human health are associated with certain types of cancer, infertility, and even affect irreversibly fetal development and puberty.
In the letter, the EDC-Free Europe coalition welcomes the commitments made in the European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability to ban endocrine disrupting chemicals in consumer products, and urges the EU to take swift and ambitious actions to ban these harmful chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products without further delay.
Read our letter to the European Commission.
[1] The European Consumer Organisation - BEUC files a complaint against the European Commission.
[2] Study on the consumption of cosmetic products by the French population.
[3] Research study on tracing endocrine disrupting compounds in human amniotic fluid.
[5] Study to determine chemicals used in UV filters in human placenta.
For more information on recent studies exposing the presence of EDCs and suspected EDCs in personal care products, check our partners’ work:
- BUND reviewed the cosmetics ingredients lists of 60.000 cosmetics products on the German-speaking market and found that 30% included potential endocrine disrupting chemicals.
- Tegengif/Erase all Toxins studied over a hundred popular personal care products in the Netherlands and found known and suspected endocrine disruptors in 60% of these products.
- Results of The Danish Consumer Council recent study on deodorants, revealed that of 61 tested deodorants, 14 contained substances that researchers and authorities suspect of being endocrine disruptive.
- The Danish Consumer Council has examined the ingredients in self-tanners, body lotions and lip balms. All tests have shown the presence of substances suspected of being endocrine disruptors.
- Danish Consumer Council developed the mobile app Kemiluppen, which showed that 35% of the cosmetic products registered, contained one or more substances that are suspected of being endocrine disruptors.
- Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) studied the ingredients listed in 71 sun creams for children, and found six ingredients which are endocrine disruptors of very high concern.
- The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and Tegengif/Erase All Toxins launched a guide on the presence of chemicals in cosmetics, and a checklist of chemicals to avoid for consumers, available in English, Dutch and French.
