Most U.S. Kids Use Doubtlessly Poisonous Beauty and Physique Merchandise

Make-up and physique merchandise have the potential to show kids to guide, asbestos, and different dangerous chemical substances.

In line with a research revealed within the peer-reviewed Worldwide Journal of Environmental Analysis and Public Well being, carried out by scientists from Columbia College Mailman Faculty of Public Well being and Earthjustice, a majority of youngsters in the USA use beauty and physique care merchandise that probably harbor carcinogens and different dangerous chemical substances.

In line with the research which analyzed over 200 surveys, 79% of oldsters reported that their kids aged 12 or youthful use beauty merchandise and physique merchandise particularly marketed in direction of children, corresponding to glitter, face paint, and lip gloss.

Prior analysis has proven that these merchandise usually have poisonous chemical substances, like lead, asbestos, PFAS, phthalates, and formaldehyde in them. Poisonous chemical substances present in kids’s make-up and physique merchandise (CMBP), like heavy metals, are particularly dangerous to infants and kids. These chemical substances, whether or not deliberately added or current as contaminants, have been linked to most cancers, neurodevelopmental hurt, and different severe and irreversible well being results.

“There may be growing proof of dangerous substances usually included in grownup cosmetics and CMBPs, and kids are extra biologically inclined to the results of toxicants,” says research co-first creator Eleanor A. Medley, who co-led the research with Kendall E. Kruchten whereas each accomplished their MPHs in environmental well being sciences at Columbia Mailman.

“On this context, you will need to uncover how make-up and physique merchandise are being utilized by kids to characterize danger and enhance security,” provides Kruchten.

In line with the Columbia and Earthjustice’s research, of the surveyed kids, about 54 % use CMBP at the least month-to-month, 12 % use CMBP each day, about 20 % use CMBP for eight hours or extra at a time, and a 3rd of them reported unintentionally ingesting the merchandise within the final 12 months. Over one-third of the surveyed kids are Latino and 65 % of these kids use CMBP. In comparison with different racial teams, Latino kids reported utilizing CMBP extra usually and extra for play.

This research comes as some states, like New York and Washington, think about tightening their client laws round toys, make-up, and private care merchandise.

“Kids are significantly susceptible to adversarial well being dangers related to chemical substances usually present in make-up and physique merchandise,” says research senior creator Julie Herbstman, Ph.D., professor of environmental well being sciences and director of the Columbia Heart for Kids’s Environmental Well being at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “In addition to dermal exposure through the skin, behavioral patterns such as hand-to-mouth activity may increase exposure to products through unintentional ingestion. Additionally, children’s small body size, rapid growth rate, developing tissues and organs, and immature immune systems make them biologically susceptible to the effects of toxicants.”

“It is alarming that industry is being allowed to sell makeup and body products marketed to children that contain extremely toxic chemicals. Findings from this study can help federal agencies better understand how children are using these products and will hopefully spur agencies to act to protect children from toxic chemical exposures,” said Earthjustice Attorney Lakendra Barajas. “Unfortunately, currently little is being done at the federal level to protect children from toxic chemicals in children’s makeup and body products.”

Reference: “Usage of Children’s Makeup and Body Products in the United States and Implications for Childhood Environmental Exposures” by Eleanor A. Medley, Kendall E. Kruchten, Miranda J. Spratlen, Maricela Ureño, Anabel Cole, Rashmi Joglekar and Julie B. Herbstman, 24 January 2023, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20032114

The study was funded by the Marisla Foundation.