US Government and FDA Regulatory Compliance Contributions

Toxic consumables are inescapable and the public is exposed to harmful chemicals every day. Toxic consumables are chemicals such as lead, phthalates, and pesticides that enter the body through inhalation or skin exposure. Concerned consumers desire to know how these chemicals enter everyday products, and more importantly who is responsible for their entry into product formulations. Not only do large cosmetic industries have the authority to control what chemicals are used to formulate products, but these companies also determine the safety standard that suits the company. With no input from the U.S. government or the Food and Drug Administration(FDA), companies have begun to follow self-applied rules and regulations at the expense of human health. Furthermore, the U.S. government’s failure to set regulations regarding chemical use puts every consumer who buys company products in harm's way. The U.S. government must enforce companies to be transparent with consumers so steps towards safer well-being of the public can be taken through governmentally testing products and setting regulations to the level of chemicals allowed to be used. The policies of personal care products set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may be viewed as racist considering the lack of action being taken to reduce the substantially negative health detriments regarding individuals of color.

The constant consumption and exposure of toxicants result in negative physical and biochemical effects on the human body. Being able to understand how dangerous toxicants are and how easily chemicals enter the body is extremely important considering, “In recent years, researchers had found plenty of other toxic surprises lurking in the baby shampoo, men’s cologne, and various tubes of expensive makeup”. Consumers buying store products trust the U.S. government and FDA when it is stated the products in stores are safe to use, even though a majority of the products have gone untested. Jon Whelan, director of STINK! adds to the conversation when he states in his film that “Chemicals used to manufacture many of the products that we use every day are never tested to find out if they’re harmful”. Along with the fact that the FDA “does not have the authority to require companies to safety test products before they go on the market and cannot even recall defective or possibly harmful cosmetics”. Moreover, a group referred to as the Cosmetic Ingredient Review(CIR) panel tests company products and is funded by cosmetic companies which results in biased views as the company funds the members on the panel. However, the CIR lacks authority over the actions of the company since “the industry gets to police itself…the CIR didn’t have the experience or expertise to evaluate risks to the reproductive system of chronic exposure to phthalates over time”. To support this statement, Jane Houlihan adds that the CIR lacks authority over companies by voicing that “some brands were using ingredients in ways the industry's own safety panel said were unsafe, or were using ingredients for which they didn’t have enough data to know if the uses were safe”. If the CIR’s only purpose is to test company products but is unable to manage chemical use, why has the U.S. government or the FDA not stepped in to enforce regulations themselves?

The U.S. government has taken no action to help protect the health and safety of the public; unlike the European Union. Jane Houlihan highlights how oblivious the U.S. government is to the company’s use of chemicals, claiming that “Nobody knew, because nobody was looking. Nobody had tested nail salon workers to see if they had high levels of DBP in their bodies...Nobody was looking for patterns of disease among nail salon workers or their babies”. There are major loopholes within the relationship between cosmetic industries and the government. As the government neglects to engage in the fact that companies infuse their products with chemicals, and instead of taking action the government simply looks the other way. Consumers should be very worried when buying products from store shelves.

The need for more beauty products continues to increase due to beauty standards established by societies which result in alterations of physical and emotional health. The demographics most impacted by these measures include women of color due to racist societal standards of beauty. Women of color are at a higher risk of extreme exposure to toxic chemicals through daily used cosmetics when compared to white women because women of color tend to “on average purchase nine times more beauty products than white women — the potential harm of these toxic ingredients is multiplied”. In reality, the unrealistic images of perfection displaying the ideal light-skinned woman with straight hair and a slim figure have led women of color to put their health in danger to meet these standards. As stated by health and science reporter, Katherine Foley, “Any adverse health effects are likely to fall disproportionately on women of color, who tend to buy more cosmetics like makeup, lotions, and hair serums than white women—largely because of the societal standards that shame women who fall outside of the European ideal”. Due to unfair and unreasonably established principles, women of color are tormenting their bodies and health to be seen as beautiful in the eyes of society. For example, several of the products that women of color use daily that are not marketed to white women are known to contain higher amounts of harmful chemicals and hormone disruptors such as phthalates and parabens. Moreover, the high levels of hormone disruptors and harmful chemicals found within specific products solely used by women of color “have been linked to reproductive disorders, such as fibroids and early onset puberty — disorders where racial and ethnic disparities are notable”. Mercury is one specific ingredient that can be found in products known to lighten skin tone and complexion. The FDA has a set regulation that only 1ppm is an acceptable amount to be used in cosmetics; yet, two jars of face cream provided to a pregnant woman of color contained 21,000 ppm and 30,000 ppm of mercury. Why has the FDA taken no actions to expose or confront this extreme issue when the effects of mercury exposure have the potential to result in “speech, hearing, and walking problems To make matters worse, it’s not easy to tell if a product contains mercury, because many are imported from countries with different regulations”. The US Food and Drug Administration’s policy on personal care products exhibits examples of racist policies in the sense that the FDA is not required to approve commercial products that continue to harm certain demographics of individuals.

Companies lack a sense of transparency with the public when it comes to product ingredients. In other words, when companies invest in cheaper products by using more harmful ingredients, the public is unable to make educated decisions to buy safe products. The use of the term “fragrance” is how industries keep formula ingredients a secret from consumers by referring to them as their trademark. To further explain the issue of company secrecy, Michelle Hammond, a mother, stated that “It felt impossible...So many products contain PBDEs, unlabeled and in unknown amounts - foam furniture, electronics, rugs, even clothing”. She also asserts that “most consumer products are unregulated in the US, so manufacturers are allowed to use hazardous chemicals without demonstrating the safety of the products and without labeling products as toxic”. In making this comment regarding the secrecy of companies, the public must begin to understand and be aware of what chemicals are being put in or on your body. Even if physical irritations are not immediately present, no one truly knows what biochemical changes these chemicals are disrupting inside your body.

Spreading awareness about the use of toxicants by large industries serves great importance due to the lack of regulations set by the U.S. government and FDA. As of right now, the status of public safety seems irrelevant to the government and FDA considering a majority of products are not tested before being placed on store shelves. The U.S. government needs to take responsibility and control over the actions of reckless companies looking to make profits by setting regulations regarding the levels of chemicals used, as well as ending terms such as fragrance. The negligence of the FDA’s lack of acknowledgment exhibits racist policies considering companies have the right to refuse the disclosure of used ingredients. Negligence puts the lives of consumers at risk, especially consumers of color who tend to use more products due to societal pressures. To conclude, the public is exposed to toxic consumables on a daily basis and the U.S. government must set measures against companies to protect consumers.