After years of consumer pressure, the personal-care monolith Johnson
& Johnson finally began to phase out parabens, phthalates,
triclosan, and formaldehyde in its products in 2013. All had been found
to have serious health risks, including endocrine disruption and cancer.
This is great news, but these changes remain at the discretion of
manufacturers, which means safety standards in the United States remain
inconsistent. Consumers have to be vigilant if they want to avoid toxic
ingredients, and many simply don’t know that body-care products can
carry health risks. Greenwashing, in which products are packaged and
marketed as natural but still contain plenty of suspect ingredients,
remains a problem, largely because the term “natural” remains
unregulated for cosmetics and body-care products.
Personal-care safety legislation that defends the rights of consumers is in the works but is pending congressional approval.