ACTION ALERT

California Legislation:

AB 2012 Cosmetics: Cancer and Reproductive Toxicity
Status: Senate Appropriations Committee (Passed the Assembly on April 29, 2004)

By: Zulema Laurent

This legislation, authored by Assemblymember Judy Chu (D Monterey Park), would prohibit the manufacturing, processing, or distributing in the state of California of a cosmetic or personal care product identified as containing cancer-causing chemicals such as phthalates.

Currently under FDA regulations, cosmetics and their ingredients are not required to undergo approval before they are sold to the public. The FDA regulates these products after they have been released into the marketplace. If, after being released, they are found to cause cancer, the FDA would then recall these products.

AB 2012 would require manufacturers to disclose of ingredients before they are released into the marketplace enforcing this ban on cancer-causing ingredients. Ingredients such as phthalates damage the development and cause malformations of the male reproductive organ and are linked to premature births, birth defects, and DNA damage and reduced quality in human sperm. Such ingredients are suspected to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity that can harm both the mother and her offspring while pregnant.

Affected products would include skin moisturizers, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail polish, eye and facial makeup preparation, shampoo, permanent wave, hair color, toothpaste, deodorant, and all other products that can be applied to the human body.

For more information, please visit the following websites:

www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org
www.safecosmetics.org (national campaign)
www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep (Environmental Working Group report on cosmetics)
http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/envirocaliftoxics.asp?id2=13673 (Growing up Toxic, report on chemical exposures and developmental disease).

This bill has already passed the Assembly. The sponsors are actively reaching out to members of the Senate to gain their support. If you are in support of this bill, you can:

1. Obtain endorsements for the bill from organizations in the community;

2. Meet with your state legislators, especially those who are members of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and
3. Ask your Senator to become a co-author of the bill. If you do not know your Senator, please go to www.leginfo.gov.

STAND UP, SPEAK UP and ACT UP!