Picture it – a well-known organization has launched a new perfume to raise money for breast cancer. Many people who have had a loved one battle cancer would not bat an eye at purchasing this perfume for a great cause. Come to find out, the first six ingredients of the perfume are known cancer-causing ingredients. Everyone from doctors to nurses to cancer patients themselves have fallen prey to beauty companies’ efforts to sell products or raise money for cancer or cancer research but formulate with cancer-causing ingredients or ingredients that can interfere with cancer treatment. This is an example called pinkwashing – an ode to the pink ribbon synonymous with breast cancer – and surprisingly, most of the harmful ingredients being applied every day through personal care products are completely lawful.

UNREGULATED GOODS 

The United States skin care industry is one of the least regulated industries. There is little legal protection from people putting harmful chemicals on their bodies. There are 100,000 ingredients in the beauty industry and only 10% have been checked for safety. For example, fragrance listed on a product can mean up to 100 additional chemicals, but the FDA protects the company from listing them because these ingredients are considered a “trade secret.”