The Oprah Winfrey Show
Oprah's Best Life Series
Harpo Films
For One More Day
The Great Debaters
O, The Oprah Magazine
Subscribe Today
Oprah Radio
Oprah's Angel Network
Oprah's Book Club
While the cosmetic industry does not deny the presence of some chemicals with a harmful profile, they maintain that in the levels found in most personal care products there is no evidence of either long- or short-term harm.
Environmentalists contend that poison, even in tiny amounts, is poison we don't need to consume. And globally, a big victory came for this point of view in 2004. That's when the European Union banned the use of all chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, mutations, or birth defects in cosmetic or personal care formulations sold in those countries.
Though the U.S. has not instituted such a ban, an environmental-based initiative is hoping to fill in the gap. The Compact for Safe Cosmetics gives companies the opportunity to make a voluntary pledge to follow the European Union's lead by eliminating these same key chemicals in their products.
Some 600 companies have signed the pledge, including such major companies as Belli Cosmetics, Motherlove, Burt's Bees, Aubrey Organics, and Afterglow Cosmetics.
