Section 4
Personal
care products
CANCERSMART PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS • 25
Cocamide diethanolamine
Cocamide diethanolamine, often listed as cocamide
DEA, is used in numerous products, including shampoos,
lotions and creams as a skin softener and thickener.
It is readily absorbed
through the skin.
In 1998, the National
Toxicology Program in the
U.S. published the results of
a two-year study with mice
and rats that showed liver
tumours among mice dosed
with a topical skin application
of cocamide DEA. Since
then, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s
Office of Pesticide Programs
has listed it as a substance
that is “likely to cause cancer in humans.”
The NTP study also examined diethanolamine
alone in the course of the study and reported that it
evoked “the strongest carcinogenic response” of all
the diethanolamine-based substances tested.
However diethanolamine has not yet been included
on the NTP’s carcinogens list.
Under European regulations, diethanolamine is
permitted in cosmetics only at concentrations of one
per cent or below. There are no comparable U.S. or
Canadian regulations, although the U.S. industry
advisory group, the Cosmetics Toiletry and
Fragrance Association, recommends its own limit —
which, at five per cent, is five times as high as the
EU’s.
Coal tar derivatives
Most of the hair colourings sold today are known as
permanent because they are used in conjunction with a
bleaching agent (usually hydrogen peroxide) to ensure
that the entire hair shaft is coloured. Although they are
less toxic that they were before 1980, most dark permanent
hair colourings still use coal tar derivatives as their
dye base. Coal tar is a known human carcinogen and
some of the substances derived from it that are used in
hair colourings have been linked to bladder cancer and
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
A 2001 California study published in the
International Journal of Cancer found that women who
used permanent hair dyes once a month were twice as
likely to develop bladder cancer. The study also found
that longer term use of the hair dyes increased the risk,
especially for hair dressers, who were five times as likely
to develop bladder cancer after working for 10 years
or more.
Much of the attention has been focused on two ingredients
commonly found in hair colouring products
(including products for men, such as Just for Men), paraphenylenediamine
and tetrathydro-6-nitroquinoxaline.
They have been targeted in the EU for possible regulatory
action since they have been shown to damage
genetic material. Another product for men, Grecian
Formula 16, contains lead acetate, listed under
Proposition 65 as a carcinogen and reproductive toxin.
But there may be other factors — studies in the U.S.
have suggested that the chemical reactions created by
hair colouring products, or a common contaminant
known as 4-ABP, may be having a carcinogenic effect.
Most researchers suggest avoiding dark hair dyes entirely
or choosing products made with natural ingredients.
Aveda has a line of non-coal tar based hair colourings.
Parabens
Parabens is the group name given to various preservatives
used in many cosmetic products and sunscreens.
Easily absorbed through the skin, they are endocrine
disrupters and since they can bind to estrogen receptors
in women, they could potentially affect estrogen-sensitive
functions of the body. Scientists have urged further
research into their possible role in the development of
cancer following a 2004 study by British researcher Dr.
Philippa Darbre,who found parabens in the tumours of
breast cancer patients she studied.
Parabens are identified on ingredient labels by their
individual name, such as methyl paraben, butyl paraben
and propyl paraben. Buying parabens-free products is
difficult, however, since parabens are used extensively,
even by some natural product manufacturers.
Assessing the evidence
‘In women, use of permanent and rinse-type hair dye were
associated with a modestly elevated risk of bladder cancer...
In light of the prevalence of hair dye use, further studies
are needed that address the effects of specific colors
and types of hair dyes.’
– Andrew AS, Schned AR, Heaney JA, Mott LA and Karagas MR. Bladder
Cancer Risk and Personal Hair Dye Use. International Journal of Cancer
109(4): 581-586. 2004
30 • CANCERSMART PBDES
PBDEs: invisible chemical trespass
ith the new popularity of personal
computers and smaller plastic televisions
in the 1980s, it became increasingly
important to add fire retardant
chemicals to the plastics to make them less flammable.
Enter the polybrominated fire retardants, a new class of
chemicals with potential applications in polyurethane
foam furniture, mattresses and plastic enclosures for
computers, televisions and other electronic goods. The
most common are polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(PBDEs).
Over the last 20 years, the chemicals have arguably
prevented many fires. But those benefits are now outweighed
by the toxic legacy PBDEs are leaving.
The chemicals are usually added to plastics for fire
retardancy, and because they don’t bind to the plastics,
they can migrate into the environment, either as dust
from foams and computer housings, or as leachate from
those materials after they’re dumped into landfills.
Persistent toxins
PBDEs are persistent and bioaccumulative in the
environment. They have been found in orcas in the
Pacific Northwest and in the breast milk of women
from Europe to Japan to the Pacific Northwest and the
Arctic. The levels of PBDEs in Canadian women are
among the highest in the world, second only to those in
the U.S. In most countries, the levels of PBDEs in
women’s breast milk have been doubling every five
years — with one promising exception. In Sweden,
where PBDEs have been banned since the 1990s, those
levels have begun to decline, clearly demonstrating the
benefits of regulatory action.
A growing number of experimental studies with animals
have linked PBDEs to a variety of health effects,
particularly endocrine disruption, often at levels comparable
to those found in women’s breast milk. PBDEs
may cause permanent memory and immune system
impairment and they can interfere with thyroid function,
which is key to many other functions in the body.
Because of their persistence in the environment, there is
a high risk to wildlife, including marine mammals, just
as there has been with PCBs, which have now been
banned from manufacture.
According to Ake Bergman, a Stockholm University
researcher who has studied them extensively, “we know
more about PBDEs than we knew about PCBs at the
time they were banned in the 1970s.”
Alternatives available
A variety of chemical alternatives that do not contain
bromine or chlorine are available to replace PBDEs,
along with alternative materials and manufacturing
processes.
As it has done with other potentially toxic substances,
the European Union has been the first to act to
restrict PBDEs. In August, 2004, the EU banned the
manufacture and use of two major commercial groups
of PBDEs, known as penta-BDEs and octa-BDEs. A
third group, known as deca-BDEs, which are still widely
used in electronics applications, will be targeted in
2006.
Several U.S. states, including Maine, California,
Hawaii and Washington, have also introduced bans on
PBDEs, beginning in 2006. So far, however, Canada has
declined to take action. Health Canada contends:
“There have not been any studies conclusively linking
PBDE levels in humans to any health conditions.”
PBDE-FREE PRODUCTS
Category Products
Upholstered furniture Products manufactured in Canada
Mattresses Products manufactured in Canada
Computers, peripherals Apple, Brother, Epson, IBM, Toshiba products are PBDE-free;
HP printers are PBDE-free; Dell, HP, Sony have pledged
to remove PBDEs from computers by 2006
Cell phones Ericsson, Motorola, Panasonic (including fax machines
and regular phones)
W
With the growing number of televisions
and computers in people’s
homes, the use of PBDE fire
retardants poses a higher risk, not
just to residents, but also to the
people who may be called upon to
save our lives — firefighters.
While initially retarding flame
spread, PBDE-treated plastics,
under fire conditions, actually produce
a denser, more toxic smoke
than non-treated plastic. And as
they burn, PBDEs produce highly
toxic and carcinogenic polybrominated
dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs)
and polybrominated dibenzo
furans (PBDFs), increasing the cancer
danger for firefighters.
That’s why firefighters in Maine
supported the legislation initiative
introduced last year to phase out
the use of penta- and octa-BDEs by
2006 and deca-BDEs by 2008.
Firefighters in New York also
supported legislation restricting
the use of toxic polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) pipe in the state. When PVC
burns, it produces dioxins as well
as toxic hydrogen chloride gas,
which can spread faster than
flames and can be lethal.
Firefighters already face an elevated
risk of several cancers,
including brain cancer, non-
Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia,
kidney and bladder cancer from
their exposure to toxic smoke and
combustion gases. Most provinces
have recognized the increased risk
in workers’ compensation regulations
but not in British Columbia,
where firefighters are still working
to win the right to compensation.
Wherever they are, our burning
homes are firefighters’ workplaces.
Eliminating toxins from our
homes and communities can
reduce our risk – and theirs.
Adding to
firefighters’
cancer risk
CANCERSMART PBDES • 31
Scientists urge precaution
But many scientists warn that waiting for conclusive evidence is not precautionary
and poses the risk of the same environmental disaster that finally forced
the ban on PCBs.
Because there are currently no Canadian regulations restricting the use of
PBDEs, some furniture products and many televisions and computer monitors
sold in Canada may contain PBDEs. Fortunately, Canadian manufacturers of furniture
and mattresses are not required to use fire retardant foam in their products
and most upholstered furniture and mattresses made in Canada are free of fire
retardant chemicals. However, products manufactured outside the country may
contain PBDEs or other fire retardants.
Canadian foam manufacturers had been using PBDEs in their products until
about five years ago when Swedish furniture giant IKEA made the laudable decision
to eliminate PBDEs from its products and instructed suppliers to provide
PBDE-free materials.However, manufacturers replaced PBDEs with chlorinated
phosphate esters (TCEP), another potentially toxic substance currently facing
restriction in the EU. Because upholstered foam products made for IKEA in
Canada are also shipped to the U.S., where fire retardant treatment is required,
they’re all treated with TCEP. As a result, Canadian customers at IKEA get a fire
retardant that isn’t necessary.
Steps you can take to avoid PBDEs:
• Ask stores whether the item you are considering buying contains PBDEs. It
makes retailers aware of the issue and pushes manufacturers to make the information
available
• Look for natural products in furniture cushions, such as wool or cotton fill.
Wool, for example, is naturally fire-retardant. Ensure that the upholstered furniture
you buy is made in Canada.
•When buying electronic products, such as televisions, monitors and computers,
check the list. Buy products from companies that have dropped PBDEs.
Research led by Dr. Peter Ross from the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney,
B.C. found significant levels of PBDEs in transient and resident populations of
Northwest orcas. Those levels are increasing exponentially.
JOANNE HUEMOELLER PHOTO
Revitalizing jobs and the environment through social justice
Labour Environmental
Alliance Society
1203–207 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1H7
Tel: 604-669-1921
Fax: 604-696-9627
info@leas.ca www.leas.ca
Mae Burrows, Executive Director