Posted on April 26, 2022

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

Companies continue to legally sell personal care products with chemicals that can cause cancer and other serious health harms.

Enough is enough. Cosmetic safety reform is long overdue.

Now is your chance to join us in calling on your representatives to support the Safer Beauty Bill Package to ensure beauty and personal care products are safer for everyone.

The body of evidence continues to grow: our ongoing daily exposures to toxic chemicals lurking in our products is wreaking havoc on public health. Comprehensive cosmetic safety reform is so desperately needed, because the U.S. law that governs the $100 billion beauty and personal care industry hasn’t been significantly updated in 83 years.

The Safer Beauty Bill Package is a set of four bills soon to be introduced that will make beauty and personal care products safer by: banning toxic chemicals, making ingredient transparency the new industry standard, and reducing unsafe chemical exposures for all communities, especially women of color and salon workers, two vulnerable populations that are disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals.

The bills include:

  • The Toxic-Free Beauty Act (HR 5537) which will ban 11 of the most toxic chemicals including mercury, formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates, phenylenediamines (hair dye chemicals), and all PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
  • The Cosmetic Safety for Communities of Color and Salon Workers (HR 5540) which will create stronger protections for those who are frequently exposed to toxic chemicals because of the products being marketed to them or used in their workplaces.
  • Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Right to Know Act of 2021 (HR 5538) which will require disclosure of secret, unlabeled, and often toxic ingredients.
  • Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act (HR 5539) which will require upstream suppliers to disclose ingredients and provide safety data to cosmetic companies so they can make safer products.

Send an email to your Congressional representative urging them to support the Safer Beauty Bill Package now!

Everyone deserves access to personal care products that are free from cancer-causing chemicals, regardless of where you live, work, or shop. This historic suite of four federal bills will close gaps in cosmetic safety that impact all of us, especially women of color, salon workers, girls, and other vulnerable populations.

This action is sponsored by our trusted friends and partners at Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Black Women for Wellness, The California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, and We ACT for Environmental Justice.