three nail polish firms remove formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DBT),
Delthia Ricks, Newsday.com: Murray 2006.09.06
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1367

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsnail064879072sep06,0,1716513.story?coll=\
ny-health-print

Health/Science

Taking out the toxins:
3 manufacturers to remove chemicals from nail polish
that have been linked to cancer, birth defects
BY DELTHIA RICKS
Newsday Staff Writer September 6, 2006

Confronting the criticism of health and environmental groups,
three major nail polish manufacturers -
including one on Long Island -
say they've either removed or have begun
the process of removing a trio of substances
that have been deemed harmful.

The chemicals formaldehyde,
toluene
and dibutyl phthalate, or DBP,
have been linked to cancer and birth defects.
All were banned earlier this year in cosmetics
by European Union regulators
but have not been targeted for removal
in this country by the Food and Drug Administration.

Manufacturers, all with markets abroad,
said yesterday they have begun removing the compounds
voluntarily under pressure
from health and environmental advocacy organizations.

Executives at Del Laboratories in Uniondale,
manufacturer of Sally Hansen brand nail polish,
say their products are being reformulated
to eliminate all three substances.
The Sally Hansen brand is sold worldwide
and is the No. 1 nail polish brand sold in drugstores.

"As a concerned manufacturer of products,
we proactively respond to concerns and trends,"
said Bruce MacKay, Del Laboratories' vice president
of scientific affairs,
who insisted the products are safe.

Ann Nugent, a Del Laboratories spokeswoman,
said the reformulated nail enamels should appear
on store shelves early next year.
Orly International Inc. and OPI Products,
top salon brands with headquarters in Southern California,
say they, too, will eliminate the compounds.
Orly began the process last year and OPI started this year.

The companies had come under fire for several years
from the Breast Cancer Fund,
the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
and Women's Voices of the Earth,
among a host of other advocacy groups.

"These are products that enter into the body
in a way that is not dissimilar to the way that drugs do,"
said Jeanne Rizzo, a registered nurse
and executive director of the San Francisco-based
Breast Cancer Fund, a health advocacy organization
that supports studies on the causes of breast cancer.

She said that DBP is an endocrine disrupter,
associated with underdeveloped genitals in newborn males.
Rizzo added that the compound belongs
to a broad class of toxins
that have been linked to accelerated puberty in girls,
a factor that may be associated
with an increased risk of breast cancer.
Toluene has been linked to nervous system disorders,
and formaldehyde is a suspected carcinogen.

The FDA doesn't require the rigorous scrutiny
of cosmetics that is reserved for pharmaceuticals.

Rizzo said harmful substances have been allowed
in nail polish because the expert panel
advising the agency on cosmetics
is made up of officials from the cosmetics industry.

FDA spokeswoman Veronica Castro said the agency
could not respond to issues involving compounds
in nail polish yesterday because the expert
in the Cosmetics and Colors division was absent.

Arthur Levin, director of the Center for Medical Consumers,
a health advocacy group in Manhattan,
said the FDA is "understaffed and overworked,"
and cannot maintain appropriate vigilance over cosmetics.

Poison in the polish

Though the Food and Drug Administration
does not require that cosmetics be rigorously tested for safety,
three substances used in nail polish and treatment products
have long been linked to cancer and birth defects.

DBP Used to make nail enamel flexible and resilient.
Though allowed by the FDA,
the substance is suspected to cause estrogen imbalance.

FORMALDEHYDE Used as a preservative.
Ingredient also used in embalming.
Suspected to be a human carcinogen.

TOLUENE Helps nail polish adhere smoothly and evenly.
A solvent that is restricted in drinking water
because it can damage the nervous system, liver and kidneys.

SOURCE: DEL LABORATORIES;

BREAST CANCER FUND

News Department

Long Island newsroom (631) 843-2700
New York newsroom (212) 251-6600
Business & Technology coverage (631) 843-2800
Editor John Mancini editor@...

Editorials/Opinion

Editorial board editorials@...
Letters to the Editor letters@...
Op-ed submissions oped@...

http://www.dellabs.com/contact.htm

Corporate Headquarters
Del Laboratories, Inc.
726 Reckson Plaza
P.O. Box 9357
Uniondale, NY 11553
Phone: (516) 844-2020

Worldwide Offices
Canada
Del Laboratories Canada, Inc.
316 Bayview Drive
Barrie, Ontario L4N 4Y8
Phone: (705) 722-8788

Puerto Rico
URB Industrial Tres Monjitas
Calle Buonomo 361
Hato Rey
Puerto Rico 00918-1394
Phone: (787) 760-6015

Consumer Services Phone Numbers

(800) 952-5080 - Del Pharmaceuticals
(800) 953-5080 - Sally Hansen
(800) 954-5080 - Miss Kiss
(866) 866-219-8732 x229 - Canadian Residents


http://www.orlybeauty.com/
Orly International, Inc.
7710 Haskell Ave, Los Angeles, CA 91406 818-998-1111
http://www.orlybeauty.com/customer_care.php


http://www.opi.com/
OPI PRODUCTS INC.
13034 Saticoy Street N. Hollywood, CA 91605
818.759.2400 in CA 800.341.9999


http://www.breastcancerfund.org/

http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/pp.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=2046265

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Contacts: Marisa Walker or Kevin Donegan,
Breast Cancer Fund (415) 346-8223;
Felicia Eaves, Women’s Voices for the Earth (202) 341-9834

Nail Polishes to Become a Little Safer

OPI, Orly and Sally Hansen Brands
to Remove Ingredient Linked to Birth Defects;
Sally Hansen also to Remove Toluene and Formaldehyde

SAN FRANCISCO — Facing mounting criticism from consumers
as well as health and environmental groups,
three major nail polish manufacturers
acknowledged this week
that they have begun removing some chemicals
linked to cancer and birth defects from their products.

The three companies are OPI Products, Inc.,
Orly International, Inc.,
and Del Laboratories, Inc., which makes the Sally Hansen brand.

Leading drugstore brand Sally Hansen
said it is reformulating all its products
to remove dibutyl phthalate (DBP),
formaldehyde
and toluene.
Spokesperson Ann Nugent told the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
that the reformulation “is a big concern for us”
and that the company sees it as a “stepped-up effort.”
Nugent wasn’t yet able to say
when all reformulated products will be on store shelves.

All three chemicals are on California’s Prop. 65
list of chemicals known to cause cancer
or reproductive toxicity.
Studies have linked DBP to underdeveloped genitals
and other reproductive system problems in newborn boys.
DBP is banned from cosmetics products in the European Union
but the FDA has taken no such action in the United States.

In addition, the U.S. National Toxicology Program
says formaldehyde is “reasonably anticipated”
to be a human carcinogen.

The EPA, meanwhile, restricts toluene in drinking water
because it can cause nervous system disorders
and damage the liver and kidneys.
The FDA does not require that cosmetics products
be tested for safety before they are sold.

While the Sally Hansen brand is removing DBP,
toluene and formaldehyde,
OPI and Orly said they too would remove DBP
from their products but would continue to use toluene.
OPI still uses formaldehyde in some nail products.

Other major cosmetics multinationals, including Avon,
Estee Lauder, Revlon
and L’Oreal, which makes the Maybelline brand,
confirmed to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics last year
that they would remove DBP.
This latest shift by nail polish manufacturers
means that drugstore and mass market leader Sally Hansen
as well as salon leader OPI join those multinationals.

“We’re so pleased that these three companies
have each decided to stop using certain chemicals
that can harm our health and our children’s health,”
said Jeanne Rizzo, R.N., executive director
of the San Francisco-based Breast Cancer Fund,
a founding member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
“Reformulating to remove dangerous chemicals
is so much better than arguing about how much
of those bad chemicals is okay to use in nail polishes.”

OPI, the leading professional brand of nail polish
found in most nail salons, has been a target
of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
since a March meeting between company executives
and Campaign representatives.
In that meeting OPI refused
to remove formaldehyde, toluene and DBP from products.

Since then, OPI has been the object
of more than 75 protests organized
by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in dozens of cities,
including Boston, Chicago, Dallas,
San Francisco and Washington.
Those were quickly followed by a “Miss Treatment USA”
advertising campaign that spoofed
the brand’s quirky shade names.

In July, a dozen women dressed as “Miss Treatment USA”
beauty queens drew television news coverage
by staging a theatrical protest in Santa Monica, Calif.
News coverage about OPI’s use of toxic ingredients
and its practice of marketing safer products in Europe
than in the United States has reached consumers nationwide.

“Removing DBP is an excellent first step,
but consumers deserve products free
of all dangerous chemicals,” said Charlotte Brody, R.N.,
executive director of Commonweal.
“We will continue to press OPI
until formaldehyde and toluene are removed
from their nail polishes and nail treatments.”

Orly spokesperson Jennifer Marlowe
said that the company began removing DBP from all products
“at least a year ago”
but that “some products still contain small amounts
of toluene and formaldehyde resin, not formaldehyde.”
Formaldehyde resins are polymers
with far fewer known concerns than formaldehyde.)

Health advocates predict the removal of harmful ingredients
will prevent some adverse health affects.
“Every baby born in the next 20 years
has a little bit better chance of being born healthy
because DBP has been eliminated,” Brody said.

Brands that still use DBP in nail polish,
according to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep
database of cosmetics and body care products,
include Essie and Lippmann.

More than 400 other cosmetics and personal care product
manufacturers have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics,
a pledge to replace hazardous chemicals ingredients
with safer alternatives.

# # #

Founding members of the Campaign include
Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow,
Breast Cancer Fund,
Commonweal,
Friends of the Earth,
Women's Voices for the Earth,
Environmental Working Group,
National Black Environmental Justice Network
and the National Environmental Trust.
For more information, visit www.SafeCosmetics.org
cosmetics@...
smalkan@...
kevin@...
lauren@...
janet@...
bryony@...

© Breast Cancer Fund All Rights Reserved
www.breastcancerfund.org/
Breast Cancer Fund
1388 Sutter Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94109-5400 (415) 346-8223
info@...

SEATTLE:
P.O. Box 15145
Seattle, WA 98115
206–524-4405 pamela@...

http://www.healthytomorrow.org/
Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow
617-338-8131 fax 617-338-6449
info@...

Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow
c/o Clean Water Action
262 Washington Street Room 301
Boston, Massachusetts 02108

http://www.commonweal.org/
Commonweal
P.O. Box 316 Bolinas, CA 94924 (415) 868-0970

http://www.foe.org/
Friends of the Earth
1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 600
Washington, DC 20036-2002
Phone: (877) 843-8687 - toll free
Fax: (202) 783-0444 foe@...

www.foei.org
Friends of the Earth International
PO Box 19199
1000 GD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone 31 20 622 1369 fax 31 20 639 2181

http://www.womenandenvironment.org/
Women's Voices for the Earth
wve@...

Missoula Office
114 W. Pine St, Missoula, MT 59801 (406) 543-3747

Bozeman Office
127 W. Main St, Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 585-9009

http://www.ewg.org/
Environmental Working Group
http://www.ewg.org/contact/contact.php

Washington, DC office (Main Headquarters)
1436 U Street NW, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20009
202) 667-6982

California Office
1904 Franklin Street, Suite 703 Oakland, CA 94612
510) 444-0973

http://www.nbejn.org/
National Black Environment Justice Network
P.O. Box 15845 Washington, DC 20003
202) 265-4919 fax: (202) 326-3357 info@...

http://www.net.org/
National Environmental Trust
1200 18th St. NW, Fifth Floor Washington, DC 20036
202/887-8800 fax: 202/887-8877
Colin Delany cdelany@...

http://www.hcwh.org/
Health Care Without Harm
We are a global coalition
of 443 organizations in 52 countries
working to protect health
by reducing pollution in the health care industry.
Stacy Malkan smalkan@...
Health Care Without Harm, 510-848-5343, x105
*******************************************************


unexamined diet research cofactors: formaldehyde from tobacco and wood smoke, it
also forms from methanol in dark wines and liquors and 11% methanol part of
aspartame: Murray 2006.09.06


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1366
toxicity in rat brains from aspartame, Vences-Mejia A, Espinosa-Aguirre
JJ et al 2006 Aug: Murray 2006.09.06


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1340
aspartame groups and books: updated research review of 2004.07.16:
Murray 2006.05.11


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1341
Connecticut bans artificial sweeteners in schools, Nancy Barnes,
New Milford Times: Murray 2006.05.25

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1353
carcinogenic effect of inhaled formaldehyde, Federal Institute of Risk
Assessment, Germany -- same safe level as for Canada:
Murray 2006.06.02

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1352
Home sickness -- indoor air often worse, as our homes seal in pollutants
[one is formaldehyde, also from the 11% methanol part of aspartame],
Megan Gillis, WinnipegSun.com: Murray 2006.06.01


"Of course, everyone chooses, as a natural priority,
to actively find, quickly share, and positively act upon the facts
about healthy and safe food, drink, and environment."

Rich Murray, MA Room For All rmforall@...
505-501-2298 1943 Otowi Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
group with 75 members, 1,367 posts in a public, searchable archive
http://RMForAll.blogspot.com


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1143
methanol (formaldehyde, formic acid) disposition: Bouchard M
et al, full plain text, 2001: substantial sources are
degradation of fruit pectins, liquors, aspartame, smoke:
Murray 2005.04.02

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1349
NIH NLM ToxNet HSDB Hazardous Substances Data Bank
inadequate re aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid):
Murray 2006.08.19

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~HwoSfJ:1
HSDB Hazardous Substances Data Bank: Aspartame

ASPARTAME CASRN: 22839-47-0
METHANOL CASRN: 67-56-1
FORMALDEHYDE CASRN: 50-00-0
FORMIC ACID CASRN: 64-18-6

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1307
formaldehyde from 11% methanol part of aspartame or from red wine
causes same toxicity (hangover) harm: Murray 2006.05.24

Dark wines and liquors, as well as aspartame, provide
similar levels of methanol, above 120 mg daily, for
long-term heavy users, 2 L daily, about 6 cans.

Within hours, methanol is inevitably largely turned into formaldehyde,
and thence largely into formic acid -- the major causes of the dreaded
symptoms of "next morning" hangover.

Fully 11% of aspartame is methanol -- 1,120 mg aspartame
in 2 L diet soda, almost six 12-oz cans, gives 123 mg
methanol (wood alcohol). If 30% of the methanol is turned
into formaldehyde, the amount of formaldehyde, 37 mg,
is 18.5 times the USA EPA limit for daily formaldehyde in
drinking water, 2.0 mg in 2 L average daily drinking water.

Any unsuspected source of methanol, which the body always quickly
and largely turns into formaldehyde and then formic acid, must be
monitored, especially for high responsibility occupations, often with
night shifts, such as pilots and nuclear reactor operators.

http://www.HolisticMed.com/aspartame mgold@...
Aspartame Toxicity Information Center Mark D. Gold
12 East Side Drive #2-18 Concord, NH 03301 603-225-2100

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/abuse/methanol.html
"Scientific Abuse in Aspartame Research"
*******************************************************