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Like Minded

Resources

Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) was established in 1976 by the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Fragrance Association (CTFA) with support of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the Consumer Federation of America. Although funded by CTFA, CIR and the review process are independent from CTFA and the cosmetics industry. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review thoroughly reviews and assesses the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics in an open, unbiased, and expert manner, and publishes the results in the open, peer-reviewed scientific literature.

The CancerSmart Consumer Guide
Updated in 2007, The CancerSmart Consumer Guide has already been through numerous printings with its new expanded edition. LEAS' acclaimed publication adds 12 new pages, extending our leading edge research on household cleaners and pesticides to personal care products, plastics and more. A full 36 pages, the new Guide offers a wealth of information on carcinogens, reproductive toxins and endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are found in brand name household cleaning products, personal care products, plastics, pesticides and home maintenance products. It offers practical strategies for eliminating toxins and suggested alternatives and product substitutes.

The Green Guide
The Green Guide is a resource for men and women, from young adults to grandparents, striving for a healthy and "greener" lifestyle. It is our collective vision that The Green Guide will be the go-to source of information about practical everyday, environmentally responsible and health-minded product choices and actions. With The Green Guide and thegreenguide.com, we are committed to providing information on a wide variety of environmental and health topics and to make them personally relevant. The editorial staff diligently seeks the facts and reports them, providing thorough and honest coverage of the issues and the solutions, and upholding the highest professional standards.

As part of its ongoing mission to inspire people to care about the planet, National Geographic Society acquired the Green Guide in March 2007, dubbed the "green living source for today's conscious consumer".

The Guide to Less Toxic Products
The Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia (EHANS) has produced this Guide to Less Toxic Products to assist people who want to decrease their exposure to harmful substances in their daily life. Everyone can benefit from using less toxic products. For people with chemical sensitivities, allergies, asthma and other diseases who become ill when exposed to ingredients in many conventional products, finding less toxic products is a necessity. But as studies continue to reveal startling information on long term health hazards associated with commonly used chemicals, including cancers and reproductive problems, more people are looking for less toxic products as a healthy lifestyle choice.

Skin Deep is an searchable database that features personal care products brand-by-brand safety rankings and in-depth information on over 14,000 shampoos, lotions, deodorants, sunscreens and other products from almost 1,000 brands and the 7,093 ingredients that form them. Consumers can create customized product lists for their personalized safety needs (products free of carcinogens and fragrance, for instance). Campaign for Safe Cosmetics partner, Environmental Working Group, designed this service to help fill safety gaps left by an industry that has publicly assessed only 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients the government has documented in personal care products. Find out what's known about the potential health risks from the personal care products you use everyday and learn about safer options.

Toxic Nation: A Report on Pollution in Canadians
The groundbreaking report is the first in Canada to test for a broad range of chemicals in average Canadians from across the country, and it demonstrates that toxic chemicals contaminate people no matter where they live, how old they are or what they do for a living. The results reveals that toxic chemicals, such as DDT, PCBs, stain repellants, flame retardants, mercury and lead, are contaminating Canadians. Many of the chemicals discovered in the bodies of Canadians are associated with cancer, hormone disruption, reproductive disorders, respiratory illnesses and harming the development of children.

Women and their Toxic World is the first publication written in 2006 for and by women on the issue of chemicals in every day life and alternative ways to protect themselves and their families from hazardous chemicals in every day consumer products. It examines how women’s lives and that of future generations in Europe are threatened by hazardous chemicals, why strong policies such as REACH are needed to end this threat and what women can do to protect themselves. The foreword of the publication was written by MEP Hiltrud Breyer and was published by Women in Europe for a Common Future, an international network of organizations and individuals working for sustainable development, protection of human health and environment and poverty reduction.

Articles

Chemical Fact Sheet on Parabens by the Breast Cancer Fund. The international research community is beginning to question the safety of parabens in consumer products, based on new evidence of their endocrine disrupting effects.

Toxic Baby Bottles - Scientific study finds leaching chemicals in clear plastic baby bottles, 2007. Products marketed for infants and children are not always completely safe for their use. Many contain toxic chemicals that may have detrimental health impacts for children exposed during critical stages of development.

Organizations

Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment (CPCHE)
The Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment (CPCHE) is an affiliation of groups with overlapping missions to improve children's environmental health in Canada. Working across traditional boundaries, CPCHE provides common ground for organizations working to protect children's health from environmental contaminants. The partnership aims to: move children's environmental health issues into the minds of decision-makers both on the front lines and at the policy level; promote children's environmental health amongst caregivers and the public; coordinate activities and create efficiencies amongst the partners.

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics - The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, women, environmental and consumer groups. "Our goal is to protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems and replace them with safer alternatives."

Canadian Cancer Society - Cancer and the Environment This section of Canadian Cancer Society website provides detailed information about exposure to cancer-causing substances in the environment. Specifically for use to understand the links between cancer and the environment, to provide information on what you can do to help reduce exposure and to inform of the work they are doing in this area.

The Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CCTFA) is the leading Canadian trade association for the personal care products industry. One of the Association's primary goals is to establish and maintain an optimum business environment that promotes Canadian industry's global competitiveness through smart regulation. CCTFA members are at the forefront of a $5.4 billion (retail) industry in Canada . With over 175 member companies, CCTFA acts as the principal voice of the personal care products industry by maintaining a constant dialogue with government regulators to ensure the development and effective representation of industry positions on all regulatory matters. Since 1928, CCTFA has been dedicated to serving the needs of both the consumer and industry. Financed primarily through dues from member companies, CCTFA's activities benefit the entire Canadian industry and consumers.

The US counterpart of the CCTFA is the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA), which provides a range of services that support the personal care products industry's needs and interests in the scientific, legal, regulatory, legislative, and international fields. One of these services is the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel (CIR), a program it helped establish in 1976 which assesses the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics in an unbiased, independent forum with an expert panel comprised of world-renowned physicians and scientists.

The Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) is a diverse network of over 2700 individual and organizational Partners in 42 countries and 48 states, working collectively to advance knowledge and effective action to address growing concerns about the links between human health and environmental factors. CHE Partners share the conviction that under conditions of scientific uncertainty, when evidence of the potential for harm to human health and the environment is scientifically compelling, precautionary measures that emphasize exposure prevention should be undertaken. “The Women’s Health and Environment working group of the CHE has an excellent website that includes a tool kit for action and practical resources.”

Environmental Defense (Toronto, ON) "Environmental Defense protects the environment and human health. We research. We educate. We go to court when we have to. All in order to ensure clean air, safe food and thriving ecosystems. Nationwide". Environmental Defense improves and safeguards human health by reducing exposure to complex toxic contaminants and pollutants that every day our bodies absorb. They target key sources: industrial emissions into air, water and land; agricultural practices that increase toxics in food; and everyday products that contain harmful chemicals.

Environmental Working Group (Washington, DC) Environmental investigations have been the focus of the Environmental Working Group since 1993. Their team of scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and computer programmers pore over government data, legal documents, scientific studies and their own laboratory tests to expose threats to health and the environment, and to find solutions. "Our research brings to light unsettling facts that you have a right to know. It shames and shakes up polluters and their lobbyists. It rattles politicians and shapes policy. It persuades bureaucracies to rethink science and strengthen regulation. It provides practical information you can use to protect your family and community." EWG supports the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia EHANS is a non-profit volunteer-run organization established in 1985. EHANS operates throughout Nova Scotia, and welcomes members from any part of Canada, or elsewhere. EHANS provides information and support to people already ill from environmental causes and promotes healthier alternatives to prevent others from becoming ill. EHAN publishes The Guide to Less Toxic Products.

Labour Environmental Alliance Society (Vancouver, BC) works to create alliances and initiatives that promote healthy workplaces, healthy homes and communities and a healthy environment. LEAS embraces the principles of environmental sustainability and social justice. Its goals include: Developing innovative, action-oriented research that reveals the links between human health and ecological health; Actively informing and educating the public in the key areas of toxics use reduction, cancer prevention and environmental pollution prevention; Promoting the public's right to know about toxins in their workplaces, homes and communities; Advocating that workers and communities should be partners in the development of policies aimed at achieving a more sustainable, green economy; Developing and promoting policy and legislative best practices in the areas of toxics use reduction, cancer prevention and pollution prevention. LEAS publishes The CancerSmart Consumer Guide.

Government of Canada

List of Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetic Ingredients (The Cosmetic Ingredient "Hotlist") - This March 2007 Cosmetic Ingredient "Hotlist" replaces the May 2005 version. View the changes made.

Canada's New Chemical Management Plan - Nov '06 - Canada's new Chemicals Management Plan takes immediate action to regulate chemicals that are harmful to human health or the environment.

Mandatory Ingredient Labeling for Cosmetics - Nov '06 - The Regulations require mandatory ingredient labelling on all cosmetic products sold in Canada. Along with other changes to the Cosmetic Regulations, the protection of the health and safety of the Canadian public with regard to the use of cosmetic products will be strengthened. Companies selling cosmetic products in Canada will have to be in compliance with all the new requirements.

Natural Health Products Regulations - Health Canada ensures that all Canadians have ready access to natural health products that are safe, effective and of high quality, while respecting freedom of choice and philosophical and cultural diversity.

Health Canada is collaborating with Statistics Canada in the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) to measure human levels of environmental chemicals in a sample that represents the overall Canadian population- The CHMS is a national survey to be carried out by Statistics Canada that will collect information from Canadians about their general health. Through personal interviews and the collection of physical measurements, the survey will provide benchmark data on indicators of environmental exposures, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, fitness, and nutritional status, as well as risk factors and protective characteristics related to these areas. The physical measurements will include such factors as height and weight, blood pressure, physical fitness and lung function measures, as well as many measures based on blood and urine samples including environmental chemicals.