I guess not much introduction needs to be made here, asbestos and heavy metals are a big NO-NO. Just remember how much fuss was made about removing asbestos from our houses! Some of you have maybe even experienced a group of workers in special suits trying to remove it very carefully from our roofs and walls.

I guess we would not expect to have them in something we are directly putting on our skin?!

Let us go back and look at a court case from 2018, where Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was accused of selling baby powder that contained asbestos. The company was sued by 22 women who claimed that they developed ovarian cancer after using their talc-based baby powder.

J&J insisted that their product is safe, however, due to an examination of their internal documents done by Reuters (a news agency), it has been revealed that J&J was aware that their products are contaminated with asbestos and kept the information from the public. So there it goes, we can’t even trust beauty brands for kids!

Even though the company was sued on this matter several times, the evidence in this case was finally conclusive and the company was ordered to pay $4.69 billion in compensation to the affected women [1]. Here is to hoping J&J and other beauty companies have learned from this.

In the EU, asbestos and heavy metals like mercury and lead are banned in cosmetics.

There are laws but these are not always met. Traces of asbestos can find their way in our cosmetics through talcum powder (as we have seen from the court case) – Talc is added to cosmetics to create a silky feel and absorb moisture.

These are a few examples of cosmetics that may contain talc: lipstick, mascara, face powder, blush, eye shadow, foundation and even children play-make-up. This means that even if heavy metals or asbestos are banned from cosmetics, small traces of these harmful substances can be found in them and unfortunately these “small traces” are not regulated, as stated in CE 1223/2009 Regulation, Article 17. I guess we just can’t win can we?

For example, a recent research in the German and Spanish market, was looking at levels of heavy metals in kajal-based eye cosmetics. Heavy metals, such as lead and arsenic, were found in more than half of the products tested [2].

Another metal that has a story on its own and is definitely worth mentioning is Aluminum. Some of you may even remember the big media ‘scandal’ about aluminum and the following “free from aluminum” label shining at us from all over the beauty care store.

If you see such a label on a deodorant, remember that this is just a marketing strategy, as deodorants didn’t contain aluminum in the first place. Mind blown? So am I. Aluminum salts are used only in antiperspirants because they function as pore blockers- simply said, they block the sweat pores and do not allow any sweat to come out.

In many articles on the internet, we are warned about aluminum because it may cause breast cancer. This has, however, never been directly proven by scientific research.

During a study done in 2017, it was concluded that persistent use of underarm cosmetic products may be correlated to absorbed concentration of aluminum in breast tissue, however the causation to breast cancer was not proven.

The authors, nonetheless, recommend that young women should take caution when using underarm cosmetic products and should try to stay away from their excessive and frequent use due to the possibly increased risk of breast cancer [3].

Another reason why to stay cautious is the neurotoxicity of aluminum. Aluminum and its salts can cause damage to our nervous system.

While the neurotoxicity of aluminum has been shown in human tissue and cells, it is still very difficult to understand how this neurotoxin affects human health. There is a growing concern that accumulation of aluminum in the brain leads to diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease [4].

GS tip: I highly advise not to buy make-up for children, avoid buying make-up or play make-up at markets or ordering from cheap e-shops. If you do buy play make-up, make sure the cosmetics went through proper control and testing and it’s suitable for children, check ingredients for Talc and make sure it does not contain any. Try to minimize the use of antiperspirant, only for really necessary occasions, definitely not daily.