EU: Pregnant women warned off make-up

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Pregnant women warned off make-up.

By Shields

London Independent Nov 30, 2008

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/pregnan\

t-women-warned-off-makeup-1041649.html

Spare a thought for the mum-to-be: no booze; no fags; no pâté; no fancy

cheese; no eggs; and, probably, a wild craving for coal. Now pregnant

woman have been told they have to make do without beauty products.

Growing concerns over the exposure of pregnant women to chemicals that

may lead to birth defects have prompted calls for a new EU-wide

cosmetics labelling system which would mark out some products as

off-limits to mothers-to-be.

The move follows the publication of a study which found that women

exposed to high levels of hairspray during pregnancy were twice as

likely to have babies born with hypospadias, a condition in which the

urinary tract grows on the underside of the penis. The Imperial College

London study suggested that the birth defects were linked to chemicals

in hairspray shown to disrupt the hormonal systems in the body and

affect reproductive development.

Fears over the effects of chemicals such as parabens, commonly used in

cosmetics as a preservative, and phthalates, used in hairspray, have led

to calls for closer monitoring of cosmetics. High levels of phthalates,

also used to soften plastics such as PVC, have been found to affect

hormone levels, while parabens have been the subject of concern since

2004, when a study claimed to have detected parabens from deodorants in

cancerous breast tissue.

The French health minister Roselyne Bachelot sparked debate last week by

announcing that the French health authorities were considering a

labelling system for cosmetics that would indicate whether or not

products were safe for pregnant women. But the UK government said that

the EU should address the issue as a whole, adding it to a range of

changes currently being made to the European Cosmetics Directive.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory

Reform (BERR) said: " BERR does not think this is something which is

suitable for individual countries to take forward unilaterally and hope

that the French raise this during the current negotiations on the

revision of the cosmetics directive, where a discussion can take place

among experts on cosmetic products " .

A 2007 study claimed British women absorb an average of 5lb of cosmetics

a year through their skin and mouths.

Scientists last night backed a labelling scheme. " Labels enable people

to make informed choices. In the vulnerable period of pregnancy, it

makes sense for people to reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals, "

said Professor Elliott, who led the Imperial College study. " It is

part of a broader discussion about minimising chemical exposure in early

pregnancy. "

The Royal College of General Practitioners is advising women to consider

which products they use. " Women who are planning to conceive or who are

in the first three months of pregnancy should look at what they are

using, " said Professor Steve Field, chairman of the RCGP. " The cosmetics

industry needs to look at this and clearly label their products.

Anything like this raises concerns, " he added, " but I don't think people

should panic. "

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