August 1, 2006

Ottawa to review cosmetic chemicals banned by EU

Carly Weeks

CanWest News Service
Saskatoon Star Pheonix

OTTAWA -- Health Canada has announced it will launch a review of 22 chemicals found in cosmetics in Canada that were recently banned by the European Union because they're considered unsafe to humans and may increase the risk of cancer.

Several of the chemicals are widely used in cosmetics sold in Canada, including one ingredient, Acid Orange 24, that is found in 130 cosmetics.

Canada's cosmetic industry regulates itself and Health Canada rarely preapproves products before they hit the shelves. Products or ingredients are only reviewed after a consumer complains or if another country bans them.

"We don't have a mandatory requirement for all cosmetic ingredients to be reviewed by us," said Emily Felisatti, senior regulatory offi cer in the cosmetics division at Health Canada's Consumer Product Safety Bureau. "It's a self-regulated industry for the most part." But that system is far too slack and means the federal government isn't doing enough to protect citizens from chemicals that are unsafe and may even cause cancer, said Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence, a national advocacy group.

"We have some of the laxest laws in this area in the world," he said. "One of the major sources of pollution and of human-health impacts is pollutants in consumer products, like hair dye and many other consumer products." He said the chemical ban recently announced by the EU highlights the fact Ottawa has allowed Canada to fall behind other countries, and the consequences may be detrimental to the health of Canadians.

"If these kinds of approaches are good enough for Europeans, surely Canadian citizens deserve the same kind of protection from our government," Smith said.

The EU announced the ban on the substances two weeks ago as part of a strategy to create a list of hair-dye ingredients that are considered safe for human health. The ban was recommended by scientists after a study revealed long-term use of certain hair dyes may increase the risk of bladder cancer.

Although a European industry association said the banned substances are used in few, if any, hair-dye products, they're found in numerous products sold in Canada.

The EU had asked the industry for information on hair-dye ingredients to determine if they're safe for humans. But the industry failed to provide any safety data on 22 substances, which prompted the union to initiate a ban. It takes effect Dec. 1.

But those substances will still be present in cosmetics sold in Canada, which Felisatti said are "low-risk" products that don't receive the same focus as medication or natural health products.

It's a disturbing example of the lack of priority the government gives to product safety, Smith said. While European countries proactively seek out dangerous products, Canada stands on the sidelines and takes little action to ensure what companies sell is even safe for human consumption, he said. That sort of thinking will turn Canada into a "haven" for rogue products deemed unfi t for the citizens of other countries, he said.

"If we don't start to see some action from our own federal government, Canada is going to become a market of last resort for these products banned in other jurisdictions," he said. "We're going to be in the incredibly damaging situation of Canada becoming a magnet for these toxic products that can't be marketed anywhere else in the world."

© The StarPhoenix ( Saskatoon) 2006