THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Cosmetics Companies Shun Contentious Chemical

By THADDEUS HERRICK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 14, 2005; Page B2

Three major cosmetics manufacturers have stopped using certain chemicals that have emerged as a health concern in recent years, especially for women of childbearing age.

Amid pressure from the Breast Cancer Fund, a San Francisco-based group pushing to eliminate these chemicals , Revlon Inc., Groupe L'Oréal SA and Unilever said they no longer are using phthalates, a group of chemicals often found in such cosmetic products as nail polish, fragrances and hair sprays.

The development follows a European ban of two types of phthalates that took effect last October. Procter & Gamble Co. and Estée Lauder Cos. said last year that they would reformulate several lines of nail polish to eliminate phthalates in U.S. markets.

While U.S. regulators tend to wait for clear evidence that certain chemicals are harmful to humans, the European Union has been moving aggressively to remove chemicals with the potential for trouble. That, in turn, is spurring companies of all sorts to rethink the way they manufacture their products.

Phthalates are a group of chemicals that soften and increase the flexibility of plastics. The Cosmetics , Toiletry and Fragrance Association, the trade group representing the $29 billion U.S. industry, says phthalates present no health risk. But while there is no proof they are harmful to humans, some evidence indicates the chemical can cause adverse reproductive effects in laboratory animals, particularly among the male offspring of females exposed to high levels.

The National Toxicology Program, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledges the risks shown in lab studies but says the general U.S. population appears to be exposed at levels too low to be of immediate concern.

Executives at L'Oreal and Revlon said they phased out phthalates some time ago. But a 2002 study conducted by several groups that surveyed just a fraction of the cosmetics on the U.S. market found that both companies manufactured products containing phthalates known as DBP and DEHP -- those banned by the EU.

In March 2004, the Breast Cancer Fund asked a group of manufacturers, among them France's L'Oreal and New York-based Revlon, to sign a pledge to reformulate their cosmetics globally following the EU directive. Revlon responded with a letter from the CTFA calling the EU regulation "an unnecessary change in the philosophy of regulation of cosmetic ingredients in the EU." Neither Unilever, which has headquarters in London and the Netherlands, nor L'Oreal responded.

But in a letter to the Breast Cancer Fund dated Dec. 21, 2004, Alan J. Meyers, senior vice president for research and development at L'Oreal, said that the company's products are in compliance with the EU cosmetics directive "no matter where they are sold around the world."

Catherine Fisher, Revlon senior vice president for corporate communication, also told the group in a letter dated Dec. 20 that all the company's products are in compliance with EU regulations. In a letter to the Breast Cancer Fund, Unilever also said that it no longer uses phthalates in any of its products.

Write to Thaddeus Herrick at thaddeus.herrick@wsj.com