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Activists Put A Scary Face on Cosmetics
The Washington Examiner ^ | March 24, 2005 | Carrie Lukas

Posted on 03/24/2005 9:04:50 AM PST by weekendwarrior

Op-Ed - Mass-scare-a Activists put a scary face on cosmetics - Carrie Lukas 24 Mar'05

Women can find anxiety everywhere these days, as evidenced by a recent trip down the magazine aisle: Â "Need aspirin - or an ambulance? How to diagnose the four scariest aches and pains." "Are YOU a great manager?" "Displaying this emotion can endanger your life."

And, appropriately enough, "Stress: Is it making you sick?"

As if women don't have enough to worry about, some activists are trying to expand the list to include our makeup drawer. This month, a conference held at Harvard Medical School by Hurricane Voices, an activist organization focusing on breast cancer, will warn women of the "dangers" presented by items from face lotion to perfume. Activists in California, meanwhile, are urging high school girls to throw out their "dangerous" cosmetics in "Operation Beauty Drop." In Europe, activists have convinced the government to ban the use of certain substances, known as phthalates, in cosmetics. Â

So are women being silently massacred by our mascara? Not exactly. In 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied the effects of these substances on rats. Analysts concluded that rats that became ill had absorbed the equivalent of four and a half bottles of nail polish a day for 70 years. The Food and Drug Administration examined this and other data and concluded that these ingredients are safe as used in cosmetics.

Why, then, did the European Union ban the use of phthalates in cosmetics? Because something called the "precautionary principle," says, in effect, we must assume every chemical is dangerous until it's proven safe.

(Excerpt) Read more at dcexaminer.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cosmetics; health; junkscience
A good perspective on a tough issue.
1 posted on 03/24/2005 9:04:50 AM PST by weekendwarrior
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To: weekendwarrior

I try not to load up my face with cosmetics. Now that my pimple faced horror is clearing up, I won't be wearing makeup at all. Some women... OMG they spatula that stuff on.


2 posted on 03/24/2005 9:06:46 AM PST by cyborg (Sudanese refugee,"Mr.Schiavo I disagree with your opinion about not feeling pain when you starve.")
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To: cyborg

At least they don't put lead and arsenic in foundation any more :-).


3 posted on 03/24/2005 9:09:32 AM PST by Tax-chick ("I have been half in love with easeful Death ... Now more than ever seems it rich to die.")
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To: cyborg

OK, where is Tammy Faye Baker when we need a poster child??


4 posted on 03/24/2005 9:10:12 AM PST by EagleUSA
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To: Tax-chick

Thank god :D


5 posted on 03/24/2005 9:11:12 AM PST by cyborg (Sudanese refugee,"Mr.Schiavo I disagree with your opinion about not feeling pain when you starve.")
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To: cyborg

Arsenic clear your pimples up; pretty face for the funeral.


6 posted on 03/24/2005 9:13:31 AM PST by Tax-chick ("I have been half in love with easeful Death ... Now more than ever seems it rich to die.")
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To: weekendwarrior
"Operation Beauty Drop."

I don't think health is the real issue here. The feminists have for years been trying to do away with cosmetics, and all the glamor enhancing products that contribute to "lookism."

7 posted on 03/24/2005 9:20:03 AM PST by oyez (¡Qué viva la revolución de Reagan!)
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To: weekendwarrior
WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!
8 posted on 03/24/2005 9:21:10 AM PST by visualops (A man's authority as a husband does not supersede his wife's rights as a human being.)
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To: cyborg
Now that my pimple faced horror is clearing up, I won't be wearing makeup at all

But what do you use to condition those mermaid scales ;)
9 posted on 03/24/2005 9:21:40 AM PST by reagan_fanatic ("Darwinism is a belief in the meaninglessness of existence" - R. Kirk)
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To: visualops

Uh-oh ... do you wear a lot of makeup, honey?


10 posted on 03/24/2005 9:23:06 AM PST by Tax-chick ("I have been half in love with easeful Death ... Now more than ever seems it rich to die.")
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To: reagan_fanatic

LOL!!


11 posted on 03/24/2005 9:24:20 AM PST by cyborg (Sudanese refugee,"Mr.Schiavo I disagree with your opinion about not feeling pain when you starve.")
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To: weekendwarrior

typical combat-boot-wearing, left-wing feminist hag stuff, IMO.

And I don't wash my apples either.


12 posted on 03/24/2005 9:27:39 AM PST by peacebaby (somewhere at the beach there's an empty chair just waiting for me.)
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