DID YOU GIVE YOUR MOM SOME COSMETICS FOR MOTHER’S DAY? FOR NEXT YEAR, THINK AGAIN. THAT PERFUME YOU BUY MAY HAVE HORMONE-DISRUPTING PHTHALATES IN THEM.

On May 9th, we marched from Guy and Ste. Catherine to Phillips Square to bring attention to the need to make this, and every day, safe for our mothers.

Breast Cancer Action Montreal and FemmeToxic are campaigning for safer chemicals in cosmetics sold in Canada. Currently, cosmetics can contain known or suspected carcinogens and reproductive toxins, because the way Health Canada regulates cosmetics is inherently flawed. Rather than take an approach that requires manufacturers to prohibit the use of such risky chemicals, as they do in the European Union, our government conducts risk assessments based on the amount of exposure a consumer is presumed to have to these chemicals from a cosmetic product. This, however, does not take into account all the other ways we are exposed to carcinogens and hormone disrupting chemicals in our daily lives. Another disturbing fact is that most chemicals lack full environmental and health data, yet Health Canada allows such ingredients in the cosmetics we buy. Some sunscreens and anti-wrinkle creams now contain nanoparticles, but Health Canada requests no transparent safety data about these new ingredients prior to putting them on the market.