Personal-care chemicals go on toxic list

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Personal-care chemicals go on toxic list  

 

 MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT   

Globe and Mail Update  

February 2, 2009 at 12:15 PM EST  

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The federal government is placing on its toxic substances list two

silicone-based chemicals that are widely used in shampoos and conditioners,

where they help give hair the silky, smooth feeling often played up in

advertisements for these personal care products.

 

It is the first time any country has taken such regulatory action against the

substances, called D4 and D5 by the silicone industry, that are also in hundreds

of personal-care products ranging from deodorants to skin moisturizers.

 

Although the chemicals have been linked to cancer and other health problems in

high dose laboratory animal experiments, Ottawa deemed typical human exposures

were far too low to be a health risk. But it decided to designate the substances

as dangerous, based on fears that they were a threat to wildlife when they get

into the environment from the disposal of consumer products and from industrial

releases.

 

 

The determination was made jointly Environment Canada and Health Canada and is

in the current Canada Gazette, which also contained notices that the government

will designate as toxic several pigments and petrochemicals.

 

 

The toxic designation is a regulatory step that allows the government to

introduce measures to control, reduce, or even eliminate the use of dangerous

substances.

 

 

The chemicals deemed harmful are part of a review being conducted by federal

scientists of about 200 potentially dangerous substances grandfathered from

detailed safety assessments when Canada adopted its first modern pollution laws

in the 1980s.

 

 

Under the reviews, Ottawa has been issuing assessments on chemicals nearly every

month, a process that inexplicably stopped in November and December.

 

 

Environmentalists say the hold-up was the result of heavy pressure by industry

on Environment Minister Jim Prentice over the fate of D4 and D5, and another

chemical, D6, that was not found by federal scientists to be an environmental or

human health threat.

 

 

”There was some very fierce industry lobbying, the silicon industry was lobbying

very hard on these chemicals,” said Aaron Freeman, a spokesman for Environmental

Defence, an advocacy group.

 

 

But the association representing makers of the chemicals, the Virginia-based

Silicones Environmental Health and Safety Council of North America, denied that

its intervention temporarily stopped the government's chemical review process.

The organization has ”never advocated that [Ottawa] withhold or delay” its

decision on the toxic designation, said Karluss Thomas, executive director.

 

 

In a statement, the association said it believes the federal government will

conduct further studies on the fate of D4 and D5 e in the environment, and

predicted this research will find the chemicals safe.

 

 

Mr. Prentice's office did not respond to requests for comment.

 

 

Among the other compounds that will be designated as toxic are:

 

 

• Thiourea, used to make printed circuit boards, and which is also sometimes

contained in sliver polish and tarnish removers. It is a source of worry because

it causes tumours at multiple sites, including mammary glands, in laboratory

animals.

• Isoprene, a chemical incorporated into vehicle tires, footwear, and paint

resins. It was listed over cancer concerns and worries it harms the thymus.

• C.I. pigment yellow 34 and C.I. pigment red 104, two chemicals used in

commercial printing inks and paints. They are of concern because they are linked

to cancer.