We dab on moisturizer, soothe our lips with balm, and slather ourselves with sunscreen. Few of us think twice about what gets under our skin as we douse ourselves with lotions and potions as part of our daily routine. But we should. The average adult uses 9 personal care products a day—in the process applying more than 100 ingredients to his or her skin.

Although it’s easy to assume that these products are perfectly safe, that’s not always the case. The cosmetics industry uses more than 10,500 chemicals, some of which have been linked with cancer, birth defects, and other harmful effects on human and environmental health. There are no federal safety standards for this $35 billion industry.

“Only 11 percent of ingredients in cosmetics have been assessed for safety by the industry’s safety panel or the FDA,” says Jane Houlihan, vice-president for research at the Environmental Working Group, a watchdog organization based in Washington, D.C. What about health risks from the other 89 percent? That’s anyone’s guess.

Fortunately, there is a place to turn. Skin Deep is an online database that rates the safety of more than 14,000 personal care products. You can check out the brands you use and also find the safest products in categories that range from antiperspirants to toothpaste and everything in between. Created by the EWG, Skin Deep draws on 37 toxicity and regulatory databases to provide in-depth information on more than 1,000 popular brands.

The EWG is a member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of environmental and consumer groups calling for safety restrictions on hazardous chemicals in personal care products. The campaign is urging the makers of health and beauty products to phase out the use of these chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives.

Houlihan and her colleagues report a number of findings that raise concerns. For example, 99 percent of the personal care products that the EWG analyzed contain ingredients not tested for safety. More than 33 percent contain suspected carcinogens. The researchers found immune system toxicants linked with allergies and sensitivities in 85 percent of beauty products.

Under Our Skin

Many of the chemicals in cosmetics don’t just sit on top of our skin—they get underneath it and into our bodies. Moisturizers are often designed to penetrate the skin, particularly those formulated to make skin look younger or smoother, Houlihan says.

Certain hair dyes and nail polishes are among the products of highest concern, Houlihan says. The hair dyes to avoid are dark, permanent colors containing derivatives of coal tar. Long-term use of these products is linked with bladder cancer. (Although hair-coloring labels don’t list coal tar, you can check the Skin Deep web site for products containing coal tar derivatives).

Many nail polishes contain phthalates, common industrial plasticizers found in a wide array of cosmetics and consumer products made of plastic and vinyl. Phthalates are used in cosmetics to keep nail polish flexible, blend ingredients, make fragrances last longer, and moisturize the skin. Although phthalates are listed on nail polish labels, they’re invisible in other products, where they’re labeled only as “fragrance.”

Phthalates are hormone-disrupting chemicals shown to affect the health of humans and wildlife. For example, scientists have linked minute levels of phthalates to genital abnormalities in baby boys, allergies and asthma in children, and sperm damage in men.

In a study published in August 2005, researchers at the University of Rochester reported delayed sexual development in male infants exposed in the womb to phthalates commonly used in personal care products, including diethyl phthalate (DEP), a fragrance ingredient, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP), which is found in nail polish. A study in September 2005 found lower testosterone levels among male babies exposed to phthalates in breast milk. These findings follow earlier studies in laboratory animals connecting phthalates with cancer, birth defects, and reproductive problems.

While some critics call such reports alarmist, Houlihan points out that industry research typically reviews one chemical at a time, an approach that fails to address the fact that in the real world, people are simultaneously exposed to many different chemicals. “There’s very strong data showing that people are exposed to many different kinds of phthalates and there’s a substantial fraction of the population exposed over what the government considers to be a safe dose,” Houlihan says. “The industry should be taking the high road on this, but instead they’re fighting to continue the use of hazardous chemicals in their products.”

Houlihan adds that industry research often fails to acknowledge that chemicals can and do accumulate in our bodies over a lifetime of exposure. In 2000, the Centers for Disease control found phthalates in the urine of more than 75 percent of Americans tested. Other researchers have found cosmetics preservatives called parabens in breast tumor tissue, and synthetic fragrance compounds in body fat.

Mirror, Mirror

There is some good news. In 2004, the European Union banned certain phthalates in cosmetics and toys, and is considering a ban on most of these chemicals in consumer products and medical supplies. Last year, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005, the first state law in the nation to regulate ingredients in cosmetics. The law requires manufacturers to disclose their use of chemicals linked to birth defects or cancer.

Whether or not this law will have teeth remains to be seen, but Houlihan says disclosure is a powerful tool. “The simple act of disclosing that they’re using potentially hazardous chemicals in products can be such a public embarrassment that it might encourage companies to proactively change formulations,” she says.

Other states are taking a hard look at chemicals in cosmetics and other products. Legislation is pending in Massachusetts that would require cosmetics makers and all other manufacturers to replace 10 toxic chemicals with safer alternatives. New York is considering a bill that would ban certain phthalates in cosmetics, toys, and products for children.

The Fairest of Them All

The other good news is that more than 250 companies have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, pledging to replace hazardous ingredients with safer ones in their products in every market within three years. A project of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the Compact requires companies to meet standards and deadlines set by the European Union to eliminate chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, mutation, or birth defects.

Until then, should you ditch your moisturizer for olive oil and your toothpaste for baking soda? Happily, no. Some companies, including many that have signed the Compact, are already doing the right thing by not using hazardous chemicals in their products. And surfing the Skin Deep site helps you find the safest alternatives for products ranging from lipstick to sunscreen.

Houlihan and her colleagues at the EWG will continue to update Skin Deep, adding more products and research updates as information becomes available. “We want this to be a tool that consumers can continue to rely on until the federal government decides to step up and make some changes,” she says.

Ultimately, the EWG and their collaborators want to see federal standards for personal care products that require companies to prove their products are safe before they go on the market. Houlihan uses the analogy of federal public health standards for pesticides in foods, which require companies to prove up front that they meet safety standards before selling their products. “That provision has done a lot toward getting some of the most dangerous pesticides off the market,” she says.

Healthy change in the cosmetics industry will take time, but the millions of us who use personal care products (read: everyone) wield enormous collective power with our everyday choices. And we can take action in a number of ways. Says Houlihan, “When people become aware of safety concerns and start changing their buying patterns and pressuring decision-makers, that’s when change happens.”