7/21/2010: What a day! I finally got to debate with John Bailey, who was in charge of FDA’s office of cosmetics for 30 years and now serves as spokesman for the cosmetics industry trade association. Check out our interview on Democracy Now! along with clips with Fran Drescher and EWG’s Jane Houlihan discussing the need for federal legislation to regulate cosmetics.

And right now, I am listening to Rep. Jan Schakowsky tell reporters about the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 – a landmark bill that is the first major effort in over 70 years to overhaul cosmetics regulations. (MP3 audio here.)

This day is the culmination of nearly a decade of work by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the growing concerns in the mainstream scientific community about the cancer risk of the thousands of unregulated chemicals, such as those we put on our bodies every day.

How does the beauty industry respond to the growing concerns? They’ve been gearing up for years — hiring lobbyists and launching PR campaigns – for this legislative fight. Also see chapters 8 and 9 of my book for more lobbying tricks and details about my undercover trip to an industry conference when John Bailey and the companies joked about how “user friendly” he was to industry during his 30-year tenure at FDA — and their plans to ward off regulations.

Here’s a look back at some of the greatest hits of lame industry arguments about why it’s OK to keep making toxic products.

1. Toxic chemicals are just like salt.

According to John Bailey, hazardous chemicals can be compared to salt in cooking – small amounts are fine. “A little salt on your peas or tomatoes can be good. But a lot of salt can have adverse health effects on your blood pressure, and too much can be fatal,” Bailey explained to the New York Times.

Bailey made the comment after reports first broke that popular children’s bath products were contaminated with 1,4 dioxane, a petrochemical listed as “known to cause cancer” by the state of California.

Cancer-causing chemicals on the baby’s head are like salt on your peas? Um, no. Industrial chemicals derived from oil byproducts, mixed together with other toxic substances (like say, the formaldehyde that is also found in many kids’ bath products) are nothing at all like salt. There’s nothing here that’s “good for you.” There’s no reason on Earth for baby shampoos to contain carcinogens.

2. Toxic chemicals in cosmetics are like caged tigers.

This pearl of wisdom comes from Proctor & Gamble toxicologist Tim Long, as quoted in Mark Schapiro’s excellent book, “Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake for American Power.“

“Imagine you encounter a tiger in the wild, and then encounter another tiger behind its protective enclosure in a zoo,” Long said. The wild tiger is inherently dangerous, but a tiger behind bars is not dangerous at all. “It’s the same thing in products. There may be inherent toxicity to a particular chemical, but if you use it under certain conditions the exposure is minimal and they present no risk.”

This unsettling parable takes us to the heart of the industry’s reasoning: the little bit of toxic chemicals in this product is OK as long as the product is used as directed, and if we pretend that people aren’t being exposed to that same nasty chemical from a dozen other products, and if that exposed person happens to be just like the 200 pound male who is the model for most chemical risk assessments, if that chemical has even been studied at all.

Thanks, but I’d rather not have flesh-eating tigers in cages all over my bathroom sink.

3. Parabens aren’t as potent as birth control pills.

“The potency of parabens in products such as deodorants is a million times lower than in the birth control pill and that is considered safe,” Dr. Christopher Flower of the industry trade association told the Daily Mail.

Comparing a widely used cosmetic ingredient to a sterilizing pharmaceutical drug doesn’t seem like the smartest angle. But then, it is true that parabens – the most commonly used preservative in beauty products – can mimic estrogen in the body, and therefore have the potential to interfere with normal bodily functions such as, say, breast development or reproductive capacity.

The amount of parabens in any one product may be low – or maybe not; there’s no way to know since companies don’t have to disclose ingredient concentrations. And unfortunately, since most products on the market contain parabens, most consumers are being dosed with these hormone-disrupting chemicals dozens of times a day, every day, from babyhood throughout their lives.

4. Lead is only a problem for kids.

When reports broke that popular lipsticks are contaminated with lead, a few industry types pointed out that lead (a known neurotoxin) is a concern mostly only for kids, and kids don’t wear lipstick. Yes they do (see this cute little girl in our ad). But more importantly, I’d like to ask these guys: Where do you think kids come from?

They come from the bodies of women, millions of whom wear lipstick every day. If we want to protect children from toxic substances, we need to protect women — all women who are, may be or may one day want to become pregnant.  Lead builds up in the body and stays in the body for a long time, so lead smeared on the lips several times a day (as the package instructs) is not a good thing.

You’d think companies that claim to have the power to erase years from our lives could figure out how to make lipstick without lead.

5. The FDA is protecting consumers, so there’s no need to worry.

“Certainly within the cosmetics law, there are sufficient checks and balances that will ensure that products and their ingredients are safe,” John Bailey from the trade association told National Public Radio.

Sufficient checks and balances? Where? FDA has no authority to require companies to safety test their ingredients and no power to require recalls of unsafe products, according to the agency’s own website. Cosmetics are the least regulated products at FDA. Instead of government oversight, cosmetics companies get to make the rules themselves.

Do we really want these guys deciding which chemicals are safe to put on their bodies? That’s the system we currently have — the industry gets to decide for itself what’s safe. We have the opportunity to change that right now. Please call your Congressional representative today and urge them to co-sponsor and support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. As Rep. Ed Markey said, there is a real chance to pass this legislation due to the massive broad-based from all corners. Please join us! www.safecosmetics.org