Today, I and many others in my industry listended live to over 5 hours of testimony on the Colorado Safe Personal Care Products Act (PDF document).   Many great points were made by parties against AND for the bill.

In the end, however, the Act FAILED, voted down 7-4 in committee after all discussion was presented.  The main issues were as follows:

• The Act attempted to ban any level of a substance in question, even the naturally occurring trace that may be present in something as benign as cocoa butter.  Even our bodies make toxins (our bodies manufacture formaldehyde, for example), and our drinking water has more toxins than would have been permitted by this Act.  Simply put, NOAELs were not taken into account.
• The Act attempted to ban substances that the European Union allows present in trace amounts: substances that exist naturally in shea butter, olive oil, essential oils, fruit extracts, and more.
• The Act would have given the EU regulatory power “by proxy” over Colorado’s personal care products, as it relied on the EU’s list of banned substances, with one notable exception: as above, the EU permits trace amounts of naturally-occurring toxins in products.
• The Act offered a cap on the damages that could be pursued, but this cap was still too high for small businesses, and the cost of defending ourselves in court would shut us down.
• The Act only seemed to take anecdotal evidence into account; none of its proponents could cite scientific data leading to the bill’s creation.  In other words, a very disconcerting “precautionary principle” was proposed, where legislation might have been enacted before science could even justify its existence.
• Insufficient evidence exists to indicate cosmetics are more damaging and toxic than airborne or ingested substances.
• Constitutionality of the Act was questioned:  A company could be sued simply for using an ingredient, even if no harm could be directly attributed to their products.

To give a real-world example, one cited in testimony: in order for a consumer to reach toxic lead exposure through lipstick consumption, that consumer would have to eat 4 tubes of lipstick a day for 70 years before reaching toxicity. While we all use many personal care products, and a cumulative effect is a valid concern, hopefully you can see how extreme your exposure would have to be.

Please read my previous post for more information about the bill and industry opinion.

We at Sarva sympathize deeply with cancer survivors and victims, having known many ourselves, including close friends and family.  We recognize the sensitive nature of this topic.  I lost my own grandmother, a woman whom I loved deeply and who helped raise me, to cancer.  I have seen the fear firsthand, and I can’t imagine what it must be like to live in the shadow of cancer every day.  This bill also aimed to address reproductive toxicity issues as well, and for those affected by such, we extend our most heartfelt sympathies.

However, we look forward to good dialogue with good research protecting everyone… not only for our cosmetics, but also for our food, water, and air.  And we look forward to research–not hype–driving our legislation.

We use no synthetic ingredients in Sarva Soaps.  That doesn’t mean that everything natural is safe:  we research all ingredients with great care and we tell you exactly what’s in our products.  You will find all of our ingredients listed on our website.  Where you see “essential oils” (rather than a detailed list of them) in our online ingredient list, we’ve chosen to protect our proprietary, custom essential oil blends from the competitive eyes of the Internet.  However, all of our packaging fully lists our formulations including all essential oils.  Our labeling is fully FDA compliant, even though true soap is not regulated by the FDA.  We follow closely with Cropwatch to monitor endangered or at-risk natural resources.  And I personally undertake extensive, demanding training on a regular basis to continually increase my knowledge of what I bring to you.  If you ever have any questions about our products or what’s in them, please contact us.

At Sarva, we believe in the power of nature and working in harmony with its inherent intelligence.  We work hard to bring you a beautiful, safe product, and we love what we do.

Please visit the Personal Care Products Council for assistance in choosing safe cosmetics for you and your loved ones.

Thank you for your support!