A polished, perfectly put-together face can be a huge boost to your confidence, but a new study shows that many of the cosmetics that help achieve that look might also be harmful to your health.
In the United States and Canada, plenty of beauty products appear to contain high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a potentially toxic class of chemicals linked to some serious health conditions, researchers report.
In particular, most waterproof mascaras, liquid lipsticks and foundations contained high levels of fluorine, an indicator that PFAS are in the product.
“Those three categories were more likely than others to have high fluorine,” said researcher Tom Bruton, a senior scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute, an independent research and environmental advocacy organization in Berkeley, Calif.
The chemicals are used to make cosmetics more durable, and to make them spread better, Bruton explained. No company names were listed in the report, though the researchers said the problem is “widespread.”
