Want to feel young, fresh and feminine? Douse yourself in petro-chemicals and smear your skin with hormone disruptors. And for fanny-fresh confidence you didn't even know you were lacking, wash with our delicate blend of magnesium chloride, triclosan, methylchloro-isothiazolinone and other unnatural essences.

Cosmetics and toiletries in everyday use contain chemicals that threaten human health and the environment, Women's Environmental Network (WEN) warns today at the start of a new campaign to 'end the cosmetics cover up'. Most popular shampoos, shower gels, moisturisers and perfumes are complex mixtures of synthetic chemicals which pose a range of risks. Even products marketed as 'organic', 'herbal' or 'natural' may contain only a trace of a natural essence added to a synthetic formula.

The industry fuels women's insecurities about their appearance and body odour to sell products that are at best unnecessary and at worst linked to allergies, skin irritation, cancer and hormone disruption.

WEN is encouraging women to join its local groups to find out more about the risks and help gather evidence on how commonly the ingredients are used and how frequently people are exposed to them. Women should write to the manufacturers of their favourite products to demand safer ingredients.

Helen Lynn, WEN's health co-ordinator, said: "We use cosmetics and toiletries to make ourselves feel good. We should be able to choose products and know they are safe, not have to worry whether they contain risky chemicals. Safer, more natural alternatives to many of the synthetic ingredients are available and should be used by manufacturers.
"This is not just a health issue - we wash gallons of these chemicals down the drain every day, polluting the environment and poisoning wildlife. Nobody has tested the effects of repeated, long-term exposure to a mixture of chemicals from our daily routines of cleansing, moisturising, deodorising and applying make-up."

To get involved visit www.wen.org.uk or send a large, stamped sae to Cosmetics, WEN, PO Box 30626, London E1 1TZ.

ENDS

Contact Helen Lynn, Health co-ordinator or Liz Sutton, Press Officer on 020 7481 9004.

Notes to editors
1. Product examples, a risky chemicals list and an alternative cosmetics list are all available from WEN.

2. An estimated 400m tonnes of synthetic chemicals are manufactured each year, worldwide. Only 14% of chemicals produced in large quantities in Europe have even a minimum set of safety data.

3. Health concerns include hormone disruption and fertility problems; asthma, eczema and skin irritations; cancer and harm to the central nervous system. One chemical group, alkylphenol ethoxylates, used in some shampoos, hair colours and shaving gels, are extremely toxic to fish. Phthalates, in some hair sprays, perfumes, nail polishes and in PVC containers, cause serious reproductive and development effects in lab animals and are linked to premature breast development in girls and damage to male foetuses.

4. Fragrances are particularly linked to breathing difficulties and allergies. A typical cosmetic can contain 50-100 fragrances, which don't have to be listed on the packaging. Ninety five percent of chemicals used in modern perfumes and as fragrances in other cosmetics are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum.

5. All cosmetics and toiletries should be adequately safety tested and clearly labelled. Industry and government should act to phase out risky chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives.

6. WEN is against animal testing of cosmetics. WEN would like to see a precautionary approach to the use of synthetic chemicals, whereby they were not used until they were proven to be safe, rather than being allowed to be used until there was proof of harm.

7. WEN is a national charity and membership organisation which campaigns on environmental and health issues from a women's perspective. It educates, informs and empowers women and men who care about the environment.

8. This work is part of Women Taking Action for a Healthier Planet, a three-year project supported by the Community Fund to empower local groups and campaign on links between the environment and health.

Chemicals and cosmetics - what's the problem? Excerpt from our local groups newsletter, 'Branches' identifying some chemicals to watch out for and why. (47k pdf).