Heads Up! Your Favorite Makeup May Contain Toxic Chemicals

Believe it or not, a new study conducted to test for the chemicals in hundreds of products found that toxic chemicals were found in several cosmetics from major brand names in the US and Canada.

CNN reports that these potentially toxic chemicals, known as PFAS, are called "forever chemicals" because their chemistry keeps them from breaking down under typical environmental conditions and have been found to accumulate in humans.

The study, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, found high levels of a marker for toxic PFAS substances in 52% of 231 makeup products purchased in the United States and Canada.

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The chemicals are linked to a range of serious health problems including cancer, liver disease, birth defects, hormone disruption, thyroid disease, and more. The study detected high levels of organic fluorine, an indicator of PFAS, in over half of 231 makeup and personal care samples.

Those samples include lipstick, lip balm, mascara, eyeliner, concealer, foundation, nail polish, and more. Waterproof mascara, foundation, and liquid lipstick are among the products tested that frequently contain high levels of fluorine.

And in another troubling statistic, almost 88% of the tested products failed to disclose on their labels any ingredients that would explain those chemical markers. Disclosing those ingredients is a US Food and Drug Administration requirement.

Now the study did not reveal which brands use the toxic chemicals, however there is some good news. Because of the findings from the study, the "No PFAS in Cosmetics Act" is scheduled to be introduced in the US House and Senate.

The proposed bill would require the Food And Drug Administration to ban the chemicals’ use in such products within 270 days. There is much more to this story, including more results from the study. Check out the full story at CNN's website here.