Many people
avoid artificial colours in their foods, but don't check out
the colours in cosmetics and personal care products. It is only
in recent years that cosmetics have started to carry a full
list of ingredients on their packaging.
Making sense of the ingredients can be difficult for the
lay person. This is particularly true for colourings, which
often go under the guise of numbers rather than names.
In many countries colours in cosmetics are listed as colour
index numbers. C.I. numbers are allocated by the Society of
Dyers and Colourists. The scheme covers colours used in food,
personal care products, cosmetics, household products and
fabric dyeing. So, for example you will not normally see ‘tartrazine’
listed in your lipstick ingredients, but it may be there listed
as C.I. 19140. Erythrosine will be listed as C.I. 45430, and
so on.
The USA uses a different system: the FD & C colors have
been categorised by the American Food & Drink Administration
for use in foods, drugs and cosmetics. So in this system tartrazine
is FD & C yellow 5, and amaranth is FD & C red 2.
The ‘E Number’ system is used by the European
Community (EC). This is a system of giving code numbers to
food additives, some of which are also used in cosmetics and
personal care products. This system is also used in some other
countries but without the E prefix, so E102 becomes simply
colour ‘102’.
All this confusion for the average consumer would not be
important, but for the fact that some of these colours are
known to cause problems in susceptible individuals. For example,
tartrazine (also known as FD & C Yellow 5, CI 1914 and
EI02) can cause migraines, itching, rhinitis and agitation
in susceptible individuals. Many individuals avoid its use
in food, but do not realise how extensively it is used in
cosmetics, such as lipstick, and personal care products.
The big worries in terms of colours in cosmetics and personal
care products are lipstick, coloured lip balms, lip gloss
and lip pencils, because anyone who uses these regularly ‘eats’
a fair quantity over their life time, but these colours also
appear in skin cream, foundation, mascara and so on too. (Remember
also that these colours can also be in 'natural' cosmetics
and skin care products.)
Another worry is that even the 'experts' cannot agree on an international 'safe'
list of colours, so that a colour may be allowed in one country,
but banned elsewhere. For example, quinoline yellow is allowed
within the European Community and in some other countries,
but is banned in Japan, Norway and the United States.
About The Author
Jane Thurnell-Read researches and writes on health and well-being.
Visit her site http://www.healthandgoodness.com
for well-researched articles on a whole range of topics. She's
not trying to sell you anything - this is an information web
site. the most common unsolicited comment from people who
surf this site is "brilliant".
