| facepalm Nice attitude. Remember, you're on HN, not reddit. Do you really think those products you are rubbing around your skin every day and sniffing up your nose don't get absorbed by your skin and lungs!!? Aside from the fact that I don't typically snort lotion, it's true that there are plenty of things that come into contact with my body all the time. So maybe you can help me understand where to draw the line. For example, why is hand soap of interest to the FDA, but not: - dish detergent, since I'm actually ingesting some small remnant of their content - laundry detergent, and especially softener, since that's rubbing against my skin for nearly 24 hours/day. - building materials, whose outgassing I'm inhaling for much of the day Further, in your quotation above, this part seems pretty much nonsensical: "The FDA does not review – nor does it have the authority to regulate – what goes into cosmetics before they are marketed for salon use and consumer use.". I read this to say that "you can sell any cosmetics you want - as long as you don't try to sell it". mostly a wild west at the moment. Is that necessarily a problem? Is there a reason that everything must be regulated? If you're worried about safety, as in your final quotation, then why not settle for warnings while letting the users determine if they've got, e.g., adequate ventilation, or if there's other circumstances that make the risk worthwhile. For example, I typically won't use antibacterial soap myself, but if I've got a cut, or doing something else for which sanitation is important, it may be worthwhile in that special case. Government regulations lead to one-size-fits-all, and that size is the lowest common denominator, with no accommodation for individual circumstances - take their position on experimental drugs for terminal patients, for example. |
http://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productandingredientsafety/Prod...
>Ordinary soap is solely made up of fats and an alkali. In the past, people made their own soap from animal fats and wood ashes.
>Today there are very few true soaps in the traditional sense on the market. You might recognize these soaps as products marketed with characteristics such as "pure." "True" soaps are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, not FDA, and do not require ingredient labeling.
Also, the second a product claims to be "Antibacterial" it is making a drug claim, and needs to have a drug list on the bottle.
>If a drug claim is made on a cleanser or soap, such as antibacterial, antiperspirant, or anti acne, the product is a drug, and the label must list all active ingredients, as is required for all drug products.
And the other examples you gave all have their own regulatory agencies which in theory should protect the public. The FDA is concerned with food, drugs, and cosmetics. Period. Cosmetics are certainly ingested (think lipstick, lipgloss) as well as absorbed into the body. It makes senses for the FDA to have that under their wing.