Make Up Danger for Pregnant Women

France is intending to label cosmetics according to their safety for pregnant women. The alarm was raised be Roselyne Bachelot, the French health minister, saying that health authorities in France want to label cosmetics as being fit or not for pregnant women.

This intention comes after a study was published by the Imperial College London, revealing that pregnant women who experienced higher than normal hairspray exposure had double the likelihood of giving birth to babies with hypospadias, which is a reproductive development condition. The report suggested that the affect was due to hormone disruption caused by chemicals in the hairspray.

The British government want the EU to address the issue in a complete fashion rather than as an isolated agenda, for which reason they want to see it added to the European Cosmetics Directive.

"BERR does not think this is something which is suitable for individual countries to take forward unilaterally and hope that the French raise this during the current negotiations on the revision of the cosmetics directive, where a discussion can take place among experts on cosmetic products," said the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform spokesman.

Leader of the study from the Imperial College study, Professor Paul Elliott, said "Labels enable people to make informed choices. In the vulnerable period of pregnancy, it makes sense for people to reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals," and that "It is part of a broader discussion about minimising chemical exposure in early pregnancy."

"Women who are planning to conceive or who are in the first three months of pregnancy should look at what they are using," said the chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Professor Steve Field. He also added that "The cosmetics industry needs to look at this and clearly label their products. Anything like this raises concerns, but I don't think people should panic."