The two sides are lining up their troops: on one side, the $50 billion a year cosmetics industry, led by companies like Procter & Gamble, Revlon, Unilever, Estee Lauder, and L’Oreal. On the other side is the lead consumer coalition in the United States -- the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The issue is the federal regulation of the cosmetics industry.

Right now, the status quo is self-regulation. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics wants Congress to pass landmark legislation that will impose strict federal regulation on the industry.

Stacy Malkan, a spokeswoman for the campaign, argues that personal care products like shampoo, conditioner, aftershave, lotion and makeup are not regulated by the FDA or any other government agency. It is perfectly legal and very common for companies to use ingredients that are known or suspected to be carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxins.

On the other side, Kathleen Dezio, a spokesperson for the Personal Care Products Council (an industry trade association formerly known as The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association), disparagingly calls Malkan “an anti-chemical activist.”

However, while the health risks from many of the chemicals may be small, you are bombarded with hundreds of these chemicals every day. And the cumulative effect of all of those chemicals is unknown.