These 6 chemicals are allowed in US cosmetics but banned in the EU, UK and Australia for being toxic or causing cancer

Is there danger lurking in your favorite beauty products?Earlier this month, the European Union banned the use of a chemical called TPO (trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide) in gel nail polish.Showing an abundance of caution, the new regulations were made in response to animal studies indicating TPO might cause issues with fertility and reproductive health — but the ingredient remains unrestricted in the US.That’s not so unusual.While the EU has banned over 1,600 chemicals from use in personal care products, according to the EWG, the United States has blacklisted fewer than a dozen.“A lot of countries have much stricter rules around what’s allow in food,” Dr.

Neha Pathak, MD, who serves on WebMD‘s Medical Team, previously told The Post.She compared the US’s approach to food ingredients, in particular, as “innocent until proven guilty.”In many other countries — like the UK and EU nations — lawmakers are more likely to regulate ingredients that show potential threat, just to be on the safe side.Sometimes, those ingredients have only been shown to cause harm in animal studies — but in other cases, the risk is evident in humans, too.And for women, the risk of exposure to these potentially devastating chemicals is even higher.“The average woman uses 12 beauty products a day, plus chemical exposure from laundry detergent, cleaning products, and more — no company is tracking the accumulation of exposure over time and the risk to the individual.

We cannot eliminate exposure to endocrine disruptors, but we can limit the number of products to decrease risk,” Dr.Lora Shahine, a reproductive endocrinologist at PNWF in Seattle, previously told The Post.Read on to learn more about six chemicals banned elsewhere and permitted in the US.Formaldehyde — used in hair-smoothing treatments like Brazilian blowouts, nail hardeners, shampoo, lotions, body soap and eyelash glue — is a known carcinogen and respiratory irritant.The EU and the UK have...