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Judd Law Group LLP announces litigation settlement between

Public Interest Alliance and Cosmetics Manufacturers

Public Interest Alliance targets industry giants to remove carcinogens from products;
Raise awareness of need for more study of link between cosmetic powders and cancer
SAN FRANCISCO, June 4, 2014 Judd Law Group LLP (www.juddlawgroup.com), attorneys for
Public Interest Alliance (PIA), announced that the California Superior Court has approved
settlements between PIA and five personal care products manufacturers, which have agreed
either to remove titanium dioxide (TiO2) from their products, provide Proposition 65 (The Safe
Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986) compliant warnings, or remove products
that contain TiO2 from the California market.
The May 20, 2014 decision (Alameda Superior Court Case #RG13697992) follows a lawsuit filed
by PIA in the fall of 2013 against 100 manufacturers of powder makeup and sun-protection
products. PIA, a California company whose mission is to improve human health, alleges these
cosmetics manufacturers violated Californias Prop 65 by failing to provide clear and reasonable
warning of exposure to TiO2 (airborne, unbound particles of respirable size).
The Public Interest Alliance is not saying that powder cosmetic products are necessarily
unsafe, but it does want to raise awareness that the scientific-based link between the
inhalation of titanium dioxide powder and tumor growth requires more study, said Jeffrey
Judd, Managing Partner of Judd Law Group LLP. Companies have an obligation to develop and
make available sufficient information to consumers, so we can make informed decisions about
what chemicals we put in and on our bodies. This suit is intended to increase corporate
responsibility; we hope it pressures the large cosmetics manufacturers to do sufficient research
to be able to say with scientific reliability whether or not their powder makeup products may
cause cancer.
PIAs lawsuit alleges LOreal, Maybelline, Revlon, and dozens of other leading cosmetics brands
failed to provide a clear and reasonable warning in connection with the sale of powder makeup
and sun-protection products, which expose consumers to airborne TiO2. In 2011, California
listed airborne TiO2 as a chemical known to cause cancer after the International Agency for
Cancer Research (IACR) concluded that a link between TiO2 exposure and cancer is possible.
PIAs suit is based on publicly available scientific *studies that demonstrate how applying
cosmetic powders that contain titanium dioxide to ones face with a brush, puff, pad, or sponge
exposes consumers to airborne TiO2. The question how much TiO2 is inhaled over a lifetime
remains unanswered. Rather than evaluating their powder cosmetic products with reliable
scientific methods to answer that question, the largest cosmetics companies have instead
pooled resources to fight in court.

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Judd Law Group has been instrumental in PIAs fight to promote responsible manufacturing,
but the number of companies that have taken responsibility for their powder cosmetic products
represents only the tip of the iceberg, said Hillary Peterson, a member of PIAs advisory board.
Prior to suing these companies, PIA proposed that they perform transparent product
assessment that could be evaluated by state regulators. While little is known about the health
effects of inhaling titanium dioxide, many troubling concerns have been raised about its
potential for causing long-term health problems, and yet titanium dioxide is used in ever-
increasing amounts in sun protection and cosmetic products. The cosmetics industry spends
millions of dollars on advertising that encourages us to use these products, but is unwilling to
spend even a small fraction of its advertising budget on science-based studies to inform
consumer decisions. This is why PIA must, and will continue to champion the cause of requiring
cosmetics manufacturers to provide meaningful product information to improve product safety
and public health.
*Potential for Inhalation Exposure to Engineered Nanoparticles from Nanotechnology-Based
Cosmetic Powders, 120(6) ENVIRON. HEALTH PERSPECT. 885-892 (June 2012)

About Judd Law Group LLP
Judd Law Group LLP is a San Francisco-based litigation & intellectual property law firm that
provides strategic litigation and transaction counsel to businesses and individuals. Judd Law
Group LLP combines the quality, experience, and judgment of a big firm with the
responsiveness, personal attention and cost structure of a boutique. The firm regularly achieve
favorable results in disputes against larger and better-capitalized adversaries and successfully
guide clients through the most sophisticated transactions.

Managing partner, Jeffrey Judd, is a veteran of big law for over 20 years, who as a litigation
partner at a top AmLaw 100 firm successfully represented an impressive roster of Fortune 500
companies that included Ford Motor Company, Alaska Airlines, Merck, and Franklin Templeton
Investments. www.juddlawgroup.com

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