http://digital.vancouversun.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=d842b986-8bd0-4419-972d-b1c1ad307abd&key=fWaOkXZQT5XulecnGF8l%2bA%3d%3d&issue=10002008013100000000001001

Cosmetics
makers switch from
shark oil
L'Oreal and Unilever bow to pressure from ocean
conservation group

BY LUCY COCKCROFT Daily Telegraph
LONDON

Two cosmetic giants have agreed to stop using shark liver oil as a base for moisturising creams and lipsticks, amid concerns over threats to the survival of some species.

More than a third of European shark species are under threat.

International companies L'Oreal and Unilever have agreed to replace the compound squalene, found in shark livers, with other oils from plant sources, in a significant victory for the campaign group Oceana.

Deep- sea sharks have large reserves of squalene, widely used as an emollient in various creams, lotions and glosses, as their livers comprise up to one- third their entire body weight.

Intensive fishing to supply the cosmetics industry has contributed to a dramatic population declines of certain species, including the gulper and kitefin.

Unilever said it had stopped using shark oil in brands such as Pond's and Dove some years ago, and is withdrawing its use from the entire European range by April 2008.

A spokesman said: " This is part and parcel of becoming as responsible as one can in our supply chain."

L'Oreal is now completing the phaseout of shark oil in skin care products.

However, 12 makeup formulas, including eight lipsticks under the Shu Uemura brand name, which is owned by the company, remain unaltered.

In a letter to Oceana, a charity set up to protect the world's oceans, L'Oreal spokesman Pierre Simoncelli wrote: " We hope to finalize this substitution program for these remaining formulas in 2008."

Beiersdorf AG, which makes Nivea products, Boots, Clarins, Sisley and La Mer, said all have either made the decision to stop using animal- based squalene some time ago or had a policy to never use it in the first place.

Rebecca Greenberg, a marine scientist with Oceana, said: " Shark- based squalene has a readily available substitute on the market that comes from a purely vegetable origin. Squalene can be obtained from olives where it has the same qualities of animal- based squalene and is less expensive than the animal version.

" We encourage people to become educated and responsible consumers by asking cosmetic retailers about squalene sources and directing their purchases towards companies that have never used this animal- based product in cosmetics or that have made the decision to replace it."

Oceana said the market for squalene in cosmetics had driven fishing for sharks including gulper, kitefin and Portuguese dogfish, all of which live at depths between 1,300 m and 1,500 m.

Deep- sea sharks are particularly vulnerable to overfishing as they are slowgrowing, long- living and produce few young.