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The mirrored cabinet may be a way to conceal medicine products in the bathroom, but you may still want to shine a light on the ingredients label before you pull them out. In particular, watch out for BHA, a preservative added to many anti-aging gels and hemorrhoid creams that’s an immune and organ system toxin banned for cosmetics use in the European Union due to health concerns. Creams and ointments also sometimes contain phenol, a neurotoxin and respiratory system toxin that’s banned in Canada and Japan. Both BHA and phenol accumulate in the environment and are toxic to wildlife as well.

Although it’s more rare to find in medicine cabinet products than elsewhere in personal care, fragrance sometimes shows up on the ingredient list of ointments, itch-relief sprays, and pain-relief sprays. A catch-all term that hides the actual blend of chemical ingredients used to make it, fragrance can conceal the presence of possible carcinogens such as phthalates and often represents an allergy and immune system toxicity concern.

Some first-aid sprays contain triclosan as an active ingredient. Although it’s an effective anti-bacterial agent, triclosan is a skin irritant and environmental toxin that’s banned for cosmetics use in Japan and Canada, in part because of concerns about the way its presence in the environment could lead to more drug-resistant bacteria.

Medicine products with some type of moisturizing effect, such as sunburn gels, also sometimes contain triethanolamine, an immune system and skin toxicant used as a pH balancer.

Although there’s probably a wide variety of stuff in your medicine cabinet, a quick and easy way to do a background check on it is to scan through our health and safety data for medicines made by companies that have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics.