Tuesday, February 7, 2017
M2.4 Jane Hoolihan and Advocacy Organizations on Toxics in Personal Care Products
There were many interesting things presented in this video. The lack of regulation from the FDA due to the 1938 Act; which limits the regulation of ingredients that make up cosmetics products that are sold to the public by the FDA. One would think that the products we put on our bodies on a daily basis have strong regulation to make sure minimal harm is done. One of the products that stood up the most for me was Johnson's Baby Shampoo. I have a 15 month old son, and when we started looking at the products we would use I remember asking my self, "Why are parents making a big deal of the ingredients in these products?...if they are in the shampoo, I'm pretty sure they are safe" I was very wrong. Johnson's Baby Shampoo contains formaldehyde, 1,4 dioxane, PEG, and dibutyl phthalate, to name a few. Companies are not obligated to include these chemicals in their labels, which makes us as consumers clueless on what we are putting on our bodies. Formaldehyde is known allergen and carcinogen, 1,4 dioxane has been linked to breast cancer, PEG is another carcinogen and can harm our immune system, and dibutyl phthalate affects the development of the reproductive system and the thyroid. Of course, a single exposure to these products will not cause harm, but exposure to these products through out the years will allow for the accumulation of these chemicals in our bodies, leading to various health effects. Triclosan is another ingredient that is used in antibacterial soap. Triclosan is known to have a negative impact on the development of the thyroid and reproductive organs, has been linked to early onset of puberty, and can lead to fertility problems. We use antibacterial soap in order to prevent the spread of germs, but in reality the ingredients in this product harms our bodies. Even though I do not use some of these products, its pretty alarming that we do not know what we are putting in our bodies. I believe is human right to know the harm that these products do to our health. The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2015 authored by Senator Feinstein is supposed to give the FDA more regulation on the ingredients cosmetic companies are using. Consumers should be aware of the chemicals that their favorite products contain and companies should focus on removing harmful chemicals from their products.
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The video Safe Cosmetics 101 was very informative. I thought that chemicals were tested for safety before they were used on commercial products. The speaker described products my family uses every day. I was very concerned about the chemicals ingredients used in Johnson & Johnson products because we use baby shampoo on a daily basis. Our children wash their hair with Johnson shampoo every day. My husband and I were diagnosed with blepharitis, which is an inflammation of the eyelids, and our doctor recommended to wash the base of the eyelashes with baby shampoo twice a day. The Chemical Connection video is also a great source of information about chemical exposures. I was shocked to learn that more than 74 billion pounds of chemical are produced in the US per day, and there are about 168 toxic chemicals in personal care products. That huge rise in chemicals goes along with the rise in the number of chronic conditions, cancer, developmental disabilities and many other diseases and conditions. Women usually put more than a dozen of products on our bodies every day. Girls and women of color use even more products per day. They mentioned a study of toxics in girls between 13 and 19 years of age which found 16 chemicals that can alter female hormone level. The study also found phthalates in the nail polish and two carcinogenic ingredients in the fragrance. Now I’ll take the task to research safe products before we use them. I hope we will be provided with more studies about safety cosmetics and personal care products in general.
ReplyDeleteI agree; I always thought it would be safe to assume that everyday, common personal care products would be deemed safe to use, given the number of regulations in place. It was alarming to learn that these regulations are for the most part outdated and do not require companies to label these chemicals. Hopefully The Safe Cosmetic Act 2015 give the FDA more regulatory power over these companies. And hopefully these regulations are not gutted by the new administration.
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