The ugly truth about personal care product safety

You wake up in the morning and half-asleep begin your day, you turn on the shower and go through the motions- applying shampoo, conditioner, soap, face wash, shaving cream, once you get out of the shower you continue applying personal care products with toothpaste, lotion, make-up, sun-screen, mouth wash, and whatever other products are part of your morning routine.

When it’s all said and done, how many toxic chemicals have you been exposed to before your morning caffeinated beverage?

The scary truth is that we don’t really know, estimates are around 100!

Some of the scariest chemicals include:

- Mercury

-Placenta

-Lead Acetate

-Phthaletes

-Hydroquinone

-Nanoparticles

One-third of personal care products contain at least one chemical linked to cancer, according to the Skin Deep report by the environmental working group. Other toxins in personal care products are linked to birth defects and reproductive health problems.

What’s the deal!? Clearly there is no way to shop yourself out of this plaguing problem- natural care products are also poorly regulated and may include many toxic ingredients as well moreover, natural care products are traditionally  expensive  and impose barriers of access for most folks.

We need bold legislative action NOW!

In Maine: In light of the passage of the Kid Safe Product Act, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)is poised to name the first group of Priority Chemicals this year, hopefully this summer. It is important that we make sure that the DEP names some of the worst offenders in our personal care products as chemicals of high concern.

On the Federal Level: It is important to urge your representatives to support a a bill to revise the Toxic Substances Control Act also, sign the campaign for Safe Cosmetics petition for more FDA regulation of personal care products

For more information, visit: http://web.colby.edu/cleanmakeup/ which is a wonderful website put together by Sarah Hart, a Colby student and activist.