Introduction
It’s the 21st century and we live in an age of science, technology and innovation. With all our advancements in medicine, research and development we really can cure almost any sickness or disease. So why are we allowing cancer causing and harmful chemicals in our beauty products?
Most people assume that the health and beauty industry is regulated by the government to ensure that products are safe before they hit store shelves. The truth is, unlike other industries, this one has minimal regulations when it comes to ingredients on labels. Companies do not have to prove their products are safe before they go on sale, so many of them don’t even bother testing for safety. Here's some more information about what's allowed in your cosmetics:
North Americans use approximately 10 personal care products every day, with an average of 126 unique chemical ingredients.
You use an average of 10 personal care products each day. That's a lot of different chemicals, and it's not even including the ingredients in your toothpaste and mouthwash. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), there are 126 unique chemical ingredients in 32 of these products—and that's just on one day!
To give you an idea of how many different chemicals these products contain, consider this statistic: researchers estimate that there are over 10,000 chemicals used in personal care products alone. These chemicals have never been tested for safety or regulatory approval (they're exempt from most regulations). What's more? Many manufacturers aren't required to report adverse reactions related to your use of their product—even if they know about them!
The U.S. health and beauty industry is a 70 billion dollar business and it’s not regulated.
The U.S. health and beauty industry is a 70 billion dollar business, but it isn’t regulated. The FDA has been working to develop regulations for many years, but the cosmetic industry has been lobbying hard against these efforts.
The FDA is not allowed to test cosmetics before they go on the market because Congress passed legislation in 1976 that prevented them from doing so because it would be too expensive for small businesses (the cosmetics industry opposed this bill). Since then, there have been no rules about what goes into our products or how much of each ingredient can be used—and this means we could all be using harmful chemicals every day without even knowing it!
The cosmetic industry has been lobbying the FDA to stop its efforts to regulate chemicals and monitor the thousands of products on the market.
The FDA has been trying for years to regulate the cosmetics industry and hold companies accountable for how they use chemicals.
The FDA has limited resources and budget, and it often takes them a long time to act on any issue, so they can't be expected to move quickly on something like this.
The cosmetic industry is pushing back against any efforts by the FDA or other agencies to regulate their products or monitor their chemicals, saying that there's no proof these chemicals are unsafe for people or the environment.
Companies are not even required to report adverse reactions from their products to the FDA, or any other agency.
Whether or not a company reports an adverse reaction to the FDA depends on their own discretion. The FDA does not have the resources to monitor every single product on the market, so it relies on companies to report their own findings. If a company fails to report an adverse reaction from one of its products and that product ends up causing harm, no one will be held accountable.
Many companies don't even bother reporting any adverse reactions at all because they know that doing so would put them at risk of losing customers. If people found out that many common household items are making them sick or giving them cancer, they'd stop buying those items altogether and buy something else instead—and if thousands of people do this simultaneously for just one product, then it's going to cost businesses billions in lost revenue!
A chemical is defined as toxic based on its effect on a single organ, whereas in reality people are exposed to chemical cocktails that affect multiple organs.
The reality is that we are exposed to chemical cocktails every day. Our bodies have evolved to deal with these chemicals in small amounts, but when it comes to our homes, we can’t even begin to control what goes on in there.
You need to be aware of how many different types of chemicals you are exposed to if you want to reduce your risk of illness or disease. It is not possible for a single study or article on the internet (or in a book) to do this justice; however, I think it’s important that we start somewhere!
There are many ways that people can get sick from their cleaning supplies and personal care products: they may cause rashes/dermatitis; they may irritate eyes or lungs; they may produce allergies; etc. Allergies can lead up into asthma attacks which could require hospitalization and possibly death depending on how severe it becomes over time!
The World Health Organization estimates that worldwide about 3 million deaths per year are caused by indoor air pollution caused by toxic fumes from cleaning products alone – not including other sources such as cooking stoves used indoors instead of outdoors like most people do today due lack resources available because climate change has made so much land unavailable for food production since mid 2000s when global warming started happening faster than ever before seen historically thus far recorded history shows us now back then our ancestors didn't have climate change problems like theirs did either; same goes true today still!!
Fragrance (perfume/cologne) is used in over 80% of all personal care products containing a fragrance. Fragrance is made up of hundreds of undisclosed chemicals and has been linked to a variety of adverse health effects like allergic reactions, skin rashes and asthma attacks.
Fragrance (perfume/cologne) is used in over 80% of all personal care products containing a fragrance. Fragrance is made up of hundreds of undisclosed chemicals and has been linked to a variety of adverse health effects like allergic reactions, skin rashes and asthma attacks.
In the US alone, over $20 billion are spent on fragrance every year with no labeling requirement for consumers to know what’s inside the product they buy.
It’s time to get toxic out of our homes!
Just because it's on the shelves doesn't mean it's safe for long-term use or exposure.
There are many ingredients that have not been internationally banned, even though they’re known to be toxic. The reason for this is because there are no safe limits for exposure.
In fact, it's possible that we're all being exposed to more toxic chemicals than ever before, thanks to increased production and use of new chemicals that were previously thought to be safe.
There are many toxic ingredients that are allowed in our products because they haven't yet been proven as dangerous.
The Environmental Working Group has identified over 1,500 ingredients in personal care products. There are hundreds of chemicals on this list that haven't been tested for safety and may be toxic.
There are many chemicals that aren't banned: BPA, phthalates and parabens are just a few examples of chemicals that have been shown to cause harm but are still used in our cosmetics and beauty products.
There are many chemicals that aren't regulated: While the European Union has banned more than 1,400 substances from use in cosmetics, only 11 substances have been prohibited by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
There are many chemicals that aren't monitored: The FDA doesn't require manufacturers to test their products before they go to market—so you can never know what's actually inside your product until after you buy it!
There are many chemicals that aren’t reported: It's nearly impossible for consumers or regulators to know exactly how much of each ingredient is being used because companies don’t have to report their formulas or production methods as long as they meet current laws regarding safe levels established by the FDA."
Many ingredients have not been internationally banned; they're still widely used in everyday cleaning products and cosmetics.
Many ingredients have not been internationally banned; they're still widely used in everyday cleaning products and cosmetics. The EU has banned many ingredients, but the US has not. Some of these chemicals have been proven to be dangerous and harmful to humans, while others are thought to be toxic, but their effects have not been studied well enough to know for sure if they can harm us or not.
Many ingredients found in everyday items, especially fragrances, have not been independently tested for safety at all. Their effects are simply unknown and unregulated.
The fragrance industry is largely unregulated, and this means that the ingredients in fragrances are often not disclosed. Fragrance mixes can contain hundreds of different chemicals, many of which have not been independently tested for safety or toxicity. The average American consumer uses at least 10 personal care products a day—all containing harmful chemicals.
Fragranced products like air fresheners and body sprays are linked to adverse health effects such as allergic reactions, skin rashes and asthma attacks. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has also found that fragrances may be contaminated with hormone-disrupting phthalates — chemicals linked to breast cancer, early puberty in girls and low sperm counts in men.
In addition to being linked with adverse health effects like allergic reactions, skin rashes and asthma attacks, phthalates are associated with low sperm counts in men.
Conclusion
It's up to us to choose products that are not only good for our health, but also the planet. Increased demand for safer products will spur companies to make more sustainable and healthier formulations. We can do this! The time is now.
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