fbpx

Fewer Chemicals in Teen Girls Using Better Beauty Products

Date
Apr, 11, 2016

By Fredrica Syren:

After all the studies, talks and warnings about the dangers of chemicals found in common beauty products, it’s so refreshing to hear how switching to greener cosmetics can make a difference.

A new study by researchers from both the University of California, Berkeley, and Clinica de Salud del Beauty products and teenageresValle de Salinas shows that teen girls’ chemical exposure dropped as much as 45 percent in only 3 days after switching to makeup, shampoos and lotions free of hormone-disrupting chemicals. This has a huge impact on teenage girls’ health since there is a great deal of research showing a link between these chemicals and neurobehavioral problems, obesity and cancer cell growth. All the beauty products the girls used in the study were free of dangerous chemicals such as phthalates, parabens, triclosan and oxybenzone.

The problem of chemical exposure is greater for women because they are the primary consumers of many personal care products and may be disproportionately exposed to these chemicals. Teenage girls, especially, are at higher health risk because their reproductive development is more rapid and they tend to use more personal care products per day than the average adult woman.

The European Union already has banned thousands of ingredients from being used in personal care products due to safety concerns while, unfortunately, the United States FDA has banned only 11. There are very few regulations regarding chemicals in beauty products in the U.S., leaving the beauty product industry to police itself. The result is that beauty products are filled with ingredients that may cause lots of harm to our bodies, health and the planet.

Fredrika Syren

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Posts

Press Kit
Book
Book - Zero Waste for Families
Watch for Free in Oct
Zero Time To Waste Film Poster

Get weekly UPdateS

Let’s stay in touch so we can take this journey together!