PFAS are chemicals used in cosmetics and personal care products that can persist in the environment for a very long time. New regulations seek to ban PFAS, but Canada needs to take further actions.
Regulations in the US and EU are intended to ensure that cosmetics and other personal-care products are safe, but the two continents approach the issue in different ways.
Marco Verch/Flickr
Oona Freudenthal, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)
From miscarriages to cancer, poor regulation of cosmetics in the US have taken a devastating toll on consumers’ lives. Are European consumers any safer?
Collecting water from a street pump in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 13, 2020.
Mehedi Hasan/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Water is essential for health, economic well-being and social equity, but too many people around the world still don’t have access to clean drinking water and sanitation.
Black female consumers outpace other consumer groups in a number of spending categories, notably personal care and hair products, but feel unappreciated by top brands.
Peathegee Inc/Getty Images
What does it mean to call a nonfood product like lipstick organic? Federal regulators allow such claims, but have set few standards defining them.
An ingredient in toothpaste and other personal care products may be harming the microbes in our gut and leaving us vulnerable to disease.
Ilya Andriyanov/shutterstock.com
Triclosan is found in thousands of personal care products from toothpaste to soap. New research links it to inflammation and cancer in the gut in mice, by disrupting their microbiome.
Good for you, bad for the air?
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New research is spotlighting personal care products, such as shampoos and skin lotions, as a significant source of chemicals that contribute to urban air pollution.
Subbing new risks for the current dyes’ dangers?
Evgeny Savchenko/Shutterstock.com
Less-toxic hair dye would be a great invention. But discounting the risks that come with nanoparticles could undermine other efforts to protect human health and environmental from their effects.
Lee Blaney, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Ingredients from shampoo, sunscreens and other personal care products are turning up in water supplies. Some are toxic or cause hormonal damage to aquatic life, and could threaten human health.
The nail salon industry is booming. But along with polished nails come toxic health effects for the workers, due to the chemical compounds in nail care products.
I’ll have a clean cage with a side of fertility issues.
Mouse image via www.shutterstock.com
Mice possess a notable talent: they are excellent at making more mice. Their ability to reproduce at a breakneck pace is one reason they are often used as experimental research subjects. Thus, when Dr…
Research Scientist, Cancer Prevention Institute of California and Director of Community Health and Research, Asian Health Services and Consulting Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Stanford University