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Effects of chemicals used for cosmetics
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It is time, at last, to speak the truth about toxic chemicals behind personal care and beauty products. The daily products of an average person consists of face wash, hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, floss, toothpaste, and deodorant. Surprisingly, all of these products listed contain toxic chemicals that are harmful to our body. If we use these products to maintain our hygiene, does that mean we are not clean without these products? For example, a common shampoo many people use is Head and Shoulders. However, do we know if the shampoo is cleaning our hair from beginning to end or is it damaging our hair? How often do you read the ingredients labeled on your personal care products and wonder if they are safe to use? More importantly, if you …show more content…
Some examples of harmful toxins with difficult names include diethanolamine (DEA), formaldehyde, glucocorticoids, and triethanolamine (TEA). We are exposed to toxic chemicals in many ways. We may breathe them in as sprays and powders, swallow chemicals on our lips and, even rub them on our skin. According to a team of researchers who conducted a study on the relationship between exposure to phthalates and DNA damage on human sperm, “cosmetics frequently contain enhancers that allow ingredients to penetrate deeper into the skin. Studies have found health problems in people exposed to common fragrance and sunscreen ingredients, including increased risk of sperm damage, feminization of the male reproductive system and low birth weight in girls” (Duty et al. 1164). There should be regulations banning toxic chemicals from personal care and beauty products because toxins are bad for our health (1), the consumer faith in cosmetic companies are suffering (2), and other countries recognized the effects and banned it while America has not
We all know that cosmetics existed thousands of years ago. Cleopatra used a heavy arsenal of beauty aids to help her shake the foundations of the Roman Empire. Yes, cosmetics and perfumes have a long history, but the consumer industry we live in is relatively recent, a creation of the decades 1890 through 1920. The products hawked in the 19th Century by druggists, perfumers, barbers, physicians, and a colorful assortment of other enterprising individuals were primitive by our standards. Certainly, active ingredients were used with abandon, notably arsenic, lead, and mercury. These were products that really made visible differences, and the consumer was well-advised to be wary of the majority of these mysterious concoctions.
Chemical pollution into the environment can cause both genotypic and phenotypic changes in many organisms, including humans. More specifically, environmental pollutants like BPA can act as xenoestrogens (estrogen imitators), ultimately affecting hormonal activity and production in an organism. This alteration in activity and production can be termed as endocrine disruption. The endocrine system regulates a variety of processes responsible for growth and development, including gonadal formation and function, digestion, metabolism, sex differentiation, and embryonic development (reviewed by Flint et al., 2012). Chemicals that interfere with the function or structure of the endocrine system can be defined as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007).
During recent years, numerous newspaper and magazine articles have suggested that humans may be at risk because small amounts of well known environmental contaminants, such as dioxin, PCBs and DDT, can affect hormone levels. Hormones are produced by the endocrine system as regulators of biological function in target organs. Because hormones play a critical role in early development, toxicological effects on the endocrine system often have an impact on the reproductive system. The term endocrine disruptor is used to describe chemicals that can mimic hormones and may either enhance or counteract their effects. It has been suggested that these hormone changes can, in turn, lead to a variety of health problems including cancer, decreased fertility, and abnormalities in newborns.
When pesticides are consumed by pregnant mothers, it has a serious impact on the fetus. A wide array of disabilities and illnesses can result from the ingestion of these chemicals. This problem can be essentially squashed if we as a community can become educated and make wise decisions about the foods we eat and how we go about cleaning them. Many scientists have shown the dangers associated with these chemicals, all we need to do is recognize their warnings and become knowledgeable in the subjects of organics and pesticides.
"Toxic Chemicals Used in Salon Products." Women's Voices For The Earth. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .
In a study conducted by the University of London’s Centre for Toxicology, 30 out of 37 commonly used pesticides have been tested to block or mimic male hormones (Cone). This blockage can affect testosterone levels negatively as well as other androgens produced within a male’s body causing serious health concerns with fertilization, hair loss, and low sex drive. The study also discovered that certain pesticides that are used within today’s agriculture can, “…activate or inhibit hormone receptors in cells that turn genes on and off” (Cone). Therefore, fetuses and infants can be at high risk when exposed in the womb or through breast milk since the hormones being turned on or off control masculinization of the reproductive tract. Overall, pesticides seem like they are doing more harm to human’s health then they are at keeping crops healthy and should be eliminated from modern agriculture
I learned that drugs and cosmetics often contain chemicals that can be hazardous or have dangerous side effects. For example, a brand of mascara called Lash Lure caused many women to go blind and one woman even died because it contained a chemical that burned the skin when used as directed. After about 100 people died from using a cough syrup called Elixir Sulfanilamide, which was made toxic by its production method, the American public was faced with a decision and it caused our government to pass the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938.
If some women are not willing to give up their cosmetics during pregnancy, the ingredients in makeup can be lethal to the fetus. Nail polishes and hair sprays contain substances called phthalates, which is more commonly known as a plasticizer and can be found in the material to make rain coats and garden hoses, and its purpose is to make plastic more flexible but still strong (“Controversy Over Phthalates in Cosmetics” par 1) .When phthalates are absorbed into the skin, they could harm the fetus and, in baby boys, they could cause irregular genitals. Another ingredient, methylisothiazoline (or MIT for short), can be found in everyday shampoos and body washes such as Head and Shoulders, Suave and Pantene Hair conditioner, products a pregnant woman may very well use, and tests have shown that exposure to this ingredient could cause abnormal brain development in the fetus ("Popular shampoos contain toxic chemicals linked to nerve damage" par 2). However, these chemicals can cause health defi...
Hazardous Chemicals In The Household Being a mother myself, I have to be careful about what I bring around my children. These chemicals were created for a reason. However they can’t come without consequence. There is much debate on the use, storage and purpose of these products. However it’s important to do your research and make sure you aren’t harming yourself or others.
The absence of clothing has become omnipresent in today’s advertising. Some ads focus on the removal of clothing, while others focus on no clothing at all. This idea is ever-present in fragrance advertising, as it forces the viewer to focus on the product over the appearance of one’s clothing. The absence of clothing creates a very specific mood for the ad: sex. The ad is able to portray a meaning that is not even included in the ad just by removing pieces of clothing. Fragrance advertising, such as Gucci Guilty, uses sex as a tool to sell a product without knowing anything about it.
In 2016, Bed Bath & Beyond had the largest market share of any home goods retailer in the country with over ten billion dollars in sales (Statista, 2017). The next closest in sales was Ikea with just under seven billion in sales (Statista, 2017). Bed Bath & Beyond appears to be thriving in some areas; they have an efficient store set-up, a variety of products that appeal to their multiple target markets, and the supplier network to keep up with any fluctuation in demand (Zacks Equity Research, 2017). However, there is a multitude of options that Bed Bath & Beyond can use to improve their sales. For example, they could begin by assessing their products and inventory since the economies of the countries that Bed Bath & Beyond has stores in are
Beauty product can be defined as cosmetics; materials and devices made and sold for the purpose of enhancing the physical attractiveness of users or in other words, as any product, especially a cream or lotion, intended to improve a person's appearance . We live in society where people nowadays are very obsessed with beauty and spending so much money on beauty products. Since we were children, the society taught us that beauty is happiness, wellness and everything. This creates a mindset that only attractive physical appearance is beauty, even though ‘beauty’ is a very subjective word where it can apply to many things. It is a rare sight these days to
It’s no secret that fragrance matters to us. It is a huge part of how we experience the products we use and the world at large. For this reason, it’s a deal breaker when it comes to our beauty and personal care products, especially if it’s a product that you leave on the hair and skin or a fragrance that lingers. Many of us have given up products that worked well because we could not stand the smell or because our significant other complained. The fact that fragrance affects not just us but those around us is something we often tend to overlook. Fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and the City once said this about fragrance "It 's immediately communicating more than your clothes, which we think tell our story, right? But clothes don 't invade anybody else 's space.” That’s so true. You can look away if a coworker is wearing something you don’t like, but you can’t hold your breath all day, now can you? Fragrance can even linger in a space long after the wearer has gone or linger on your close, long after you hugged your best friend. Fragrance has such a
The concept of “beauty” is something that everyone feels, thinks, or wants, in order to fit society’s standards. In today’s society, we are often faced with the unrealistic ideals of what beauty is. Due to society’s constant portraying of unrealistic beauty ideals, this reinforces a negative influence upon women’s idea of beauty, resulting in a negative impact in their confidence, and self-esteem, which leads to others, specifically women to be manipulated by society’s corrupted outlook of what beauty is. To add onto this issue, we are constantly surrounded by sources of this negative influence in our everyday lives, including magazines, television, advertisements, and so on. However, women specifically, are more prone to be victims of this negative effect, thus will have more pressure upon themselves to match society’s idea of “beauty,” which includes unrealistic and sometimes unattainable beauty standards. Women especially, can sometimes be so deeply manipulated by society’s unrealistic ideals of what is beautiful, such that it’s possible that they don’t even realize it Furthermore, in order to do so, women often will receive negative impacts rather than positive impacts, such as in their confidence and self-esteem. The negative effects of society’s beauty ideals also lead women to have an overall corrupted idea of what is “beautiful.” Society creates unrealistic ideals of beauty towards women through the media by creating an unrealistic image of what women should look like to be considered beautiful. Men negatively affect women’s idea of beauty by using the unrealistic beauty standards exposed by society which further pressures women to try to fit society’s idea of what is beautiful. Beauty pageants negatively affect women’s ov...
A good personal hygiene can prevent the food spoilage and contamination. Failure to keep up a standard of hygiene can increase the risk of getting an infection and illness. Frequent hand washing is needed in order to prevent cross contamination of food. This is because when a hand touches something, there is a risk of contamination with harmful bacteria or chemical. Thus, the hands are keeping needed to wash with soap and water before and after every meal as well as after visiting the toilet. Hands should be dried with a clean towel after washing. While handling food, touching the nose, mouth, ears or other parts of body is also avoided. However for nails, they should be kept short and clean and nail vanish should not be