M2.2 Personal Care Products

For this assignment, I decided to look up the shampoo and deodorant I use on the Safe Cosmetics Database website. The results were surprising, as both of these products actually had moderate overall hazard scores (5 and 3, respectively), while I was hoping they would have low scores. There is a high concern for the fragrance in my deodorant, Old Spice Red Zone Collection Pure Sport, that could cause allergies, irritation, organ system toxicity, and ecotoxicology. The real surprise came when I looked up my shampoo, Dove Men+Care 2in1 Formula Fresh & Clean. This product, like the deodorant, has the same fragrance component, but additionally, it contains the chemical DMDM Hydantoin, which is a known formaldehyde releaser, and has a hazard score of 7 alone. This made me take the decision to drop this brand from my daily use. While the components of every product is information that is available to everyone, what is not conveniently available is the hazard associated with each ingredient. The Safe Cosmetics Database website, readily provides that information and can help in making healthier choices when deciding what products to use. Education campaigns could be useful in educating the public about the harms of specific chemicals found in their daily-use products. Otherwise, another approach to this issue would be to educate officials on the harms of these chemicals to have them banned in future product production.

Comments

  1. Sandy TanSeptember 8, 2018 at 10:47 AM

    Hi Hugo,
    I was also surprise that my hair conditioner was rated a moderate hazardous score of 5 since the product is advertised as free of sulfates and silicones. I think that this goes to show that we all need to be more aware of what is in our personal care products. Your idea about education campaigns would be a great strategy to raise aware about harmful chemicals in personal care products. Educating the officials who have the power to ban those harmful chemicals is also a great because the end result is to ban industries from using harmful chemicals.

    ReplyDelete
  2. USF MPH ClassSeptember 11, 2018 at 4:22 PM

    Hi Hugo,
    I too have used that same shampoo in the past. I am glad I don't use it now and have moved on to another brand that I looked up as OK. Unbelievable that you think you are getting clean but instead have been soaking in chemicals every morning!

    ReplyDelete

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