Surprise, surprise: the big cosmetics companies aren’t such big fans of the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010—legislation introduced yesterday to more strictly regulate their business—or of our new movie. The Personal Care Products Council went so far as to issue a statement calling The Story of Cosmetics a “repugnant and absurd…shockumentary.” Whoa!
There’s a good reason the cosmetics industry doesn’t like all the attention it’s getting: for years, they’ve been largely left alone to decide what’s safe to put in their products. You know, things like lead in lipstick. Neurotoxins in body spray. Carcinogens in baby wash.
Now that’s repugnant!
Yesterday, the industry front group released their own plan for “reforming” cosmetics industry regulation—basically a lame, watered-down version of the kinds of changes that would really help to make our products safer and healthier.
To learn more about the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, click here, or check out Stacy’s blog to learn more about the industry press conference.
Now is a critical time to really turn up the volume on personal care product safety and to demand that Congress forces cosmetics companies to get the neurotoxins and carcinogens out of our personal care products.
We got a great start yesterday: thanks to you, more than 50,000 people have watched The Story of Cosmetics over the last 24 hours and thousands more have taken action to make sure we get these nasty toxics out of our products. Yay!
In the next week, we want at least 100,000 more people to watch the film and add their voices to the call to clean up the cosmetics industry.
Will you help us get there?
Just keep doing what you’re doing—posting the video on your Facebook or Twitter, forwarding it to friends, family and colleagues, writing about it on your blog, shouting the url from the rooftops! It also really helps when you comment on blog posts that mention the film.
And of course, make sure that you visit the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website to sign a letter to your Member of Congress. Make your voice count!
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July 22nd, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Let’s reward the good manufacturers by buying safe products and also encourage them to support the campaign for safe conmetics
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:56 am
Hi Annie Leonard!
I am Maribo and I write you from Trento(Italy).
I’ve seen all your movies and they are simply great.
Finally, a voice outside the chorus! Well done!
I’ve published your video on facebook, and I am want to spread your movies all around the web and people that do not have internet.
I’d have 3 suggestions:
1)traduction in the foreign languages, because subtitles haven’t the same impact!
and please put the italian language too! otherwise italian people won’t understand a word!
poor them (T_T)
2)more important: give tips and SOLUTIONS.
what do I mean?
That while they do not change the composition of they products, what can we do?
I was surfing on the internet, and I found out that one can wash oneself with chickpea flour, rice flour, etc!(just to give an example of what I mean). In this way we have simple, cheap, eco-friendly solutions with no pollution for the water at all.
Because one point is giving the right information
and that’s absolutely necessary to get a sense of what is going on.
The other point, the next one, should be apply what we learned from your movies.
You are great because you are absolutely positive!
You give a positive message that we can do something and things will change…yes, but what? with no solutions there is the risk to get a common sense of frustation, in knowing that something in terribly bad, that you are agaist it with all yourself, BUT you don’t know what to do and in the most cases you have to make compromises that you wanted not to take.
you see? Hope I didn’t mess up the ideas, sorry for my English!
3)can you do the same thing for the situation in Europe? It would be great!
specially for italians that have no free information at all.
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:37 am
I wont buy from big businesses even if they do go green and take out harmful chemicals, support the little guys, with a story behind them, and passion in their work.
If these guys have been poisoning us for so many years, i dont trust them to find new ‘greener’ ways to brainwash us. Fortuantely there are people who are in the business for ethics and not profits. Awesome docy, loved it!
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:38 am
Thanks for the fantastic film! I live in Poland (so this action is getting really worldwide) and encourage all my friends to look into their cosmetic bags and start reading ingredient lists. I have changed almost 100% of my “favorite” beauty products. Now when passing Sephora I don’t miss E. Lauder, Dior or Lancome skincare. They don’t exist for me any more and I’m very happy with this!
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:34 am
I wish your video (and footnote boxes) were a bit more specific. As someone with a chemistry background, I know that “toxic” comes in doses and degrees. In what ways are these chemicals toxic and at what doses? While it might be common sense that a little dose of toxin every day is surely bad for you, does the science bear this out? Are we in more danger from the toxins than we are from inadequate hygiene? And how do we know that the “safe” alternatives aren’t also toxic?
Living is wonderful, but it is simultaneously dying. Entropy wins. Any action we take is a risk. Your video didn’t help me negotiate those questions. I write as a friend and potential supporter. I am ready to be convinced.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:03 am
[...] taken seven minutes yet to watch The Story of Cosmetics video. (Which, by the way, has the industry hopping mad. [...]
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:43 am
We’ve been buying all our soaps and washes and shampoos from Lush. Great products that, most of which you can EAT.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:46 am
Repugnant, and absurd, … shockumentary????
You see they aren’t used to the truth. This Orwellian nightmare
has come around to bite them in the…. : )
Me thinks they fear the truth.
How dare you try to bring down a billion dollar industry. Just
because it’s built on the destruction of womens health.
They are either sociopahtic, or utterly stupid, either way
they should be stopped.
Want to stop them? Speak with the almighty dollar, it ’s the only language they understan.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:26 am
The production of this movie was phenomenal! It is no wonder more than 50,000 people watched it in the last 24 hours. I hope the tweet I put out for it brought in a few viewers. Job well done!
Suzanne Holt
Working hard to radically reduce the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:00 pm
YOU ARE WRONG!!!!! You have absolutely NO KNOWLEDGE of how these toxicity studies – you claim are the truth – are done. They ALMOST ALWAYS involve intravenous dosing into the animal in a LETHAL dose. This is absolutely nothing compared to the toxic damage done if the animal is shampooed (these are the studies that are done, by the way).
You are capitalizing on the extrapolating scientific experimental results – usually done in vitro – to cancer in humans? If you were a scientist and tried to publish a report like the one you have published on the internet it would be THROWN OUT.
You focus on hype and not truth, and along the way, try to take down chemical companies and the government. These are ONLY SCARE TACTICS done for whatever type of agenda you are trying to push. Get your facts straight.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:20 pm
I think some of us have known the dangers of chemicals in cosmetics and other personal products for a while. There are many alternatives out there – we just have to read labels and say NO to products that contain anything we can’t pronounce!
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:21 pm
@Travis – I just wanted to let you know that Lush is not safe. I purchased over $350.00 worth of products to find out that they are not as natural as you think.
Considering they only have 15 products listed on the cosmetics data base, is one indication that they aren’t all in.
#2, if you go to Lush’s website and click on a product and start copying and pasting their ingredients into the http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com you will see they are using toxic ingredients as well. Just do your homework and check the ingredients.
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:28 pm
PLEASE translate the videos!
i’m from Perú and i posted the video on my Fb wall, i have friends that speak english and they wrote comments and all, but i had to translate it to show it to other friends and my family of course!
I’m really concerned about this, not just Cosmetics, but bottled water as well.
Please translate the videos.
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Most of my life I used all the usual products. Then I became very ill from indoor mold and had sinus surgery all the while my landlord painted and removed old wallpaper while I was very weak. Of course I became ill to most chemicals in our products.
Things like this have happened to millions all over the world. These companies have been making profits all these years while people have been writing their leaders trying to tell them something just is not right with just everyday shampoo, baby products, detergents, soaps, etc. What is to stop some terrorists from opening up a business and putting whatever they want into a product since they have the trade secrets to protect them.
I am sick of suffering while famous people have their fragrance line and claim to care about people. Not to mention all these companies that don’t have to tell what exactly is in the word fragrance. It can be hundreds of chemicals that are making too many suffer.
It is time fix this problem. And they should have to pay damages for years lost. I can’t begin to tell you how much it hurts when a neighbor uses products that get into my space. Linda
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:06 pm
@Lauren, then there should be no problem with external testing and oversight for consumers’ protection, right? I don’t see how this “takes down” chemical companies and the government. It’s just consumer protection like we require for foods and other goods to create a balance between profit incentives and safety.
@Jane EG Smith, exactly. It would be really nice to at least be pointed to some credible sources with greater details. I want to know precisely what really needs to be avoided and what sounds bad but doesn’t matter. I want to know what, in being produced or used, hurts the environment and how. What hurts us, and how? I am all for the underlying message that this needs to be regulated and that we need more government oversight for consumer protection…but I’d also like links to more information so that I can make more informed decisions and not simply reject all mass-produced products.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:09 pm
I wonder how we can find safe products…although we can work towards change, it might take a while and meanwhile we are helpless with whatever is offered to us… scary stuff… can’t trust anything now!
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:29 pm
@Kimberly – The product online is different than in stores. In store product is more natural.
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:16 pm
[...] Alert for Industry Cosmetics An interesting video on cosmetics: The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010: Story of Stuff What you can do: Campaign for Safe Cosmetics*:*Get Involved __________________ Like Tina, "This [...]
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:47 pm
This is so not a surprise and it is why a core group of us in Denver have organized a symposium on August 7th. We understand that The Personal Care Products Council is going to do their best to shout us down, try to brand us as hysterical women and tell us to sit down and shut up. NOT going to happen. Now is the very time we need to stand up and demand that our voices be heard. For more information or to purchase tickets for this event visit this link on Facebook or send me a message on FB. Our goal is to educate and empower everyone in the room. Oh yeah, we even hope to change the minds of those who will we are sure be there to shut us up.
http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1225220969742&sk=messages#!/event.php?eid=130870236950970
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Hello Annie,
As was pointed out earlier on, the films have to be translated and published in several languages for the message to reach as many people as possible.
I’m from Lebanon and absolutely love your videos especially “The story of stuff”. It would be extremely helpful to translate it into Arabic and show it in the Arab world where little or no recycling takes place!
I am willing to help.
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Hello to all you beautiful women that just want a skin care product to enhance your skin’s natural radiance! I am a 7th generation American grower, since before the American Revolution and for 25 years I have been growing my ingredients for my skin care products! We are the only co. on planet Earth that is actually a USDA certified organic grower! By late next week our lab and Kukui Facial treatment oil will also be USDA certified organic! No other co. in the world has all these consumer quality assurances and rigorous third party verifications. Check us out at http://www.lilyorganics.com Thanks, lily
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:14 pm
We need to stand up and make people aware, make governments accountable for this. I will certainly share this video with my friends and family. Sometimes these things are painful to watch, because we deep down know that corporations aren’t supporting our interests. There are critically important however, as we have the power to make better choices and undermine corporations when there is education, thank you for providing this in a clear, interesting and factual way.
I’m from Australia and its a global issue, we all gotta fight this.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:13 pm
i am not shocked by the manufacturers response, and thank god you are taking the time to do this, i seriously think, that we should target the elementary schools, and the parents, these parents really really seem to listen, not that parents of teens don;t, but the parents really pay attention, to what goes home, etc, things get read, and talked about, parents all talk, THIS IS SO WONDERFUL, i must say i was really surprised though at how many stupid, ignorant people were seriously trying to minimize what the video said, they were talking about fear mongering, and this is nothing of the sort, i asked them that if their shampoo, or babies wash said on the bottle “MAY CAUSE CANCER, OR MAY DISRUPT YOUR ENDOCHRINE SYSTEM’ would they still buy it and use it on their newborn baby? i don;t think so, but alot of them were acting like it;s only a little chemical? wtf? i can;t believed how walked on people are, and aren;t even beginning to have a problem with the deceit being thrown at us, i also asked them if the only product they use was shampoo? i was absolutely appalled at what i was reading on campaign for safe cosmetics, it frightened me so much, and people just aren;t realizing, 1 in 3 peoople is GOING TO GET CANCER, that is staggering
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Jennifer, just go to the campaign for cosmetics site, they tell you all the safe ones too!!!! you can find plenty of products on there that are safe, you see, this is the problem, and you are exactly right about needing some intervention, THESE COMPANIES ARE MAKING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, johnson and johnson has no problem telling you that their products are completely safe for your newborn, LIARS!!!!!THAT IS THE ULTIMATE DECEIT
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:23 pm
The concepts of green chemistry and precautionary principle are essential to fully explaining this issue. The Story of Cosmetics is probably best understood by people who share those philosophies.
I believe that when we weigh uncertain risk (unevaluated & unregulated chemicals & combinations of chemicals) against unnecessary risk (products that support consumerist profiteering instead of health) the “burden of proof” is practically nil. Once again we have public health and safety pitted against corporate profit. I know how I vote!
July 24th, 2010 at 12:49 am
Don’t ever stop, Annie!
July 24th, 2010 at 1:12 am
Hi Annie!
I’m glad you’ve had such a successful result with your film, and I’m SURE we can get to that 100,000 in the week. I’m glad as hell that *someone* is trying to fix things up where you live. Back in Dubai, U.A.E, an ocean away from here, society doesn’t give a damn about any of these things. All they’re concerned over is their precious oil and money and making these big skyscrapers so they can be just like NYC. Do NOT even *TRY* to ask how many malls are there in the damn place, I only know 2 of them, and there’s probably more than 20 in this. City. Alone. And believe me, among the first things I tend to see is cosmetics stores. Unlike the US, I don’t have a clue over where I can find an expert to say what’s in my shampoo, or get my toxicity levels tested, or to find safer products, dang it! Good thing though is that I do NOT use 12 care products a day. I rarely wear make-up, and when I do, it’s brown lipstick, sometimes with lip gloss and blush and that’s about it. I doubt that I do this more than once a month Perfumes I use even less,maybe 10 times a year? Shampoo, I use frequently, but that’s nothing new. Anyway, how can I help bring the UAE out of this mess, cause it’s starting to end up just like the cartoons you produce, and that’s messed up as heck.
Suni
July 24th, 2010 at 1:16 am
@ Barbara
You’re right. This stuff is exactly like 1984, OR Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and we are the rebellions. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Do not go gently into that good night.
Suni
July 24th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Thank you for creating this video! I am a mom of two boys, ages 4 and 2 and became so fed up with the appalling children’s products on the market, that I decided to make my own products using 100% natural and organic ingredients. This year, I finally launched my company, Zoe Organics. I am a proud signer of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. I am so thankful for organizations that are helping to spread the word to protect our children, communities and planet!
July 24th, 2010 at 11:06 am
While your movie was a wonderful vehicle to get the info out to those who do not already know the ‘real deal,’ I do believe you may be off the mark on one item. It is, in fact, our fault. We buy the stuff. We’ve turned a blind eye for decades. We’ve bought the stuff w/out knowing what it was that was in it. Trusting that the government was checking it, is plain shifting blame. The gov is the one who decided it is safe to use nuclear power, develop ‘the bomb’ and that it’s ok for a certain level of toxins in toys and baby furniture. The gov is not our mother and we shouldn’t rely on it as such.
Our responsibility: For the life of the U.S., the products that get bought are the ones that stay. That goes for their ingredients, too. I do believe that we should feel safe to buy anything off a shelf, but the reality is that it is ultimately up to us to read the labels and demand products for which we can read the labels. The government controlling every aspect of our lives is not the way I’d like to go. I don’t trust them to decide for me what is best for my child, which may be very different than what is best for your child.
Why not start by demanding directly from the manufacturers that they provide products w/ingredients we can read. It’d be easy for them to provide signage at point of purchase that explains some of the ingredients. As we stop buying products, they will not get shelf space. If the cosmetic company can’t list something’s description clearly, we won’t buy it.
It takes longer to go thru gov anyway, this would be quicker. Please start by asking these things of the companies for us. That’s really something you could do for us.
Give us the power to decide for ourselves. I want to choose w/my dollars and own good sense what is healthy for my family. Don’t get us angry, get us acting!
July 24th, 2010 at 11:28 am
John Perkins, “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”, says the best way to vote out big industrial corporations like the cosmetic industry, is in your retail store. Our government will not help us. The old days of top down democracy are gone. Those guys are bought out, as we are shown in Annie’s “Story About Stuff”. It will take a bottom up participatory democratic revolution to fix the, “new breed” of capitalism, mess we are in.
We also need to be very wary of industrial monopolies that threaten our livelihoods by becoming the only employment available in some areas. When people are desperate for work, they will not object to criminal corporate activity including horrendous human rights and environmental injustice violations.
We only have to look at how keeping people dependent in developing countries and our own Native Americans has been caused by and encouraged by huge industrial corporations that only want these peoples resources and lands.
July 24th, 2010 at 11:49 am
It is awesome that you got this film together that introduces the topic of putting deadly products in and on our bodies. Thankyou. FYI National Geographic did a piece on personal product chemical pollution and chemical sensitivity syndrome October 2006.
However……
1.You failed to mention that 60% of what we put on our bodies is absorbed.
2.most importantly you forgot to inform consumers WHO already creates safe products and WHERE to get them!
3.and the packaging???…THE PLASTIC BOTTLES THAT ARE THROWN AWAY(THERE IS NO AWAY) to toxic landfill, FOR PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS and CLEANING PRODUCTS DAILY IS DISGUSTING.
4.BE WHOLISTIC. THE WHOLE PICTURE IS GETTING LOCALLY RESOURCED NON-TOXIC PERSONAL CARE AND CLEANING PRODUCTS, MADE IN A COMPLETE CLOSED LOOP (NO EMBEDDED WASTE OR TOXICITY) SYSTEM IN PACKAGING THAT IS 100% BIODEGRADABLE AND ALSO DOESN’T HAVE TOXIC/EMBEDDED COSTS TO MAKE THAT PACKAGING. THE WATER POLLUTION/WASTE, LANDFILL,& ENERGY FOOTPRINTS/COSTS TO BE MADE VISIBLE TO THE END USER.
SO, Health Food Stores everwhere have been carrying toxic free make-up and personal cleaning products for years. It has been possible to get all laundry products,(which also go on/in your skin), perfumes ( a huge market), bath wash, bath soap, bubble bath, bath salts, bath oils, shower soap, sunblock, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, moisturizer, wrinkle cream, toothpaste, mouthwash, eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, coverup, base, mascara, etc that are completely organic, non-toxic and effective at healthfood stores.
AS for hair color a huge non mentioned problem for water and health – henna is the only truly natural hair dye product. This website is the final word. http://www.hennaforhair.com – THIS SHOULD BE ON YOUR CONSUMER WEBSITE.
SOLUTION? MAKE AN ADDENDUM to the film that takes 3 more sentences:
1. “Following will be a link that lists current safe products for personal care and beauty and cleanliness that are non-toxic, you can get these products at local healthfood stores.” and then add the link. Go ahead, tell people that these products are sold everywhere at local healthfood stores and even the behemoth Whole Foods and FURTHERMORE that you can’t get healthy/safe products at Longs, CVS, Safeway or Macy’s.
2.”Pay attention to non compostable plastic bottle packaging and encourage your local healthfood store to buy bulk product and allow you to refill your product with your empty bottles. Buy bar soap, not liquid. Buy powder laundry products in paper boxes, not liquid in non compostable plastic.
3.”Buy local and US made.”
Recycling of plastic is a lie (another film perhaps)? So our packaging is a huge hidden topic that we don’t want to talk about. But if you take this topic of toxicity to its logical end – packaging and embedded water, carbon, soil, energy and waste footprints in the making of a product and its packaging and traveling MUST be visible.
Thankyou.
July 24th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
A message for @MARIBO: if you follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BDwN39YMgY there is a fantastic interview that Annie does, its called “Conversations with Penn State”. Its an hour long interview, which besides being absolutely fascinating, gives lots of great ideas about ways we can change our habits in a more positive direction. She is a truly inspirational & positive woman!!
July 25th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Great story – I would just warn everyone against falling for the greenwashing that the smaller labels commit as well. Lots of times they are no better than the big guys and have really misleading labels leading you to believe they are better. Just because it’s at Whole Foods Body doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s that much better. Do your research before you vote with your wallets!
July 25th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Hi Annie,
I own and operate a small botanical import company, and we manufacture a limited amount of personal care products. We have been at the forefront of the revolution to improve ecological awareness and sustainability in the personal care products industry and promote the uses of essential oils and natural plant derivatives to replace synthetic chemicals. I do business and network with other like-minded entrepreneurs leading the way for a true green revolution. My colleagues and I are very concerned by the CFSC agenda that is pushing the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. The latest coordinated campaign, of which you are a centerpiece, is yet another distraction from doing our good work. Many of us were early signers with the CFSC and enthusiastic to be a part of their movement. Until, that is, we found in 2008 that they were taking a turn (without consulting their company signers, who are more expert than they in the relative issues). We realized they were pursuing an unreasonable agenda based on flawed science and uneccessary fear that could possibly result in legislation that would put many of us out of business. We have attempted to communicate with Stacy Malkan and meet to work on issues that are (most certainly) of mutual concern. Stacy and the CFSC have turned a deaf ear to our concerns and have now created an adversarial relationship with many of the small companies they depended on to justify their mission. Most of us have removed our companies as signers, although CFSC has not complied with all of our requests to date. Please take the time to read my latest blogpost here: http://bit.ly/c32gZW
And another ethical manufacturer’s here:
http://bit.ly/aTyR4I
And this one:
http://bit.ly/bqckGb
And the reasoned thoughts here:
http://bit.ly/d4ecyK
You will see that perhaps the issues are not as simple as you thought.
I know that you are a thoughtful, caring and reasonable person. I know that you also do not have expert knowledge regarding chemistry, biochemistry, ecology and sustainability, as well as the proper peer reviewed scientific processes that assess and determine product risks.
I hope that you will take time to educate yourself to the concerns of we who have been working to improve the safety (and efficacy)of personal care products. While none of us will argue that there are serious environmental chemical hazards, to frivolously replace the word “risk” with “hazard” does a great dis-service to the dedicated professionals working in the personal care products industry, an industry that is still one of the safest, by the way.
People have now been bombarded with unsubstantiated rhetoric across the blogosphere, shouts of “millions are suffering health hazards and disease from shampoo” with absolutely no substantiation. Let’s be reasonable. As I say in my blog, you folks are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Thanks for listening.
July 26th, 2010 at 7:25 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfq000AF1i8
July 26th, 2010 at 9:03 am
@ Lauren
I can hardly believe that you would condone such practices by the cosmetic companies. You are obviously ignorant. You think they actually care about the consumers who purchase these products? They are in it for a profit. Have you not seen or heard about the pesticides in our foods or the deleterious effects of some of our prescription drugs? All of these things are regulated by the FDA who continually allow unsafe products to enter the market. You really need to check yourself.
Thank you for producing these films. I am teaching at an inner-city school in Philadelphia this summer and these videos are great to teach the middle school students about “going green.”
July 26th, 2010 at 10:22 am
There is always trouble in a democracy when voters don’t look for the truth but instead get their information from cartoons. Its not a simple matter of encouraging manufacturers to produce safer products, this bill literally will shut down the very small companies that have been striving to make the cosmetics industry better.
I make natural, botanical cosmetics and consider my company policy to be sustainable. I am a chemist and an herbalist. This bill will prevent any herbal products from being used because they contain such an array of constituents in them (including carcinogens) making it impossible to test each and every one of them. If this bill passes, the large companies win because only highly processed synthetic materials will be allowed in cosmetics.
July 26th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Keep the videos and information coming!!!
WE ARE ALL unwittingly participating in a massive experiment without our consent. We are exposed to hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of man-made chemicals whose impacts on our health have barely been considered, including our hormones and our children’s hormones.
July 26th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
WRT the SOC: I love how you exposed (1) cumulative exposure load and (2) pink washing – which has always aggravated me.
One of my favorite examples of “pink cluelessness” is when my wife did a breast cancer walk and, as part of her kit, they gave her a water bottle. I flipped it over, saw the “7″ recycling number on it, found out that it was a polycarbonate bottle and then did some research. Come to find out it was one of the standard bottles which wasn’t BPA-free. What a way to thank your anti-breast cancer supporters by poisoning them.
Question for you guys: The SOC covers the subject of toxins well. However – it doesn’t address water contamination. One important way to regulate toxins is to insure that the water supply is well protected – i.e. that nothing gets into it. Since most “cosmetics” classified products eventually end up going down the drain, this would be a good front to tackle reform on.
Are you or your partners spear heading any reform on this front? I think it would prove to be useful where other reform might be more difficult as a result of significant lobbying resistance.
July 26th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Thank you for your informative and inspiring work. I use your videos and transcripts to begin the year in my eighth grade social studies service learning project. Students research and create a multimedia project to present to peers and family about one issue of social injustice that our overconsumption drives and show how it affects the lives of children and youth around the world. Students told me that this project was one of the most meaningful learning experiences they had ever had and that they felt empowered to affect change in their own lives and that of their families and community.
July 27th, 2010 at 7:26 am
While the safe use of ingredients used in personal care products is of the utmost priority, this act will not, and cannot guarantee this. Charging an annual fee to companies with sales over $1,000,000 sounds good, but in reality, that only proves the companies can afford the fee, not that they are in compliance to rules and regulations! For those companies that cannot afford the fee? Simply put, they will be out of business………, but does that mean the company did not offer quality products with GRS – generally regarded as safe, ingredients? Not at all!
Personal Care Products Council’s president and chief executive officer, Lezlee Westine, stated: “For decades, the industry has had an impeccable safety record under the existing requirements implemented by FDA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Our products remain among the safest in the marketplace.” The FDA, Food and Drug Administration, has very explicit requirements for labeling cosmetic products, and the ingredients used in these products. Why then do we need more legislation, fees, and additional testing on ingredients already GRS – generally regarded as safe? Perhaps there is a hidden agenda?
Eliminate the competition …. What better way to eliminate the competition than by hiding under the pretense of protecting the consumer? And, think about it – this legislation does not include imported products. Imported products, today, and in the future”, still be allowed into our mainstream consumer market without having to adhere to the same regulations as US based businesses. Larger US manufacturing companies, with off-shore holdings, sitting as board members and advisors on off shore companies, and not having to comply with the same regulations as US only based companies.
Is the consumer being protected more? No! The unsuspecting consumer, thinking all these additional requirements will make their products safer, is being led down the path of political and monetary gain of large corporations, politicians, and very powerful tax-exempt organizations.
Once again, the possibility of a smaller business, to stay in business, is questionable. Once again, as a consumer, my choices would be limited to products manufactured by companies able to pay large fees, initiate records for additional testing, and still not be able to actually prove the ingredients used are not going to cause cancer!
July 27th, 2010 at 8:03 am
To me, it seems that this is just a call for more transparency. Where are these studies that indicate Di-hydro-Oxygen is bad? More importantly, why are the studies of what the shampoo (and we’re talking lets name names) I’m using has in it, and what they do. Lets get specific, and lets put that information out. There are health warnings on our food; its still our choice to eat or not eat. Lets do it for our products, in a nice sized window on a forward facing page (not buried twenty links deep, under ‘consumer advocacy panel for the health of social servitude and concealment of what you didn’t want to know’).
Does this kill an industry or three? Actually, it employs more people and makes companies more responsible and ethical as they work out how to get this information out, and how to be transparent.
Cost – yes, it does cost. Lets find out how much it costs to add those chemicals in, and really get a good understanding of not only the monetary cost, but of the environmental cost as well. Creating something that, for example, is not harmful in small quantities is great – the big problem is that if every consumer of that product just uses that small quantity or less, you’re still multiplying that by a huge number and it does become a large toxic cloud/puddle/etc that is, by very definition, hazardous.
So does that mean we don’t use chemicals at all? Nope. It means we make INFORMED decisions. It means we regulate what you can and can’t do, so that our laws are based on what is good for the many, not who’s paying the biggest buck.
July 27th, 2010 at 10:35 am
This Safe Cosmetics Act must be well tuned to strictly regulate monster corporations but also must be suited for easy and affordable complience by small businesses because in current form as it is submitted to congress it is unacceptable – many small businesses will go out of business!!!
PLEASE ACCENT ON THAT!!!
July 27th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Thanks to Annie and the SOS crew for your amazing film and for spreading the word about the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. The SCA is the culmination of 10 years of organizing by the non-profit health, environmental and breast-cancer groups that make up the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of false information circulating about the impact of the Safe Cosmetics Act on small businesses. The bill would not ban coffee or olive oil, it would not require thousands of dollars of testing for each product, it would not put small businesses out of business — it contains provisions that will actually help small businesses. To clear up the confusion, here is a post about what the Safe Cosmetics Act means for small companies.
http://www.safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=695#small-business
We very much appreciate anything you can do to help set the record straight that the Safe Cosmetics Act is a smart approach that will benefit health, the environment and the cosmetics industry itself, especially those companies that are already making the best and safest products.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has always been ardent supporters of the small businesses that are the lifeblood of the growing green economy and at the forefront of innovation toward safer products. We are fully committed to working together with those companies to ensure that new regulations achieve the goals of safety and protection without causing unfair burden.
Thank you, please feel free to contact me with any questions,
Stacy Malkan
Co-founder, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Author, “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry”
July 28th, 2010 at 9:22 am
We’ve begun reorganizing our lives 10 years ago with simple changes in the habits of our everyday lives. I like autonomy and prefer to sustain my life as long as possible without medical professionals in my old age. So, serious planning needed to happen on my part in order to make that a possibility for my future. We quit buying at the regular grocery stores where all of the “trustworthy” brand-names are sold. No more the loyal patron to the giants. We’ve decided to go with the people who are not in favor of animal testing, free from pesticides and are into Fair Trade agreements. Especially the toothpaste we chose was important. We’re parents and want to give our children; our genetic blessings
a healthy start. We boycott all foods with glucose-fructose sugar in it. That’s even an ingredient that I am finding in foods sold in our local Reformhaus (I’m American, living in Germany and we shop at the Bio food stores or as we call them, “Reformhaus”). Just because it says BIO on it doesn’t mean it can qualify as a health food, in our opinion. We don’t want the greenhouse grown food in Spain that is pawned off to Europe as BIO. Instead, we only want the Demeter or Rapunzel foods that are grown on their land and handled by hand. We use Weleda, Santi and Lavera cosmetics. Even our dish detergent and laundry powder is Ecover. We also try these “Waschnüsse” from India to wash our clothes with. Works just great. I could depress everyone with stories of how my mother taught me to clean the home but, I’m spare you all the details. In one generation, we’ve been able to turn things around. Honestly, it feels like we’re still a minority. In my neighborhood, in Schleswig-Holstein, I see many paper thin people who have cigarettes in hand. Looks like they are dying of cancer. Lots of cars around here. I’m aware. I stand at the crosswalk waiting for the light to change (pedestrian). As I wait there, I see a line of cars forming and the wait is around a minute. There are homes right next to the street. At this particular crosswalk there is a small store where you can get things like juice to sandwhiches freshly made. I’m watching as the exhaust is puffing out of these cars and the wind is moving it directly at this building. Imagine having to live there! There’s a small man living alone in the home. I just think what it is like when he lets the windows to his home open. Or, when he is cleaning the windows, does he find the glass to be very black on the towel? It would be fantastic to see more bicycle riders than using the car. There’s still so many areas of our society to reform.
July 28th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
It’s important to think not only of how these chemicals impact the person using them, but also the next generation! If you were using these products while pregnant you could be permanently affecting the health of your child. David Suzuki Foundation’s Queen of Green has written about this in her latest posting: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/queen-of-green/2010/07/born-pre-polluted/
It’s worth thinking about how you might be impacting your children. There is also a link to take action within Canada, for those of you Canadians out there.
July 30th, 2010 at 8:33 am
I am a scientist who formulates cosmetic products for a living. I am well aware of the properties of the raw materials I use. I couldn’t do my job if I weren’t. I read at least one and usually several scientific papers a week. I come into contact with very large quantities of the raw materials that go into cosmetics on a daily basis. How come my health is perfect? How come I never come across any published information that backs up any of the claims this video makes? As I say, if it is a question of toxins in, toxins out, how come I never see these toxins?
This isn’t an academic debating point remember. If the claims made in this video are true I am at risk of cancer, behavioural problems and reproductive problems. How come I am not remotely worried for myself or the people who use the products I work on?
July 30th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
For quite some time now I have wondered one basic thing. Since mega-cosmetic companies have been required to reformulate their products for sale in the European Union, why not use those safer formulations for everyone? The EU took the path of safety: if you can’t prove it’s safe for children, you can’t use it. Simple enough. That equated to over 1,000 chemicals being removed from products. Why are they still (allowed) in products sold in the US? Since when are the lives of European Union residents more valuable than those living in the US? Just a basic question…. If you can make it to Denver, CO next weekend, there will be an opportunity to learn much more about this subject at a two-day symposium called, Fatal Attraction. For more information or tickets, just contact me at Suzzette@TheJuiceWorks.com and I make sure you get it. As a small business owners, it’s my responsibility to make sure every opportunity is provided to know what is safe and what isn’t. Then it’s your responsibility to decide for yourself. If a product is clean and green, performance driven, results oriented and comparably priced, what’s to decide? Choose on the side of safety. Contact me and I’ll keep you informed.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
About 6 years ago I developed debilitating pain and an ovarian cyst that was pretty disturbing. After extensive research, I eliminated parabens and just about anything plastic that touches my food. I also discovered ThinkBeforeYouPink.org which seriously changed by perspective on all this pink-washing crap. In fact, I will not support a company that turns pink every October for the very reason you point out–they are part of the problem!
Thank you for bringing this topic to light. My symptoms have finally disappeared and I’m sure it’s due to my diligence in avoiding toxic chemicals whenever I can. Doctors were certainly no help.
July 31st, 2010 at 11:55 am
Thank you for this video – I have read through a lot of the comments, and some seem to miss your point – this is not about telling the industry not to make their products… it is about insisting that they make their products safe & the regulators also take responsibility. Gotta like that concept!
@Matt – thx for the reminder for the Canadians out there…
Overall, the situation seems overwhelming.
I like the voice of reason – I dont want to take the very dark view that these companies are deliberately ‘out to get me’ – I want to believe (as naive as this might be) that they basically have turned a blind eye to their own actions in an attempt to meet the demands of the bottom line. The consumer often is accused of demanding certain results – but we mostly just ‘demand’ what is offered. The whole need for big biz to ‘go green’ is a shift in how the consumer’s actual voice is starting to be heard.
Thank you for bringing a moderate but strong voice to this debate. Demanding that the industry be responsible & properly regulated (not eliminated) is a great approach.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:23 am
[...] From TheStoryOfStuff.com: [...]
August 2nd, 2010 at 4:12 am
We have a online skin care shopping experience that we have been working on for 6 years that takes all the guess work out and only provides great natural and organic skin care options.
You don’t need the chemicals to make great products so we have found suppliers and manufactures that provide a safe option and promote them.
Great blog….awesome message!!
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
There is no doubt that most cosmetics we purchase every day are filled with carcinogens and materials that are absolutely horrifying…My company, Distinct Inspirations has a wonderful line of products – 350 of them and more added every day – that are all green products, including makeup, that protects us rather than harms us. Please, please let me know if I can be of service to anyone!!! http://www.arizonawomennetworking.com/category/green-products
Thank you!
August 3rd, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Sasha, I could not agree with you more when you say; “This Safe Cosmetics Act must be well tuned to strictly regulate monster corporations but also must be suited for easy and affordable complience by small businesses because in current form as it is submitted to congress it is unacceptable – many small businesses will go out of business!!!”
I am really concerned about its effect on small indie businesses who are already committed to using safe and green ingredients.
~Trish
August 3rd, 2010 at 7:54 pm
@Lauren – Start reading some of the studies done legitimately. For the last 50+ years, we have grown up with “Better Living Through Chemistry”. And in the last 50 years, cancer, autoimmune diseases, etc have skyrocketed. One cancer coalition stated in 2002 that mainstream personal care products were causing more cancer than tobacco. Your body has no ability to filter toxins when they are applied to the skin. At least when we swallow them, we have some overworked filters.
@Annie – thank you so much – we applaud your work!
August 6th, 2010 at 11:50 am
I’m all for all that you do! Speaking with our dollars is something we should all do, and what I’ve always done. In the past, Consumers Digest rated the old Suave shampoo the best. Just remember one thing, folks. The big names try to get you to think they’re the best, simply because they have the larger advertising budgets, which they include in the price of their over-priced products. People buy that stuff thinking it a “status” symbol. How shallow and stupid they are! Stop and think how long you have to work to get the after-tax money to buy these unhealthful products. Is your time really worth it? They stupidity of the majority of Americans scares me to death.
I am definitely not a consumer or spender. Most businesses do not deserve my money. And life is about having experiences, not stuff!