Do you like the idea of easily being able to find safer beauty and personal care products anywhere you shop? It’s not happening yet, but it can in the future if you support federal legislation happening right now in 2021. You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you topics like the safest non-toxic deodorants, safest shampoos, and period underwear without PFAS chemicals, now join us for an overview of new legislation that will make your beauty and personal care products safer.
Disclosure: this post was medically reviewed by Sondra Strand, RN, BSN, PHN.
Right Now Your Beauty & Personal Care Products Can Be Toxic or Hormone Disrupting & It’s Completely Legal
When you go to the drugstore to purchase something like shampoo or order it online, unless you are purchasing it through one of Mamavation’s investigations, you could be purchasing something full of toxic or hormone-disrupting chemicals. The worst part of all this is it’s completely legal for companies to package up these toxic products and sell them to the general public. And to make matters worse, there is very little consumers can do other than just get more educated about the issues. Until now…
Most people don’t have the time to research all the different personal care product ingredients and become savvy enough to study ingredient panels, recognize which ingredients can make things more toxic when added to a formulation, and then understand how to assess risk. This takes years of know-how, potentially a chemistry background, and/or scientific advisors to accomplish. Sadly, personal care product companies know this is out of reach for most consumers and thus continue to sell us toxic products. From asbestos in baby powder to phthalates in body wash, and lead in lipstick, it’s not hard to find examples of this happening in the present day.
These hazardous ingredients are also linked to a slew of ever-increasing health-related problems that every one of you either has or knows someone suffering from them like
- cancers, like breast cancer
- developmental problems in children,
- loss of IQ,
- asthma & other respiratory diseases,
- reproductive issues in both men and women,
- thyroid disease,
- metabolic diseases like diabetes,
- autoimmune conditions
- And so on…
The laws that govern the $100 billion beauty and personal care industry haven’t been significantly updated for 83 years. This puts you in danger when companies can use virtually any raw material in a finished cosmetic product without FDA pre-market safety testing or review. This ultimately means the U.S. is lagging behind the rest of the world. For instance, when it comes to the European Union, they’ve banned or restricted over 2,500 chemicals from cosmetics whereas, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only ever banned or restricted 11.
So what can you do about it? We’ve got some good news coming in the form of federal legislation that can take a HUGE bite out of these runaway chemical concerns in personal care & beauty.
Support Toxic-Free Federal Beauty Legislation in 2021
Right now in Washington, D.C. there are four federal legislative bills that, if passed, will protect your family anytime they shop for personal care products. They cover almost every aspect of safety and need your support. They are:
- The Toxic-Free Beauty Act (Reps. Schakowsky and Fletcher): Bans 11 of the most toxic chemicals including mercury, formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates, phenylenediamines (hair dye chemicals), and the entire class of PFAS “forever” chemicals.
- Cosmetic Safety Protections for Communities of Color and Salon Workers (Reps. Schakowsky and Blunt Rochester): Defends the health of women of color and salon workers, two vulnerable populations who are among the most highly exposed to toxic chemicals because of the products marketed to them or commonly found in their workplaces. (See our hair relaxer & hair dye investigations to see what I mean.)
- Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Right to Know Act of 2021 (Reps. Schakowsky and Matsui): Requires the disclosure of these secret, unlabeled, and often toxic chemicals in our personal care products.
- Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act (Rep. Schakowsky): requires suppliers of raw materials, ingredients, and private label products to provide full ingredient disclosure and safety data to cosmetic companies so they can make safer products.
How to Support the Toxic-Free Beauty Acts of 2021
We encourage you to get involved and support these four pieces of legislation, share with your friends, and let your legislator know that you want them! How can you do that? It’s easy.
- Sign this petition! It will be shared with your congressional representative and add another voice to safer beauty for all! (We’ve also linked up the petition for you below.)
- Share this petition on Facebook & Twitter!
- Send an email to your friend and you can easily use this use language right here.
- If you are an organization, business, or influencer, you can formally endorse these bills here.
Mamavation’s Most Recent Personal Care Product Investigations
Mamavation didn’t want to leave you empty-handed after loading you up with so many beauty truth bombs, so we decided to help make it easier for you to find safer beauty & personal care products today. Check out the links below to visit any of our non-toxic personal care product investigations. There you will find all the products available in each category divided into “not our favorite,” better, and best products.
- Makeup
- Lotion
- Soap & Body Wash
- Sunscreens
- Nail Polish
- Face Wash & Moisturizers
- Hair Styling Products
- Hair Dye
- Period Underwear
- Tampons
- Deodorant
- Dry Shampoo
- Shampoo & Conditioner
- Shampoo Bars & Conditioner Bars
- MLM Companies
- Toothpaste
- Dental Floss
- Mouthwash
- Toilet Paper
- Head Lice Treatment Products
- Hair Relaxers
- Peel-Off Facial Masks, Sheet Facial Masks, & K-beauty Facial Masks
- Beard Oil
Safest Non-Toxic “Breathable” Crib Mattresses & Marketing Tricks to Look Out For!
You will find all the products available in each category divided into “not our favorite,” better, best products.