Personal Care Products

Chemical Connections: Troubling New Science

Jane Hoolihan laid out how many of the products we use in everyday life contain several substances which are harmful to human health. The primary issue which specifically concerned me was the FDA's approval of many of the products mentioned for human use. It would seem prudent for the FDA to bar corporations from using some of the ingredients found to be harmful for human consumption. However, this often appears to not be the case.

One such example that I found interesting was the use of Fragrance. This term "Fragrance" is used for a variety of toxic chemicals that exist in many products, particularly personal care products. What is particularly interesting about this product is that manufactures are not required to list the specific ingredients contained in Fragrance.

Also of note, many of the personal care products appear to have adverse affects on women health, in particular. It was amazing to see that for the average girl of today, the onset of puberty comes much earlier than it has in the past.

Many of the synthetic chemicals used in these personal care products have also been linked to breast cancer. This has not just been correlated in a few experiments or studies, but in numerous experiments and studies. Considering this, it is even more amazing that the correlation between synthetic chemicals in the use of personal care products appears to be largely ignored by those entities, such as the FDA, tasked with protecting us from harm.

Moreover, not only are these chemical synthetics linked with early onset puberty and breast cancer, but Autism has been linked with the use of synthetic chemicals. Although Autism rates may have risen due the disorder being more properly defined, it is still significant that common, personal care products have been linked with Autism. Autism incidence is rising, and this may have a lot to do with the use of synthetic chemicals. Therefore, I believe that not only should this link be further researched, but it should be validated through the policies imposed on manufactures in the production of personal care products.

Despite the fact that many of these personal care products appear to have more adverse affects on females rather than males, there are still exposures that males are prone to. In particular, Diethyl phthalate (DEP) was mentioned by Jane Hoolihan to adversely affect the reproductive system of males. This substance can harm the sperm of males, thus harming the reproductive system of males.

In general, it is impressive to me that there are so many possible exposures we are susceptible to in our daily lives. Whether at work or at home, we come into contact with a variety of chemicals that have the potential to cause us great harm. Not only is the production of these products poorly managed by those agencies tasked to check these products before human use, but it is almost impossible to not come into many of these toxins within our daily lives. Therefore, it is evident to me that not only should I be more conscientious about what I consume and come into contact with, but that I should help through a career in public health to reduce the harm corporations impose on the public.