Chemicals in beauty products can be harmful

BEWARE the personal beauty and hygiene products that might be in your bathroom: They’re loaded with chemicals. Parabens, used as antimicrobial preservatives in personal care products, shampoos, fragrances, pharmaceuticals and foods, are known to negatively affect male hormones and reproductive systems. Now there’s an indication that when they’re combined with repeated exposure to other chemicals in consumer products, they affect women’s reproductive health, too.

Researchers from George Mason University took 509 urine samples from 143 women ages 10 to 44.

They found that the women’s urine contained parabens, benzophenones (filters that block ultraviolet light), chlorphenols (a biocide that suppresses immune system defenses) and BPA (a hormone disrupter found in plastics and cash register receipts), and that various levels and combos were associated with damage to women’s ovarian function and increases and decreases in normal levels of reproductive hormones.

A bill in Congress, the Personal Care Products Safety Act (S. 1113), was introduced in May 2017, but has stalled.

To avoid these substances, read ingredient labels (the small type); dodge added nonessential-oil fragrances (parabens show up in them, but not on labels) and fragrance suppressors (same problem); refuse receipts or wash hands immediately after touching them and use certified personal/beauty products free of toxic chemicals (explore products verified by the Environmental Working Group).

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