What if fashion was updated as infrequently as the Toxic Substances Control Act? That's right, check out those bell bottoms!Unfortunately, the law put in place to protect consumers from harmful chemicals is from 1976. It would be one thing if it was an effective law to begin with, but it wasn't, and things have only gotten worse.
The amazing folks at the Environmental Working Group just released a report entitled Off the Books: Industry's Secret Chemicals. The report explains how, buy simply claiming that certain information is a "trade secret," the chemical industry does not allow the public to access information about 17,000 of the more than 83,000 chemicals used in products. From 1990 to 2005, the number of confidential chemicals has more than quadrupled. It's not just small amounts of these chemicals being produced, either, but hundreds of thousands of tons.
Click here for more information on our major lack of information. Thanks, EWG!
Rachel, Thanks so much for spreading the word about EWG! We appreciate it and hopefully your readers will, too. I took a quick look at your "About Me" section and since you're pregnant, thought you - and your readers - might be interested in our Healthy Pregnancy Tips (http://bit.ly/8MJj01), as well as our Healthy Home Tips series (http://bit.ly/dEOg9). Best of luck as you move toward parenthood! (I have 2 under 7). Cheers, Lisa Frack, EWG
Thank you so much for your comment! I am familiar with the Healthy Home Tips and will definitely take a look at the Healthy Pregnancy Tips. I appreciate the work that EWG does so much. I use the Cosmetic Safety Database ALL the time! Thanks again!