Gina Solomon's Blog
Eco-Consumers and Health
November 1, 2007
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
On Halloween day, 43,000 sets of "Ugly Teeth" party favors were recalled due to dangerous lead contamination. This piles on top of recalls of candy collection buckets, Frankenstein drinking goblets, and more lead-tainted toys. Now that's really a Halloween scare!
What you buy might hurt you. I'm not talking about guns or cigarettes, but instead about regular consumer products that are out there looking appealing and innocent on store shelves.
Many of the lead-contaminated products are imported from China, creating an obvious target for consumer concern. A Chinese guy that I know jokingly had a t-shirt made that says: "Dangerous Chinese Import". Pretty cute. But the fundamental problem isn't just about tainted imports. Yes, there are serious concerns about weak environmental, labor, and safety standards in other countries and the long supply chain diminishes accountability, so companies often don't really know what's in their products. But more fundamentally, consumers are waking up to the fact that there are really deep problems in the ways that consumer products are tested, regulated, and controlled. As a result, buyers are starting to beware.
The New York Times reports on young "Eco-Consumers" asking tough questions about ingredients in cosmetics. These young women are savvy to the health risks from hidden endocrine disrupting chemicals such as phthalates. They are also aware that just because a product is labeled as "natural" doesn't mean it's safe. Most importantly, these consumers understand the importance of full disclosure -- they read the label, and they want to see a full list of ingredients before they buy.
Although some companies are responding to this new wave of consumers, I remain dubious about the long haul, unless we can get some real regulatory change. After all, the "Ugly Teeth" didn't have lead on the label, and phthalates often legally hide in cosmetics under the inocuous-sounding term "fragrance". What's a consumer to do?
My philosophy is to think before I buy. My first question is: "Do I really need this?" If the answer is "probably not", then I save my money for something I really need (like chocolate!). If I really need the product, I look for one that has a short list of ingredients, and preferably one that's fragrance-free. How many ingredients do you really need to make a good shampoo, after all? For some products, such as cosmetics, various independent groups have provided excellent resources for consumers. For example, check out the Safe Cosmetics Campaign's searchable "Skin Deep" database.
So skip the "Ugly Teeth", and maybe also skip some of those other products beckoning from the shelves. After all, for consumers, low price isn't everything.
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- Gina Solomon
- Senior Scientist
- San Francisco
- I've been a Senior Scientist at NRDC for twelve years, and my work is focused on protecting people...
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