英語解說豆知識(shí)2011年 化妝品的故事 1
Can I tell you, I love my Pantene Pro-V. Of the dozen or so personal care products I use every day, it's the one I can't live without. Says it gives my dull hair “the ultimate cool shine.” How does it do that? I was wondering that while I was lathering it into my hair one day, so I read the ingredients right here: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Methylisothiazolinone. What is this stuff? I took this list to some scientists who know how to read it. Turns out my Pantene contains a chemical linked to cancer. And lots of other products in my bathroom from sunscreen to lipstick and even baby shampoo also contain chemicals linked to cancer or other problems like learning disabilities, asthma and even damaged sperm. Like most parents, I try to keep my family safe, but now I find out my bathroom is a minefield of toxins. What are we supposed to do?
To find out the answers, we have to go back to one of the key features of our materials economy: toxics in, toxics out. If at the factory, you pour toxic chemical into a product like baby shampoo, you are going to wind up with toxic baby shampoo and toxics in workers, communities and, duh, babies.
So let's take a closer look at this toxic outrage where it seeps into our lives every day in the bathroom. The average woman in the U.S. uses about twelve personal care products daily. The average man about six. Each product contains a dozen or more chemicals. Less than twenty percent of chemicals in cosmetics have been accessed for safety by the industry’s safety panel. So we just don't know what they do to us when we use them. Would you fly on an airline that only inspects twenty percent of its planes?
Of course, not all of these chemicals are dangerous, but we know that many are. Some are carcinogens, that means they can cause cancer. Others are neurotoxins and reproductive toxins, proven to mess up brain development and reproduction in animals. Wait a minute, we’re animals too! It's like a giant experiment. We're using all these mystery chemicals and just waiting to see what happens.
