M2.4 Blog Assignment: Personal Care Products Video

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This video on cosmetics and personal care products was very enlightening. I was really shocked to learn that there used to be formaldehyde in Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo. Being a pediatric nurse, I used that all the time on my patients! Even though the reformulated their shampoo and it does not have formaldehyde anymore, it's still something to be aware about. For years before attention was brought to it, people had been using it. Babies and kids are especially vulnerable, and you wouldn't think that we would be unknowingly using harmful chemicals on them that are supposed to be "gentle."

It's unfortunate that most of the products that we use involve harmful chemicals. Women in particular (since we tend to be the individuals that use all the products) should be more aware. Watching this video made me rethink what I am using and buying. What's also unfortunate is that there is such emphasis on beauty, but these product that enhance our looks can be detrimental to our overall health.

It's important as consumers to know what we are purchasing and placing on our bodies. It is our right, and manufacturers are not going to be 100% transparent with us because they want to sell our products. The successes mentioned in the video were encouraging. I'm glad that with enough push companies were able to change their products to make them less hazardous.

Comments

  1. Ashley SubramaniFebruary 3, 2018 at 6:15 PM

    I thought it was insane that for so long formaldehyde was allowed to be in Johnson & Jonson baby shampoo and it took this long to have it removed. I liked that comment you made about how these products are meant to make people "beautiful" yet are causing more harm to us.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RaeMay 9, 2018 at 12:51 AM

    I concur with the both of you. I wonder if the formaldehyde's concentration increased the longer it sat on the shelf or unused. I don't think manufactures should be able to use words like gentle in their descriptors or safe if their chemicals are not tested in a longitudinal study.

    ReplyDelete

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