Are personal care products’ ingredients a source of pollution?
Yes, both air and water pollution. Air pollutants come from the propellants in sprays and aerosols, from fluorocarbons, ethanol, butane, acetone, phenols and xylene, among others. Airborne chemicals have been linked to health problems ranging from headaches, anxiety, fatigue, depression, allergies and asthma, and chest pain to COPD, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Water pollution coming from personal care products can be just as toxic and have long term negative health effects on humans and wildlife. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs, nutriceuticals, fragrances, sunscreen agents, anti-aging preparations, and others ingredients get into the water when we wash them off our skin or pee the drugs into the sewer systems. Many of them are endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). U.S. Wastewater treatment guidelines do not currently require removal of these compounds from effluent before releasing it downstream. The negative effects on aquatic wildlife have been known since the 1970s,
