A discussion of the environmental health impacts of beauty & personal care products with Dr. Ami Zota, scientist, professor, and founder of Agents of Change in Environmental Justice at Columbia University. In this episode, we discuss toxic ingredients, colorism, hair discrimination, beauty standards, health outcomes, routes of exposure, policy solutions and more. Dr. Zota shares her framework on these challenges: the environmental injustice of beauty.
A discussion of the environmental health impacts of beauty & personal care products with Dr. Ami Zota, scientist, professor, and founder of Agents of Change in Environmental Justice at Columbia University. In this episode, we discuss toxic ingredients, colorism, hair discrimination, beauty standards, health outcomes, routes of exposure, policy solutions and more. Dr. Zota shares her framework on these challenges: the environmental injustice of beauty.
Connect with Dr. Zota:
Ami Zota - Associate Professor - LinkedIn
Agents of Change in Environmental Justice
Resources:
EWG Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database
United Nations Convention Agrees to Phase Mercury Out of Cosmetics by 2025
Toxic Free Products | WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Mercury in Soaps and Creams - NYC Health
Washington state now has the nation’s strongest law against toxic cosmetics | Grist
Mercury in Soaps and Creams - NYC Health
12 Ingredients To Avoid In Cosmetics & Skin Care Products | mindbodygreen
You Have Fossil Fuels On Your Face - by Jessica DeFino
Sources:
Countries unite to remove mercury from hazardous skin lightening products
Skin Whitening: The global market, the risks and who makes and sells the products
Credits:
Hosted and produced by Kiana Michaan
Edited and co-produced by Lucy Little
Ami Zota: [00:00:00] Chemicals in personal care products and cosmetics are severely under regulated, and we have a broken regulatory system. And so people can't assume that the products they're using are inherently safe because there is really limited health and safety screening. So, you know, at the end of the day, it's a big burden to put on the individual.
So, you know, we try to go back and forth between the individual and these social and structural forces.
Kiana Michaan: Hello and welcome to Climate with Kiana, a podcast that explores topics of climate, energy, and sustainability through a framework of joy and justice. I'm your host, Kiana Mishan, a climate justice and clean energy advocate. This show brings you conversations with passionate people working in climate. And together we explore the many exciting and intersectional solutions to one of the greatest challenges of [00:01:00] our time.
So if you've ever felt overwhelmed by the climate crisis, these conversations are for you. Whether you're already a climate nerd or just climate curious, join me each week in an exploration of climate justice solutions. Let's cultivate hope and joy and vision new possibilities together.
Hello and welcome back to this week's episode of Climate with Kiana. Today we're going to talk about beauty justice and environmental health. The beauty industry is a multi billion dollar global industry with significant environmental, health, and social impacts. Whether you are calculating product emissions, accounting for the massive amount of waste products, or assessing a full life cycle analysis on beauty products, there are many levels of environmental impacts to consider.
The average woman uses 12 personal care products a day, which [00:02:00] together contain about 168 different untested chemicals. Black women and women of color are marketed and exposed to products containing higher levels of harmful chemicals, making beauty justice both a gender and racial justice issue. Beauty culture is also shown to negatively impact mental health.
and contribute to a slew of mental health issues. Thus, the impacts of beauty culture is a clear environmental and public health issue. You may be wondering, how are beauty culture, cosmetic products, and the climate crisis related? What's the beauty industry's connection to the fossil fuel industry? The shared architects of the fossil fuel economy and the beauty industry.
Capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy. Together, we are going to explore how the usage of personal care products and beauty products is an environmental justice issue, disproportionately exposing people to health hazards [00:03:00] along patterns of environmental racism and gender injustice. So today, we're going to explore these questions.
What is beauty justice? What is the environmental health impact of personal care and beauty products? How are women and women of color disproportionately impacted? What does the environmental injustice of beauty mean? What is greenwashing? And what are some policy solutions? I'm excited to share this conversation because to me this is a really compelling topic with huge implications for our day to day lives.
Personal care products can be an integral part of how we take care of ourselves. But what is the bigger story of these products that end up on our bathroom shelves and in our homes? To answer these questions, I spoke with Dr. Ami Zota, a scientist, researcher, associate professor, and the founder and director of Agents of Change in Environmental Justice at Columbia University.
Here's our conversation. I'll let you introduce yourself.
Ami Zota: So I am an associate [00:04:00] professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Broadly, my work seeks to advance environmental justice and health equity using a range of tools, including scientific research, advocacy, communication, and supporting frontline communities as they fight for systemic change.
Kiana Michaan: What really excites me about your work is the way that you are bringing together like a lot of different important facets that impact environmental health, both the social aspects and the scientific health outcomes and exposure routes that you don't always see. being included together in the conversation.
So just excited to get into that. I'm curious to know what inspired you to get into this work, a little bit about your journey to entering this area of
Ami Zota: research. Sure. And so I can talk first, maybe a little bit [00:05:00] about my evolution into this work. Actually, when I was doing my doctorate, my PhD work, um, I was actually more studying how mind waste, uh, former lead and zinc mines were impacting the health of women and children and there was a big indigenous community near the Tar Creek Superfund site in Oklahoma.
And so I was working on a community based research project there. And then after I finished that work, I started working on a project in Richmond, California that sought to link breast cancer with environmental justice. And there I was introduced to kind of. the potential hazards or dangers of endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Um, so chemicals that can mimic the hormones in our bodies, even at low levels that are often found in consumer products, whether it's paint, the furniture in our homes, you know, the cleaning products we use, as well as the products we put on our bodies like lotion and hair gel, et cetera. You know, then I just sort of [00:06:00] followed both.
the science as well as what the policy needs were because I wanted to do science that could be used by policymakers and by individuals. And so I started working on a class of chemicals called phthalates because they can impact especially reproductive health and started looking at personal care products.
Kiana Michaan: Bear with me for a moment, but an important side note here. Endocrine disrupting chemicals are substances that interfere with the body's endocrine system, or how our hormones function. The rise in synthetic chemicals in the environment has increased exposure to these chemicals for the general population.
Phthalates, known as the everywhere chemical, are a type of man made chemicals that are plasticizers used to make plastics more durable, and also used as solvents and stabilizers. They are endocrine disrupting chemicals associated with adverse developmental and reproductive health impacts. The most common routes of exposure to these chemicals are through [00:07:00] inhalation, ingestion, and skin absorption.
Phthalate exposure is widespread in the U. S. population from infants to adults. Phthalates can be found in hundreds of products, including nail polish, lotions, fragrances, hair products, deodorants. baby powder, paints, PVC products, and more. Common phthalates include dibutyl phthalate, DMP, and diethyl phthalate, DEP.
Another notable class of chemicals are known as PFAS, which are substances that have been called forever chemicals. These forever chemicals have harmful human health impacts and are found in a wide range of consumer products, including non stick cookware, food packaging, clothing, and cosmetics. These chemicals have been linked to various cancers, reproductive problems, endocrine disruption, among other health problems.
PFAS can be found in the blood of 99 percent of Americans and millions of people's drinking water [00:08:00] is contaminated with PFAS. For more information about endocrine disrupting chemicals, phthalates, and PFOS, please see the show notes. Now back to Dr. Zota.
Ami Zota: So my first foray into this work was actually studying menstrual and intimate care products.
So, ones that we use on our sexual and reproductive organs, like douches and sprays, wipes. They're kind of known as the feminine hygiene industry, but I really despise that word for many reasons. And so we published a paper. We were specifically looking at racial ethnic differences in the use of these menstrual intimate care products and then the role of these products in driving phthalate exposures.
And working with a student, I found that not only were there differences in the cluster of products that black women were using compared to white women, so they were more likely to use a lot of these kind of scent altering products, but that those differences were also driving kind of elevated [00:09:00] exposures to phthalates in black women.
And that paper got a lot of press and in the press, there was a lot of, sort of, because practices like douching are not recommended by doctors. There wasn't much written on that. And I really found that there was a need to create. a new framework on how we think about environmental racism in the beauty industry.
And, um, so I developed this framework called the Environmental Injustice of Beauty and co developed it with a social scientist, Dr. Bhavna Shamasunder.
Kiana Michaan: Amazing. I think that framework is so needed. And oftentimes I think people think about environmental impacts such as air pollution or perhaps impacts from like a toxic site or energy plant, those might seem more obvious, but I think a lot of times I find in talking to people about this topic that the idea that right there's essentially danger potentially in your shampoo bottle, in your [00:10:00] household cleaning cabinet is really new to a lot of people and scary.
And I think just in terms of environmental justice work and health impacts is a lot of it is so personal to our identities in terms of our daily habits and cultural practices. The products we use, the rituals we do around beauty, that's very personal. And you see those things in like food justice as well, like what we eat, how that's a part of our identity.
So I think it's It's really interesting to, yeah, understand like how a lot of these practices came to be and the fact that the average woman is using over 10 products a day, being exposed to hundreds of chemicals that are generally not regulated, and I experienced myself just from a young age using a lot of products because Partially I think social norms of being a woman and also having a certain hair texture and needing those products and [00:11:00] so it's really interesting to see an experience that a lot of people have and I'm sure we've all smelled a product and thought hmm that smells a little chemical.
And then Seeing actually that the research that you do supports what we experience as individuals on a systemic level and how that's impacting us.
Ami Zota: Thank you for sharing that. You mentioned hair, so thinking about, you know, natural hair discrimination, particularly against It's the black community, black women, and the implications for that in terms of what hair practices and rituals are handed down.
We talk and think and study colorism, which is a global phenomenon rooted in colonialism, right? So this is not just a US based phenomenon. This is global, right? Because beauty is power and globally there's a hierarchy of beauty norms and white femininity is kind of the, the ideal that is at the top. of this hierarchy.
And basically, the closer you are to the top of the hierarchy, the [00:12:00] more social and economic power, you know, you have when it comes to beauty. And so, like you said, we try to both connect the social, the historical, the personal, as well as thinking about what are the implications for the products we use?
What does that mean for the chemicals we're exposed to? And ultimately, what are the repercussions for our products? mental, physical, sexual health, like all of it, right? So to me, where environmental and reproductive justice intersect, and I agree with you that so much of this is personal. And so I think in a lot of the work we do, we are both trying to work with community groups who are better versed at having these difficult conversations because the reality is a lot of the reason why we're in this situation is because chemicals in personal care products and cosmetics are severely underregulated and we have a broken regulatory system.
[00:13:00] And so people can't assume that the products they're using are inherently safe because there is really limited health and safety screening for the chemicals in our products. And so, you know, at the end of the day, it's a big burden to put on the individual. So, you know, we try to go back and forth between the individual and these social and structural forces.
Kiana Michaan: Absolutely. And I think generally with environmental challenges, that tension between individual action and systemic change at a policy level is huge in terms of we need both, but oftentimes individual change isn't accessible when we're talking about like buying a more sustainable option, buying a more non toxic option, like what's available in your neighborhood?
What is the cost? Do you even have the resources to know how to choose those things? Absolutely. Or the educational information available to know how to choose a more non toxic [00:14:00] product because that information is just, it's not taught in schools. You gotta figure that out as you go, and there needs to be, I think, just better, better education around it, especially as it pertains to, to women's health.
So many People don't know the direct linkage to, to the reproductive health outcomes. So yeah, I'd love to dig in a little bit more to kind of the challenge of shifting policy. I know, as you mentioned, it is very much a global issue and in different countries and cultures, there's different beauty standards and therefore different kinds of products being sold, but also each country has its own regulations.
So you see, Definitely nuances depending on where you are, but the U. S. is particularly rough in terms of regulations. Most of them haven't changed and since 1938 in the EU, but for contrast, there's over a thousand chemicals and ingredients that have been banned and products in the U. S. has been less than 20, [00:15:00] which is pretty shocking when we're thinking about.
Our health and the cumulative impact of a lot of these ingredients that we're putting on our bodies every day. Maybe the safety has been studied in smaller quantities, not accounting for the use of many products that might include those ingredients over time. And that toxic load can become a lot bigger than companies are accounting for when they're formulating products.
Okay, bear with me again here. While not exhaustive, here is a list in no particular order of ingredients that are recommended to be avoided for health and environmental reasons. Phthalates, PFAS, antibacterials such as triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate, coal tar dyes, DEA, formaldehyde, and formaldehyde releasers.
1, 4 dioxin, PEG compounds, and other ethoxylated ingredients, oils extracted with hexane, parabens, fragrance, lead, oxybenzone, [00:16:00] siloxanes, p phenylenediamine, BHA, BHT, EDTA, toluene, heavy metals, petroleum and petroleum distillates, such as mineral oil, polyethylene glycol, paraffin oil or wax, and petroleum jelly.
Yes, that's right, there's a big connection between big beauty and big oil. The beauty industry is heavily reliant on petrochemicals for product ingredients and packaging. Often products marketed to protect the skin from environmental pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels are full of petroleum derived ingredients, an unfortunate irony.
So with all that said, I'm curious to hear your thoughts about policy in this country in the U. S. right now around duty regulations, how you see that shifting, how your work has touched on that.
Ami Zota: Sure, that's a great question. So I'm not a policymaker, I'm not a policy specialist, but I have found that it can be very valuable to work in [00:17:00] consortiums, right?
To work in collaboratives because I may understand the science in ways that people who are Doing the policy work may not. So there, there is power in teams in multidisciplinary teams. So I have worked with different advocacy groups to, by testifying and by providing informational testimony to help pass more progressive legislation at the state level.
Um, so I testified for a law that was passed in California and then more recently, Washington state passed the kind of most strictest, most health protective cosmetic safety law that. will phase out or ban PFAS chemicals and formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers and lead and mercury and certain phthalates.
And so I think it's about 25 chemicals.
Kiana Michaan: The Toxics Free Cosmetics Act passed in Washington state in May 2023 and went into effect two months later in July. The law bans the intentional usage of hazardous chemicals including [00:18:00] phthalates, PFAS, formaldehyde, and lead in cosmetics by 2025. It also sets a limit on the unintentional contamination levels of lead in products, making it the first state to do so.
The Toxics Free Cosmetics Act incentivizes companies to make safer personal care products and protects consumers long term health.
Ami Zota: And so it is, you know, it is possible. And, you know, they also said that this environmental injustice and beauty framework was Quite critical to kind of even them bringing up the possibility of this law.
So I think, you know, one strategy right now is to try to pass more health protective bills at the state level and, you know, kind of wait for a slow ripple effect, uh, because passing. policy change at the federal level is so hard. But the other point I do just want to bring up is there's the passing of it.
And then there's also the implementation. So if you think about, for example, skin lightening creams, um, we're concerned about those because they can contain mercury, which is a known human [00:19:00] carcinogen. And they can also contain hydroquinone, which also has concerning health impacts. And so actually in this case, FDA does have restrictions for mercury, they've had it for quite some time, and they just passed a law restricting hydroquinone and over the counter products.
And New York state is actually quite progressive here too, but I think the problem is, is that a lot of, you know, these products are highly used in immigrant communities and they're, they're getting the products at small mom and pop cultural stores that are importing them, you know, from. From their home countries like Pakistan or other countries or somewhere in West Africa or East Asia.
And, um, it's, it's very hard from an enforcement perspective to continually identify these products that have very, very high levels of mercury because, you know, the U. S. legislation won't allow, [00:20:00] There's no enforcement action on the kind of, on the side of where these products are actually being manufactured.
And there's also an interesting lawsuit right now, in California, around this Issue because these products are still available on Amazon and on eBay and there are, you know, this kind of speaks to issues that transcend this topic that cut across many topics around. So are, are those big marketplaces, you know, what is their legal responsibility?
Right. Are they just to enforce the law in terms of what's being sold in their marketplaces? So this is, this is playing out in the courts right now. So there's both the passing of the legislation and then there's the implementation. And then there's one more type of policy that I think is worth talking about.
And that's a policy that seeks to address discrimination. So policies such as the crown act, which seeks to restrict. [00:21:00] race based hair discrimination, such as natural hair discrimination against the black community, um, specifically in schools and the workplace. Because this is often where two of the environments where natural hair discrimination plays out.
And you know, the Crown Act has now passed in nearly 20 states, but there's no language in the bill around enforcement or implementation. And most of the time there's no budget for enforcement or implementation. So, you know, that's another thing that I'm personally watching is how is this this law going to be used to actually create real change?
Or will it create any change around hair discrimination?
Kiana Michaan: Yes. And I do think it's definitely already raised more awareness of the issue just by passing, right? Um, and I think as you were saying, a lot of these local legal fights that are playing out. It's great that they're happening, but it's needed, it's needed [00:22:00] everywhere, right?
These are not just localized issues. Yes, in terms of communities that have greater amounts of toxin exposures, low income communities, immigrant communities, communities of color. It is localized in that sense that it follows that geographic pattern of environmental racism. And this is also where that dual approach of both the policy change and kind of the social education piece comes in of thinking about, okay, also, why are people continuing to choose skin lightener creams?
That's from like, deeply rooted beauty norms. Is this beauty standard necessary? And also, if there was more actually awareness about the harm that the products were causing, that might change consumers choices. Because I think most people using these products aren't aware of how profound those long term health impacts could be.
And if there was more awareness of that coupled with policy change, that would be really helping to move in the right direction.
Ami Zota: Yeah, I think you, you raise [00:23:00] a great point. It's a both and approach, right? It's both about having repeated multiple conversations around the presence, the power, the impact of these racialized beauty norms, such as colorism and the preference for light skin globally, because it is so strong.
I mean, I'm South Asian, I'm Indian. It's very strong in the Indian community. You, you know, you, the commercials, the products, Bollywood, all the actresses and actors are fair skin. You know, we should say that when it comes to colorism, it's not limited to women. And so it's around these difficult conversations and it's about educating.
people so that they know how dangerous some of these products can be to their health and also to their kids.
Kiana Michaan: Not only does colorism have extremely harmful psychological and cultural impacts but very real health implications. Skin lightening creams and products are a multi million dollar global industry and often use [00:24:00] mercury or hydroquinone as the active ingredient.
Mercury is extremely toxic to human health and can cause kidney damage, nervous system damage, depression, anxiety, and developmental problems. Hydroquinone can cause neurological problems and is a potential carcinogen. While the FDA does not allow the use of mercury or hydroquinone in over the counter cosmetics, there remains a large market for illegally imported skin lightening products in the U.
S. That is, as a result, completely unregulated. The FDA has linked the usage of these products to cases of mercury poisoning. And yet the global skin lightening product market was valued at 8. 8 billion U. S. dollars in 2022, and is projected to reach 11. 8 billion dollars in 2026. Women account for 80 percent of skin lightening product consumers.
Asia Pacific has the largest market for these products. Currently, the UN Environment Program and the World Health Organization, along with the governments of Gabon, [00:25:00] Jamaica, and Sri Lanka, are running a global 14 million project to work towards eliminating the use of mercury in products and combating colorism across cultures.
Ami Zota: Mercury vapors, if you use them in the house, they can stay in the air and Anyone using that room can breed them in. If you're using them when you're pregnant, the mercury can cross the placenta and enter your newborn child. And so we have this project that we are about to start in partnership with WEACT, where we will be actually working, it's a kind of a train the trainer project with immigrant community based orgs in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx, where we will be actually working with trusted community orgs to both do. culturally responsive education around both colorism as well as, um, specific hazards in skin lightening creams.
Kiana Michaan: You mentioned exposure for young kids and also through pregnancy, that being another [00:26:00] really sensitive time in terms of chemical exposure. I mean, at this point, most of us already have a level of certain chemicals in our bloodstreams that People are born with in their bloodstream, right?
Because we all have just like a bit of PFAS hanging out in there That um gets passed on so it's certainly serious and that a lot of products aren't tested for smaller Developing bodies. So those impacts are greater and it doesn't matter if the product is marketed for children I mean you comes to mind as an example with Johnson Johnson, and the baby powder, the way talc is mined, the main ingredient, is easily contaminated with asbestos, and they're paying out millions of millions of dollars in lawsuits now because of the impact that exposure has had, and also Documentation revealed that they specifically targeted black women, so I feel like that's just a strong example of kind of how pervasive this is in the industry and in what companies are doing and not acting in good faith, [00:27:00] which is scary.
The one I just mentioned, lead in lipstick, I think there's more awareness about. Say some of the chemicals in sunscreens that are both bad for our health and also impact reefs. So you see local areas that have a lot of ocean activity banning certain sunscreens. Been so, there've definitely been a lot of those scary news stories that have broke, which I think raises a little bit of awareness.
That said, I think I'd love to touch on what do we do as, as a consumer, right? You learn about this and it's. It's scary, and there are definitely some steps you can take, and I have my thoughts on this, and I'm curious, once again, not placing the full onus of responsibility on the consumer, but once you are equipped with a little bit of this information, what do you suggest one, one does on an individual level, to limit their exposure?
Ami Zota: I mean, you
know, you've brought up so many great points and talking about the kind of the role of corporations who are not acting in good [00:28:00] faith is huge, both in terms of this issue, but also in terms of climate change and other issues. And so I think sometimes we let them off the hook too easily. There are some good points.
Thank you. Better acting corporations out there, there are people in the private sector who are trying to be leaders in terms of making products that you know, have health in mind. And so one is like just trying to find those that resonate with you that also create products that are effective and meet your price point.
Obviously, there is a lack of access because To really do this in an intentional way that is really thinking about the whole supply chain is, is really expensive. So at, at the lower price point, these kinds of options are just not available, right? So there is an equity issue there. So one is thinking about critical windows of vulnerability.
Pregnancy is a really important window. So that's one where it is, I mean, it's already a time where a lot of behavior is changing. There's [00:29:00] recommendations around rights. Not smoking not drinking being mindful of your product use during pregnancy is important as is when if you're breastfeeding because right it's all going to the child and Just early childhood is another really important window, especially when the children's brains and bodies are so actively developing.
Kiana Michaan: Just in terms of talking about times that the, the body is sensitive, whether that's in childhood, pregnancy, breastfeeding.
Just thinking about the fact that, like, the skin is the largest organ in the body when we're slathering ourselves in a lotion head to toe. And that, you know, there's pharmaceutical medicines that can be absorbed through the skin, which go straight to your bloodstream. So just thinking about on the body, that our skin is sensitive, our scalp is hyperabsorbent, products that go on the lips we can consume a little bit while wearing them, so I think those And, and of course, feminine care products, you mentioned also another [00:30:00] extremely absorbent area.
Ami Zota: So I'm part of this Taking Stock, the Taking Stock Study Consortium. So it's like a research community kind of partnership where several of us researchers are partnering with an organization called Black Women for Wellness, which really focuses on environmental and reproductive. Justice issues that are important to black women, particularly in South L.
A. And we're doing a lot of work in this beauty justice space. And so we we do really in our education and even in the way we approach the science differentiate between products that may be leave on products that are sitting whether it's on your scalp or directly on your skin for longer versus like washout products, right?
Which are like your shampoos, which There's just less time for exposure. So I think your point is well taken. For example, like foundations, right? It is meant to stay on your skin for a long time. And for example, when, when people were doing the PFAS testing of products, they found that it was really the [00:31:00] foundation and the mascara.
So those things that are trying to be water resistant.
Kiana Michaan: Another thought I had was nail salon workers. Hair salon workers are also facing disproportionate impact and other professions and I know there's been kind of some organizing work happening among nail salon workers to help reduce exposure but it's, there's just communities, professional communities that are being disproportionately impacted and we need to, you know, protect those workers and individuals and do everything we can to protect our, our health.
We need long term systemic change through policy solutions that require industry standards that prioritize consumer health. That said, to minimize your current exposure to chemicals and personal care products, there are a number of useful tools including apps and websites to help you navigate the market and choose healthier products.
Ami Zota: But I think knowing that you're like, you're not going to be able to get yourself to zero, there's just a lot of stuff we can't control. So I'm not [00:32:00] necessarily becoming anxious about it, but I think like trying to pick your battles using some of these apps can be helpful. So Claria is a new one that is a newer and it's a very data driven approach.
And what's nice about that is it's a. plugin that just kind of you use with your existing browser. So it's not like necessarily a different app, but it will just kind of give you information as you're like, for example, online shopping, there's the EWG skin deep app. There's other apps out there. For example, I did use the clear app when I was trying to figure out what sunscreen to buy for my daughter who really wanted spray on sunscreen.
Um, and those I mean, you know, they're problematic anyway, and even some of the ones that were called organic and have this language, you know, when I, when I look, use the app, I found that even some of these ones that were branding themselves as, you know, they were all mineral based sunscreens, but even the mineral based ones, some of them had PFAS in it.
And so that's just to [00:33:00] show you that it's a, it's a hard space to navigate. So sometimes I think just using fewer products can also be a good strategy.
Kiana Michaan: In the last 10 years or so, I do think the demand for non toxic products has gone up a lot, which on the one hand is great because there are more options.
I'm not saying these options are accessible, but there are more options. That said, with that comes a lot of greenwashing. Greenwashing occurs when a company markets a product or service with positive claims around sustainability and the benefits of the product that misrepresent the true environmental impacts.
In personal care products, it is often seen in sustainability buzzwords on product packaging or advertising. This problematic practice occurs across industries, from fossil fuel companies to cosmetic companies that are hoping to gain favor with consumers while maintaining little regard for the true environmental cost of their products.
So, which, [00:34:00] you know, it's tricky to navigate as a consumer. I feel like it's tough, but the number one thing I tend to recommend to people is just to, like, familiarize yourself with some of the top ten really toxic ingredients to avoid, and just read, read ingredient labels, and be curious, because you'll find when you read an ingredient label that you're probably not able to pronounce.
Most of the ingredients, and knowing that on an ingredient list, the ingredients listed first are in the highest concentration, and as it goes down, the concentration gets lower. So just being able to decipher that a little bit. The same way you would read, say, like, a nutrition facts label, or what's in your food.
Ami Zota: I completely agree. And I just also wanted to flag that the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is a Sort of an advocacy consortium that's run through the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, which is a NGO based in California, you know, and they have a big advisory committee and a lot of scientists are part of that [00:35:00] advisory committee, including myself.
So they came up with like a screening criteria and they actually Are lifting up black owned companies, creating products that, you know, meet their rigorous criteria. It's called the Non Toxic Black Beauty List, and that's another newer resource that is trying to proactively help consumers instead of just saying, don't use this or don't use that.
I will just say, so I went through all this work to find a sunscreen that met my needs only for my daughter to be like, Oh, I don't like this one, right? I want to use. It's the one that her friends use, which does not meet my standards. And so it's challenging because now as she's getting older, she's pushing back.
She wants these toy makeup kits, which I know have a lot of talc based powders in the eyeshadows, which, which I know have been tested and can have asbestos. So, you know, there's a lot of social pressures and the social pressures start really young.
Kiana Michaan: Your daughter not even liking the product then speaks to product performance, right?
Right, like a [00:36:00] lot of these chemicals they're adding to the product. There is a reason they add them generally It's not just oh, we'll throw this in for fun Like it is helping on some aspect with the way the product performs whether that's like texture or scent or something. So Oftentimes the non toxic version isn't comparable performance wise when fragrance is included on an ingredient list It means that there is an undisclosed combination of ingredients comprising the product's scent.
These fragrance formulations are not legally required to be disclosed under the guise of being proprietary, and can include any of the health harmful chemicals that we've been discussing. This speaks to the larger issue of undisclosed ingredients, which are a result of legal loopholes and the contamination of ingredients, which can happen through various extraction and manufacturing processes.
So the final question I'm going to ask is, what is giving you hope for the future of beauty justice and, and what brings you joy in your work?
Ami Zota: I think one of the things [00:37:00] that gives me hope is all the young talent and hope that I see in my students, in the early career scientists. that I trained through the Agents of Change and Environmental Justice Program, which is fostering more diverse scientific leadership in the environmental and climate justice, uh, movement.
So that's a national fellowship for early career scientists from systemically marginalized backgrounds. And we're really trying to amplify their unique voice, their unique research, their unique stories, and their unique solutions because the fight is long and it's hard and it's just too big for any one of us.
So. It's about planting seeds, right? And so, I mean, even in this beauty justice work, when, when I started really doing this about 10 years ago, there were very few people in this space. And now there's so many young activists, scientists, influencers who are excited about this work and, and bringing new energy to it.
So I think that's what gives me hope.
Kiana Michaan: Well, thank you for the [00:38:00] energy you're bringing to this work. Grateful to be in community and in conversation with you.
Ami Zota: Thank you too. It was fun. Thank you.
Kiana Michaan: Thanks so much again to Dr. Ami Zota for joining me for this important conversation. Please check out the show notes for this and every episode if you want to find more resources and information about the topics discussed today.
See you next week for another episode and until then be well and be joyous. Thank you for listening. Climate with Kiana is hosted and produced by me, Kiana Michaan. This episode was co produced and edited by Lucy Little. Theme music by Colette Michaan. This podcast is recorded and produced in New York City on unceded Munsee Lenape land.
If you enjoyed the episode, please share it with a friend, leave a comment, and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts. For more information about the guests and topics discussed, please visit ClimateWithKiana.com.[00:39:00]