Marielle Segarra

Emily says it's especially hard to prove that something is a carcinogen. It's difficult and expensive. And so a lot of the evidence we have on cosmetics comes from animal studies.

Emily says it's especially hard to prove that something is a carcinogen. It's difficult and expensive. And so a lot of the evidence we have on cosmetics comes from animal studies.

Emily says just because we don't have those definitive studies doesn't mean there's no link between certain cosmetic ingredients and cancer. The American Cancer Society gets at this in a statement on its website where it says, quote, human studies of the long-term effects of most cosmetics, except perhaps hair dyes, don't exist, end quote.

Emily says just because we don't have those definitive studies doesn't mean there's no link between certain cosmetic ingredients and cancer. The American Cancer Society gets at this in a statement on its website where it says, quote, human studies of the long-term effects of most cosmetics, except perhaps hair dyes, don't exist, end quote.

Emily says just because we don't have those definitive studies doesn't mean there's no link between certain cosmetic ingredients and cancer. The American Cancer Society gets at this in a statement on its website where it says, quote, human studies of the long-term effects of most cosmetics, except perhaps hair dyes, don't exist, end quote.

And so there's, quote, little evidence and little is known about the health effects of long-term exposure to many ingredients and cosmetics. Linda Katz told us that the FDA reviews the published literature and any data that's presented to the agency on each of these ingredients of concern. And she said it's a long process adding chemicals to the banned list.

And so there's, quote, little evidence and little is known about the health effects of long-term exposure to many ingredients and cosmetics. Linda Katz told us that the FDA reviews the published literature and any data that's presented to the agency on each of these ingredients of concern. And she said it's a long process adding chemicals to the banned list.

And so there's, quote, little evidence and little is known about the health effects of long-term exposure to many ingredients and cosmetics. Linda Katz told us that the FDA reviews the published literature and any data that's presented to the agency on each of these ingredients of concern. And she said it's a long process adding chemicals to the banned list.

We as individuals have to look closely at the ingredient list on each of our personal care products and make these decisions for ourselves.

We as individuals have to look closely at the ingredient list on each of our personal care products and make these decisions for ourselves.

We as individuals have to look closely at the ingredient list on each of our personal care products and make these decisions for ourselves.

Yes, and a quick note here. We are going to cover some of the major ingredients of concern, the ones that kept coming up as we talked to epidemiologists, but this is not an exhaustive list. So epidemiologists study disease in the population. We talked to ones who focus specifically on the safety of ingredients in personal care products.

Yes, and a quick note here. We are going to cover some of the major ingredients of concern, the ones that kept coming up as we talked to epidemiologists, but this is not an exhaustive list. So epidemiologists study disease in the population. We talked to ones who focus specifically on the safety of ingredients in personal care products.

Yes, and a quick note here. We are going to cover some of the major ingredients of concern, the ones that kept coming up as we talked to epidemiologists, but this is not an exhaustive list. So epidemiologists study disease in the population. We talked to ones who focus specifically on the safety of ingredients in personal care products.

And they told us one of their big red flags when they're reading a product label is the word fragrance. That's because of a law about product labeling. Under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, companies have to list a cosmetic product's ingredients on the label, except for anything that gives the product its scent. They can describe that using one word, fragrance.

And they told us one of their big red flags when they're reading a product label is the word fragrance. That's because of a law about product labeling. Under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, companies have to list a cosmetic product's ingredients on the label, except for anything that gives the product its scent. They can describe that using one word, fragrance.

And they told us one of their big red flags when they're reading a product label is the word fragrance. That's because of a law about product labeling. Under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, companies have to list a cosmetic product's ingredients on the label, except for anything that gives the product its scent. They can describe that using one word, fragrance.

That's Melanie Benesch, an attorney and vice president for government affairs at a nonprofit called the Environmental Working Group. Some chemicals that fall under this fragrance umbrella have been linked to long term health effects. Right. Emily Barrett at Rutgers says phthalates are an example. They're a class of synthetic chemicals and they're in all kinds of products.

That's Melanie Benesch, an attorney and vice president for government affairs at a nonprofit called the Environmental Working Group. Some chemicals that fall under this fragrance umbrella have been linked to long term health effects. Right. Emily Barrett at Rutgers says phthalates are an example. They're a class of synthetic chemicals and they're in all kinds of products.

That's Melanie Benesch, an attorney and vice president for government affairs at a nonprofit called the Environmental Working Group. Some chemicals that fall under this fragrance umbrella have been linked to long term health effects. Right. Emily Barrett at Rutgers says phthalates are an example. They're a class of synthetic chemicals and they're in all kinds of products.