Take a look at the ingredients in your soap, shampoo, toothpaste, aftershave, deodorant, conditioner, moisturizer, styling products, makeup, perfume, and sunscreens. Contrary to popular belief, the United States does not regulate cosmetics, hygiene products, or sunscreens for safety, long-term health impacts, or environmental damage. Many common ingredients in personal care products can be harmful to people, wildlife, and the environment. Some of the chemicals used are endocrine disruptors and have the potential to interfere with natural hormones, causing problems in the nervous and reproductive systems.
Most personal care products enter wastewater when you bathe or wash your hands. It seems like such a small amount, until you consider the billions of other people who also use these products daily. Since septic systems and municipal wastewater treatment plants were not designed to remove these chemicals, they are continually discharged into the environment. It is not yet clear what the long-term impacts of exposure might be, but there are some ingredients it may be good to avoid:
BHA and BHT
Coal Tar Dyes
Diethanolamine (DEA) and related ingredients
Dibutyl phthalate
Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives
Parabens
Parfum (e.g., fragrance)
PEG compounds
Petrolatum
Siloxanes
Sodium laureth sulfate
Triclosan and triclocarban
More information is available at The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and The Story of Cosmetics.
How to Help
Read the labels on products before you buy them. You can search for products and learn more about potentially unsafe ingredients in your personal care products using Environmental Working Group’s SkinDeep database. Make sure you really need new products before purchasing. By reducing the amount of products you purchase, you reduce the need to dispose of unused products. Additionally, this reduces the need to extract resources to create the products, their packaging, and transporting the products. You can also reduce the amount of product that washes off by using the products as directed. When we use too much lotion, shampoo, or toothpaste the excess product washes down the drain to wastewater treatment facilities that do not treat or remove those chemical compounds.
Try creating products out of natural ingredients to reduce chemical compounds from entering our waterways. The David Suzuki Foundation provides DIY body care recipes, information on harmful ingredients to avoid, and tips to lower consumption.
For products that are full or gently used, many online groups such as Buy Nothing groups or environmental groups on Facebook or NextDoor, have opportunities to donate your products to your neighbors. Additionally, many organizations accept personal care product donations for shelters, domestic abuse advocacy groups, and community centers. New and gently used products may be mailed to Project Beauty Share, an organization that distributes to a network of non-profit organizations serving women and families overcoming abuse, addition, homelessness, and poverty.
Some take-back events and programs also accept personal care products. Check with the organizers of your local take-back to see if that is an option. Any products that you were not able to donate should be disposed of in a hazardous waste facility. If a hazardous waste facility is unavailable, then dispose of your personal care products in the trash and recycle the containers if possible. Do not dispose of your products in the sink or toilet as wastewater treatment facilities are not designed to treat these chemicals. Instead, empty what you can into the trash and wipe their containers using a paper towel.
FIND A DROP-OFF LOCATION
Use our interactive map to find a location near you to take your unwanted or expired medicine.