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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="http://www.fastcoexist.com/3027840/an-app-to-track-the-nasty-chemicals-in-the-beauty-products-you-put-on-your-face">http://www.fastcoexist.com/3027840/an-app-to-track-the-nasty-chemicals-in-the-beauty-products-you-put-on-your-face</a></span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:8.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.4pt;margin-left:0in;background:white">
<font size="6" color="#222222" face="Arial"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:26.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#222222">An App To Track The Nasty Chemicals In The Beauty Products You Put On Your Face<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">The cosmetics industry isn't required to disclose all of the
unhealthy chemicals in its products. But with a new app, one daughter of a breast cancer survivor is enabling greater transparency for shoppers.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">Phthalates. Formaldehyde releasers. Retinyl palmitate. Parabens.
Everyday beauty products contain many controversial chemicals, and working out what's what can be difficult. Cosmetics manufacturers aren't held to the same labeling standards as food or drug producers, and, in some cases, they don't need to disclose ingredients
at all.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">That's where
<a href="http://www.thinkdirtyapp.com/" target="_blank"><font color="#333333"><span style="color:#333333;text-decoration:none">Think Dirty</span></font></a> comes in. Developed by
<a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/person/lily-tse"><font color="#333333"><span style="color:#333333;text-decoration:none">Lily Tse</span></font></a>, an entrepreneur from Toronto, the app lists 68,000 products from North America and Europe, rating each on
a "Dirty Meter" from 1 to 10 (10 being the dirtiest). Tse hopes the app will help demystify the cosmetics aisle. It's somewhat similar to
<a href="http://www.goodguide.com/" target="_blank"><font color="#333333"><span style="color:#333333;text-decoration:none">GoodGuide</span></font></a>, another app that examines the health and environmental impacts of common household products.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">"Beauty products are not as strictly regulated as food and
drugs, so the labeling is not very standardized. It's hard for an everyday shopper to understand what the chemicals are," she says.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">For example, using the word "fragrance" gets manufacturers
out of a host of disclosure requirements. The Environmental Working Group, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group, says the term can hide up
<a href="http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2010/02/3163-ingredients-hide-behind-word-fragrance" target="_blank">
<font color="#333333"><span style="color:#333333;text-decoration:none">3,163 ingredients</span></font></a>, including several known hormone disruptors.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="CaslonFS"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:CaslonFS;color:#222222"><img border="0" width="260" height="465" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CF4F2F.018B0920" alt="http://b.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/inline-small/inline/2014/03/3027840-inline-ithinkdirtying.jpg"></span></font><font color="#222222" face="CaslonFS"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:CaslonFS;color:#222222"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">Before releasing the app last year, Tse worked to standardize
information from public databases. Something as simple as vitamin E can go by up to 10 different names, depending on whether it's natural, synthetic, or how the manufacturer wants to present it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">So far, people have downloaded the free app 70,000 times. To
get information, you scan a barcode or search from a product list. The app will give a rating and suggest a cleaner product if the one before you is on the dirty side. You can also make product lists, and get an average dirtiness score for items in your bathroom
cabinet.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">Tse's quest for greater transparency is personal. Her mother
is a breast cancer survivor, so she's sensitive to hidden dangers in the products around us. "I pay a lot attention to food and a lot of other stuff, but then I realized that cosmetics and beauty are like a taboo," she says.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.2pt;background:white"><font size="3" color="#222222" face="inherit"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#222222">Tse criticizes the "<a href="http://prospect.org/article/shattering-susan-g-komen-pinkwashing" target="_blank"><font color="#333333"><span style="color:#333333;text-decoration:none">pink-washing</span></font></a>"
role of cosmetics giants in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QPZfcYTUaA" target="_blank">
<font color="#333333"><span style="color:#333333;text-decoration:none">Pink Ribbon cancer campaigns</span></font></a>, pointing out that some products contain carcinogenic compounds. With her app, it's hopefully going to be easier to detect these situations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Deborah L. DeBiasi</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;font-weight:bold">Email: Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></font></b><b><i><font size="2" color="red"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:red;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic"><br>
</span></font></i></b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">WEB site address:
<a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/">www.deq.virginia.gov</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Office of Water Permits
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PH: 804-698-4028 FAX: 804-698-4032<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
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