Hi hi~~
The two products that I searched in the Safe Cosmetics Database were: Colgate Optic White anticavity fluoride toothpaste (Sparkling Mint) and Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio cologne.
Were you surprised to find out the toxicity rating of your personal care products?
I was most surprised to find out about the toxicity rating of the Colgate Optic White toothpaste, which was rated as Fair (4). I found this somewhat alarming because toothpaste is something that we directly put into our mouth for cleaning. There are also some cancer concerns with the toothpaste that I was surprised to find out about. I somewhat expected the Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio cologne to be higher, which was correct. It was rated as Fair (5). However, I found that there's a moderate risk of Allergies and Immunotoxicity, which I definitely found surprising.
Did you decide to change any of your consumer behaviors based on your findings?
I can't honestly say that I have changed or will change any of my consumer behaviors for a while. If I think about myself in terms of the Stages of Change, I would probably say that I'm in the Precontemplation stage for changing my consumption of personal care products. This probably because I haven't had the chance to digest the new information yet.
Should everyone know about these risks? Why don't they?
I think these risks should be included directly on the containers that each of these products comes in, since only minimal safety information is currently included. I think people should know about these risks so that they can make a well-informed decision about whether they would like to buy them or not.
The two products that I searched in the Safe Cosmetics Database were: Colgate Optic White anticavity fluoride toothpaste (Sparkling Mint) and Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio cologne.
Were you surprised to find out the toxicity rating of your personal care products?
I was most surprised to find out about the toxicity rating of the Colgate Optic White toothpaste, which was rated as Fair (4). I found this somewhat alarming because toothpaste is something that we directly put into our mouth for cleaning. There are also some cancer concerns with the toothpaste that I was surprised to find out about. I somewhat expected the Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio cologne to be higher, which was correct. It was rated as Fair (5). However, I found that there's a moderate risk of Allergies and Immunotoxicity, which I definitely found surprising.
Did you decide to change any of your consumer behaviors based on your findings?
I can't honestly say that I have changed or will change any of my consumer behaviors for a while. If I think about myself in terms of the Stages of Change, I would probably say that I'm in the Precontemplation stage for changing my consumption of personal care products. This probably because I haven't had the chance to digest the new information yet.
Should everyone know about these risks? Why don't they?
I think these risks should be included directly on the containers that each of these products comes in, since only minimal safety information is currently included. I think people should know about these risks so that they can make a well-informed decision about whether they would like to buy them or not.
Hey Adam!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I love that you included where you are on the stages of change scale. I definitely feel the same when it comes to changing the products I use and looked up for this section. Though the products I searched had relatively low toxicity, I would still want to look up some of my other products and see where I would want to be when it comes to changing my personal care products. Do you feel that having this information on the containers would make people not buy such products? If so, would companies really start changing the formulas for these products based on this change?
That is super surprising about the colgate. I feel like a dumb dumb, but honestly that was one thing that I did not even think to look up because it seems like a no brainer that it would be environmentally safe, nice to know how wrong we are.
ReplyDeleteI like your honesty about making product changes. It is hard to see the direct impact that these products have on our health, which make change, even in the light of evidence and learned precaution, very challenging.