Adults in the United States use an average of 10 personal-care products a day. That translates to exposures to more than 126 unique chemicals, not counting the untold number of chemicals used in any "fragrance" listed on a label, according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
While some of these chemicals are perfectly safe, others may cause cancer, and problems with brain development and reproduction. This worrisome situation is why three Congressional Democrats -- Reps. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin -- introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 on July 21.I'm too tired to write more because I've spent my evening salvaging stuff left beside the Dumpster in my apartment complex. A lot of students live here, and many clear out before Aug. 1. Maybe they're in a rush or they run out of room in their truck or van or they don't think they can repair something or they know their parents will buy new stuff.
Today, I rescued a dining-room table with chairs, a stereo receiver and speakers, a garbage bag full of men's clothes, a floor lamp, a dresser, and two large, frolicking dolphins carved out of wood that need only a piece of glass on top to be a table again. This was just the stuff that I know can find homes and that was reasonably clean. I'll try to get more stuff tomorrow before it gets shoved into the Dumpster.