Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that mimic or block the naturally occurring hormones in our bodies and have been linked to cancer, infertility, and developmental harm. Because of the lack of governmental regulation of cosmetics, endocrine disruptors are widely used in many everyday personal care products, including toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and makeup. Teens, particularly girls, consume large amounts of these products, which is concerning because disrupting hormones during puberty can have long term impacts on health.

Four chemicals of concern that we are interested in banning are:

Triclosan (an antimicrobial agent found in Colgate Total toothpaste and antibacterial hand soap)

Parabens (a preservative used in makeup and deodorant)

Phthalates (a plasticizer used in fragrance, parfum, and many other scented products)

Oxybenzone (used in many sunscreens).

We ask that companies and brands offer customers the option to purchase personal care products without these chemicals. Brands that carry these low chemical personal care products include but are not limited to: Alba Botanica, JASON, Burt's Bees, and Toms of Maine.

Most people are exposed to these chemicals through their daily use of personal care products. We need your support to make changes in the major retailers listed above in order to increase the availability of low-chemical alternatives.

We are the youth researchers of the HERMOSA Study (Health and Environmental Research on Makeup Of Salinas Adolescents), a project to investigate endocrine disrupting chemicals in personal care products. We conducted a study—with UC Berkeley scientists— to show that teen girls using low-chemical personal care products for three days could lower their levels of common endocrine disrupting chemicals. For more information, seet: http://cerch.org/research-programs/hermosastudy/