The Impact of Junk Science on R&D: A Review of the 'Dirty Dozen'

By: David C. Steinberg, Steinberg & Associates

Posted: September 29, 2010, from the October 2010 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries.

page 9 of 9

This author believes that chief executives of major cosmetic companies should step forward to publicly comment on the safety of their products, to report how few if any minor injuries were ever attributed to the proper use of their products, and to describe the extensive testing performed on their products to ensure consumer safety. This would denounce to the public the unnecessary alarm being caused by activist groups that publish information based on fraudulent science, and educate the representatives introducing bills to the US Congress based on bad information. R&D professionals in the personal care industry are urged to send letters to their representative(s) in Congress to make the truth known.

As a final comment, this author’s greatest disappointment is with the David Suzuki Foundation in that it has bought into such junk science after 20 years of being a reputable NGO. Perhaps the group simply does not grasp the fact that cosmetics are among the safest consumer products, that they are tested for safety, and that if all the ingredients the group recommends prohibiting were removed from products, consumers’ lives would look less attractive, smell worse and be less comfortable—and yet be no safer—than they are currently.

Reproduction of the article without expressed consent is strictly prohibited.

References
Send e-mail to davidpreserve@verizon.net.
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