Advocates gathered outside a beauty supply retail store in Albany Tuesday demanding New York State pass a law that would regulate ingredients found in personal care products and cosmetics.
Jasmine Phillip has been using hair care products for as long as she can remember. The curly haired communications coordinator for Clean and Healthy, an advocacy group, says she was terrified to learn just how abundant harmful chemicals are in those products.
"We just go to the store and we get products that we need. We use them regularly. We don't think that companies are willingly putting ingredients that are harmful to us," said Phillip. "So it's shocking to hear how harmful they are."
Phillip says this is why she joined supporters of the Beauty Justice Act outside Sally Beauty, demanding the passage of the legislation. The bill, if passed, would require the Department of Environmental Conservation to regulate and prohibit the sale of personal care products with certain ingredients.
The rally comes as a study from Toxic-Free Future, a research and advocacy group, looked at over 500 hair products for textured hair sold by the retailer to primarily Black and brown people. According to the research, nearly one in eight products contained chemicals that release formaldehyde, a cancer-causing substance.
The state Senate bill was advanced to a third reading on March 30. Sally Beauty did not respond to WAMC’s request for comment
