A new study examined "clean" hair products for textured hair. Researchers from UC Santa Barbara and Columbia used a Target store in South Los Angeles and web-scraped ingredient lists for 150 "Target Clean" products. They compared ingredients with the Environmental Working Group Skin Deep database.
The authors found a wide range of hazards and said most "clean" products were still moderate hazards. Seventy percent listed "fragrance" or "parfum", which can hide undisclosed chemicals. Only 41% matched entries in the EWG database; of these, over 90% had moderate hazard scores. The study focused on textured hair because these products are used more by women of color. Coauthors warned Black women may still face exposure. Until federal standards exist, the researchers suggest avoiding fragrances, sulfates, parabens and phthalates.
Difficult words
- textured — hair with tight curls or wave patterns
- web-scrape — collect information from websites automaticallyweb-scraped
- ingredient — a substance used in a product or foodingredient lists, ingredients
- fragrance — a smell added to a product
- hazard — something that can cause harm or dangerhazards
- exposure — being in contact with something harmful
- paraben — a chemical used to stop product spoilageparabens
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Discussion questions
- Do you use "clean" hair products? Why or why not?
- Would you try to avoid products with fragrance after reading this? Explain.
- Which ingredients from the article would you try to avoid and why?
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