APES
Alec Humphries
Cosmetics-Electronics
The Story of Cosmetics
Companies are still using the same toxic chemicals they did 50 years ago, when
they didn't care about peoples' health.
There are no laws to get rid of chemicals in cosmetic products.
Since 1938, the FDA has banned only 8 out of over 12,000 ingredients used in
cosmetics. It is not even required to list all of the ingredients on the label
People are demanding that Congress should pass a new law giving the FDA the
power to make sure that our personal care products are safe to use.
Many cosmetics companies are already putting safer products on the market,
and green chemists are designing safe substances that are non toxic as well.
There are a lot of toxins in bathroom products
The average woman in the U.S uses about 12 personal care products daily, while
the average man uses about 6.
Each product contains about a dozen or more chemicals
Carcinogens can cause cancer, neurotoxins and reproductive toxins can damage
the brain.
Babies are being born pre-polluted
On cosmetics labels, words such as "herbal", "natural", or "organic" have no legal
definition, meaning that anybody can put anything in a bottle and call it natural.
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The Story of Electronics
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Each year we make 25 million tons of e waste (electronic waste), which gets
dumped, burned, or recycled. Most recycling is anything but 'green'.
Externalizing costs allows companies to keep on designing for the dump; they
get the profits while everyone else pays (with their health)
Extended Producer Responsibility= making companies pay for their own e
waste. Also known as Product Take Back. Longer lasting, less toxic, and more
recyclable
Take Back laws are appearing all over Europe and Asia, and in the U.S many
cities and states are passing similar laws
Green Moore's Law: the use of toxic chemicals will be reduced by 1/2 every 18
months
Don't export "recycling" and use greener products
"Designed for the Dump" means making stuff to be thrown away quickly
Moore's Law: Electronics developers can double processor speed in 18
months. The developers took this the wrong way and thought that we would
have to throw our electronics away every 18 months and buy more.
Electronics start in mines and factories, and many of our gadgets are made
from thousands of materials that are shipped all over the world
Loads of toxic chemicals are used in the production of electronics (PCB,
Mercury, solvents, flame retardants, etc.)
APES
Alec Humphries
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Cosmetics-Electronics
Silicon Valley is one of the most poisoned areas in the U.S, thanks to
developments of electronics
IBM's workers had 40% more miscarriages and are more likely to die from
blood, brain, and kidney cancer
Toxins in, toxins out
Some electronics are slowly releasing toxins while we are using them. Fat old
TV's have over 5 pounds of lead in them