April, 12 2012, 10:20am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Nasima Hossain
Public Health Advocate
Office: 202-546-9707 ext. 316
Toxins in Nail Polish a Potential Danger to Women and Children
WASHINGTON
Statement of Nasima Hossain Public Health Advocate, on the dangers of toxins in nail polish.
An article yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle finds a report produced by the California Environmental Protection Agency's Department of Toxic Substances Control, the San Francisco Department of the Environment, the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that there are trace amounts of three dangerous toxins in nail polish. The toxins are toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and formaldehyde all known to have adverse health effects. What is startling about the report is that nail polish, that are labeled toxins free are more likely to have these toxins in them.
"Research has shown that the toxic-trio cause reproductive harm, cancer and asthma. I am very concerned that parents understand this as little girls are known to use their mother's nail polish for dress-up or fun. In this respect parents should be careful when using these products."
"Nail polish manufacturers need to be completely honest in labeling their products. This practice of labeling nail polish, "three-free," when they are not is grossly dishonest and knowingly misleads consumers and nail salon workers into thinking they are using a safe product when they are not. Women and nail salon workers should have the option to buy properly labeled safe nail polish."
U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being. With a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students in state capitols across the country, we take on the special interests on issues, such as product safety,political corruption, prescription drugs and voting rights,where these interests stand in the way of reform and progress.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
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According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that he has "the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses."
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Biden, who campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, vowed to "take more steps in the weeks ahead" as his administration reviews clemency petitions, leaving open the possibility of commutations for death row prisoners.
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