It is a widely held belief that companies test personal care products before they put them on the shelf to be sold. However, the personal care product industry is one of the most unregulated industries. It is a $71 billion dollar industry that is regulated by 2 pages of federal law that hasn't been updated in 76 years. There are multiple harmful chemicals that are present including triclosan, parabens phthalates, BPA, and fragrance. These are known endocrine disruptors and yet they are in a majority of the products that you use everyday!

We - the EndoCrime Fighters of Arlington High School in LaGrangeville, NY - are asking New York State to ban triclosan from personal care products. Our government should protect our health and our environment's health! Triclosan has been proven to negatively impact our environment. Unlike other pharmaceuticals, triclosan has no health benefits. It is not necessary to the products that contain it and certainly does not cure disease.

The entire state of Minnesota has banned Triclosan and we need to follow in their footsteps. While there are many harmful chemicals in personal care products, banning triclosan is a step in the right direction. By signing our petition, you will not only improve your own health, but will be improving the health of our entire community!

That's not the only thing we want! We want the Dutchess County Department of Behavioral and Community Health to issue warnings on endocrine disruptors! Our community should have the information that they need to make educated decisions about the personal care products that they wish to use. We want warnings on the Dutchess County Department of Behavioral and Community Health website regarding the dangers of triclosan, parabens, phthalates, BPA, and fragrance. We would also like the Department to encourage the use of both the Think Dirty App and the Skin Deep App to further encourage our community to make healthy decisions.

Finally, we would like our county and state government to support the strengthening of the Personal Care Products Safety Act of 2015. It can be found here. It is a bipartisan bill proposal that needs support from our community!

The effect of endocrine disruptors is a serious issue that many people are unaware of. Help us promote awareness, ban triclosan, and support the strengthening of Personal Care Products Safety Act. We need to improve the health of Dutchess County and New York State!

For more information on the EndoCrime Fighters visit:

For more information on the harmful chemicals in personal care products, visit www.safecosmetics.org!