Toward a Better Beauty Regimen: Reducing Potential EDC Exposures from Personal Care Products

As a high school student in Salinas, California, Irene Vera was part of the Youth Community Council, a project of the University of California, Berkeley, Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS). This project aims to train local youth as environmental health leaders through research, education, and advocacy, and it was through the Youth Community Council that Vera learned about potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals in personal care products. She and fellow council members worked with Kim Harley, an environmental health scientist at UC Berkeley, to study how teen girls are exposed to these chemicals and steps they can take to lower their exposures. 1