Carcinogenic+Formaldehyde

=CARCINOGENIC FORMALDEHYDE =
 * By: John Neris, Ashley Etheredge, Natalie Sanchez, and Julia Boyer **(Science Fair)

Formaldehyde is a simple chemical made of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. It is found in many of our household products. It's found in adhesives, wood and more importantly, it's found in most cosmetics and hair dye. Everyday activities can also emit formaldehyde; like smoking tobacco, car exhaust, or burning wood. It is colorless and tasteless when it is released in the air. It's also found in nature: in brussel sprouts and cabbage. However this isn't a serious health issue, our bodies break down the low levels of formaldehyde and turn it into carbon dioxide. The formaldehyde in cosmetics and adhesives have had chemicals added to them such as, ammonia and peroxide. These chemicals make it carcinogenic. There has been a spike in the purchase of hair dye in the past few years, permanent hair dye uses peroxide and ammonia along with formaldehyde to create a chain reaction to change the color of the hair. Formaldehyde has a lot of health factors. In the short term it can cause watery eyes, nausea, coughing, chronic fatigue, and skin irritation. It can cause cancer in the long term; rats that were exposed to it developed nasal cancer. It is unclear whether it affects pregnant women or a man's reproductive system. People who are exposed to formaldehyde for long periods of time are more likely to develop asthma. Our group would like the government to ban the synthetic formaldehyde from cosmetics and household items. There are alternatives that are safer for our environment and our health. The first step we should take should be to alert more people about the problems with the chemical. We need to do something about carcinogenic formaldehyde. Many people in the world use products that consist of formaldehyde, which for example is found in hair dye. Formaldehyde is a simple substance consisting of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, (also known as methanol) which is a gas with a pungent smell. This substance is also part of a person's everyday life because it is produced naturally in the air that we breathe. Plants and animals produce formaldehyde, which we then breathe in. Formaldehyde can also be found in Brussels sprouts and cabbage, when they are cooked. This is natural formaldehyde, not synthetic. Synthetic formaldehyde can be found in other daily household products like adhesives, wood, hair dye, and other cosmetics. This type of formaldehyde is fused with chemicals like ammonia and peroxide and added to the above products to make their surfaces smoother or to react better with our faces or hair when we apply them on. Once these chemicals are added to the natural formaldehyde, the formaldehyde goes from being a healthy chemical that our bodies can break down, to a dangerous chemical that can cause both long term and short term life threatening effects. **Summary ** Formaldehyde can be found in many objects like nail polish, facial creams, vegetables, and even our own bodies; but among the most commonly used substances is hair dye. Synthetic Formaldehyde is added to hair dye because it makes the hair color last for longer periods of time and it makes the hair dye condition well. 40% of women turn to hair dye as a cheap resolve to styling their hair during their free time, but do they know the dangers that can come with this quick resolve? When tested on lab rats, formaldehyde was found to have given the rats nasal cancer. The same thing can happen with humans. The more consumers apply hair dye on their scalps, the more prone they are to developing cancer. Another dangerous affect that the formaldehyde in hair dye may have on the scalps of consumers is hair lose. The truth is that the formaldehyde in the substance is actually penetrating the scalp. This is the only way for the dye to fully change the tint of the consumer’s head of hair. This penetration may enlarge their hair follicles, and may cause the consumer’s hair strands to slowly fall off one by one. The only way to stop these effects is by eliminating the formaldehyde and other carcinogenic chemicals from the chemical make up of not only hair dyes, but also any other cosmetics that consumers may be using. The chemists and engineers that create these products should get rid of these harmful chemicals and replace them with more natural and healthy chemicals that are just as affective so that not only will we become beautiful, but we will become beautiful through a healthy and more natural approach. Since most of us consumers can't control what goes into the making of these products, we should just try to steer clear of hair dyes and other cosmetics that carry dangerous chemicals like carcinogenic formaldehyde and start to use hair dyes that contain less harmful chemicals such as henna or vinegar. For more information about where to find carcinogenic formaldehyde-free hair dye, please visit these sites and spread the word:
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 Link to our PSA: [|Carcinogenic Formaldehyde PSA]