Boulder International Film Festival: Toxic Beauty

When researcher Mymy Nguyen, 24, had a large tumor removed from her breast, she used her wake-up call to explore the toxicity of the cosmetics she uses every day. The results were staggering; when she switched from her usual products to “clean” cosmetics, Nguyen’s chemical body burden dropped sharply in just one day. Thousands of additives in beauty products have been banned in the EU, hundreds in Canada, but the U.S. has only banned 11. Nearly 15,000 lawsuits are pending against Johnson & Johnson for their continued use of talc, a known carcinogen since 1988, and many corporations knowingly continue to use dangerous chemicals in beauty products simply because it’s cheaper to fight lawsuits than risk market share by changing their formulas.