Kirsten Ircha 4/11/18
AP Biology E/F Even Current Event #21
AP Biology E/F Even Current Event #21
Citation:
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics.” Time,
Time, 26 June 2017, time.com/4832688/makeup-shampoo-toxic/.
In the current day and age individuals strive to look their best through the use of cosmetics, such as hair gel, lipstick, nail polish, shimmer, lip gloss, mascara, eye shadow, face powder, hair spray, eyeliner, glitter, face cream, body lotion, and more. Through the article, “The Hidden Dangers of Makeup and Shampoo,” Alexandra Sifferlin explores how all of these products are in fact chemical concoctions that may cause harsh side effects. In many cases, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began receiving health-related complaints about cosmetic products, such as shampoo and makeup, over 10 years ago. However the main issue is that it is very difficult to remove such products from markets. This is because cosmetic companies are not required to receive approval of their products before they go to stores or regulate the safety or effectiveness of these products. In a recent report, Dr. Steve X, a resident physician in the department of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, found that in the past 12 years over 5,000 cases of health-related complaints were reported to the FDA concerning cosmetic products. As the article elaborates on this issue, “The new researched shows that between 2004 and 2016, an average of 396 events were reported per year, with an increase between 2015 to 2016. The three most commonly cited products were for hair care, skin care and tattoos.” His number, however, is not alarmingly large due to the fact that many cases go unreported and therefore, many unsafe products are left on the market. With these realities, the global cosmetic industry reaches around 265 billion dollars in revenue per year. However, the FDA regulatory team only receives 13 million dollars to regulate these cosmetic issues. This allows consumer to continue purchasing dangerous cosmetics.
This article is extremely relevant to society as almost every person utilizes cosmetics in some way or another. However, what people do not understand is that these products could be debilitating to your health and well-being. Through these efforts it becomes clear that individuals must learn what is in their product and be willing to report any harsh side effects to the FDA in order to sprout change. Furthermore, people and families should attempt to use more natural based products in order to prevent any harsh chemicals that could coincide with large corporations. In addition, when trying new products, people must recognize and regulate any effect they are experiencing from these products and discontinue use if irritation or other health-related issues occur. From this information, society will learn to be more careful with the products that they allow into their routines.
The article is written extremely well. However, one of my main concern is that only one scientist was consistently quoted throughout the article. Although the scientist is well known, I feel the work would have seemed much more legitimate if multiple scientists with multiple viewpoints were spoken about. In the future, this issue can be improved upon by using the research of multiple scientists, or quoting additional dermatologists or doctors. The author could also make sure to utilize more research based data found from additional sources in order to further support her claims.The best aspect of this piece is the connection the author makes between society and large businesses. By mentioning these connections individuals are able to see how their own person lives can connect to a larger issue. This makes the reader more engaged and less passive. Furthermore, I enjoyed the topic chosen for the article as the issue is extremely interesting and relevant to society. Although the article did have its weaknesses, I feel that the piece is passionate and extraordinary informational.
Julia Pabafikos
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
April 11, 2018
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics.” Time, Time, 26 June 2017, time.com/4832688/makeup-shampoo-toxic/.
Kirsten Ircha did a great job reviewing her article “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics.” Alexandra Sifferlin. I particularly enjoyed how Kirsten goes into detail to explain that not only is the problem the effects that cosmetic products have but rather how hard they are to remove from the market. Kirsten mentions “...cosmetic companies are not required to receive approval of their products before they go to stores or regulate the safety or effectiveness of these products” By adding this to her review, Kirsten is able to draw attention to how serious the matter is. Additionally I enjoyed that Kirsten mentions how cosmetic companies are not required to receive approval of their products before they go to stores or regulate the safety or effectiveness of these products and therefore shows the urgency and the lack of protection in cosmetics. Lastly, I enjoyed how Kirsten has short and concise paragraphs that got to the point fairly quickly and makes it very easy for her reader to follow along with her arguments.
However, I do believe that Kirsten had two areas in her review in which she could improve upon. Primarily, I would recommend that she uses more quotes from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on why it is that cosmetic products don’t have to be regulated for safety. Additionally, I would encourage Kirsten to talk more about the effects that these products have and whether these effects are evident on the skin immediately, like an irritation or if the side effects are more serious and only become evident after many years.
Overall, Kirsten did a great job creating a well written review that illustrates the dangers that cosmetic products can have on a person’s health due to the lack of regulations. I personally chose to read this article because of the title and how teenegers especially enjoy to wear makeup and don’t realize that adding things like this to their face can be detrimental. Through reading about this research I believe it provided me with a clear understanding of not only the effects of cosmetic products but also the lack of regulations on such products.
Hannah Beldotti
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
April 11, 2018
Current Event #21
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics.” Time,
Time, 26 June 2017, time.com/4832688/makeup-shampoo-toxic/.
This week, I decided to read Kirsten Ircha’s current event review on, “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics,” by Alexandra Sifferlin. Kirsten’s current event review had many commendable aspects. For example, her introduction paragraph was both well-written and informative. She states, “In a recent report, Dr. Steve X, a resident physician in the department of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, found that in the past 12 years over 5,000 cases of health-related complaints were reported to the FDA concerning cosmetic products,” providing the reader with specific details regarding the topic. I also enjoyed reading how Kirsten thought this topic was relevant to society along with her opinion on the author’s strengths and weaknesses throughout the article. Kirsten states, “Furthermore, people and families should attempt to use more natural based products in order to prevent any harsh chemicals that could coincide with large corporations. In addition, when trying new products, people must recognize and regulate any effect they are experiencing from these products and discontinue use if irritation or other health-related issues occur,” in order to emphasize the importance of using more natural based products. On the other hand, there were areas of the review which could be improved. For example, I would have found it interesting to read about how using more natural products have altered people’s lives for better or for worse.
I found Kirsten’s current event review compelling well-written. I chose this article because I found the topic intriguing. Also, my family has switched most of their daily products to ones sans parabens. So, it was interesting to gain more knowledge on the topic.
AP Bio
ReplyDeleteOlivia Scotti
4/12/18
Current Event # 21
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics.” Time,
Time, 26 June 2017, time.com/4832688/makeup-shampoo-toxic/.
There were many aspects of Kirsten’s review written well. One part of her review that I felt she did particularly well was her description of the dangers of different cosmetics. For instance she states how “ In many cases, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began receiving health-related complaints about cosmetic products, such as shampoo and makeup, over 10 years ago. ” Through this summary the reader is able to understand the main point of the article that is being reviewed. Another part of the review which was done well was the addition of quotes from research on this topic. For example, “In a recent report, Dr. Steve X, a resident physician in the department of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, found that in the past 12 years over 5,000 cases of health-related complaints were reported to the FDA concerning cosmetic products” Through this the reader understands what research was conducted. This is also allows the reader to understand the tone of the article through direct quotes from the passage. Another part of the review that was done well was her ability to describe how this discovery is beneficial to the rest of the world. For instance she states, “ Furthermore, people and families should attempt to use more natural based products in order to prevent any harsh chemicals that could coincide with large corporations.” This strengthened her review because the reader was able to see how research is useful for a lot of the population.
Although there were many parts of Kirsten’s review written well there were areas for improvement. One part of her review which could have been improved was her critique paragraph. Although she did mention the negatives and positives of the article I wish she had been less general when stating her positives and gone into more detail. Through adding more specific details about the positives of the article the reader would have had a better understanding of the article. Another part of the article that could have been improved was if she added more details about the new discoveries that could occur from this study. Also this would help strengthen her description of the research as a whole.
Overall, I felt Kirsten’s wrote a strong review of this article which the reader could easily understand. Her review was written clearly and smoothly which allowed the reader to learn about the topic more easily and understand the research conducted. I enjoyed reading this review because I learned more about the disappearance of species. Overall, I liked how she described the research that was done and the effects on the present world. Through her discussion of this article the reader got a better grasp on the topic and the importance of this new discovery.
Kunzang Namgyal
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology- EF even
19 April 2018
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics.” Time, Time, 26 June 2017, time.com/4832688/makeup-shampoo-toxic/.
This week I read my classmate Kirsten’s review of the article “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics,” written by Alexandra Sifferlin. Kirsten did an excellent job of summarizing the article, explaining that the big cause of harmful toxins utilized in makeup, shampoo, and cosmetics “is because cosmetic companies are not required to receive approval of their products before they go to stores or regulate the safety or effectiveness of these products.” Kirsten also did a very good job of relating this article to the public, by mentioning that makeup, shampoo, and cosmetics are something that everyone uses. Kirsten also identified a pertinent flaw in the article, that only one scientist is cited, “Although the scientist is well known, I feel the work would have seemed much more legitimate if multiple scientists with multiple viewpoints were spoken about.”
Although her review was very well written, there were two areas in which Kirsten could have improved upon. I believe that she could have used more quotes from the article to add evidence from the article in her review and added more statistics. I also feel that she could have gone more into depth about the specific toxins that are causing these harmful effects. I was very surprised when I read this review, as I had assumed that cosmetics had to receive some sort of safety approval before their market release, but this review opened my eyes to the potential dangers of the cosmetic products I use.
Ava Austi
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Current Event #22
4/19/18
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics.” Time,
Time, 26 June 2017, time.com/4832688/makeup-shampoo-toxic/.
Kirsten wrote a great review based off the article, “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics,” by Alexandra Sifferlin from Time. The article discusses how makeup, shampoo and cosmetic products are in fact chemical concoctions that may cause harsh side effects. Throughout the review of the article, there were many aspects that Kirsten did well in order to write a great review. Firstly, Kirsten did a excellent job with summarizing the article, explaining that the big cause of harmful toxins used in makeup, shampoo and cosmetics “is because cosmetic companies are not required to receive approval of their products before they go to stores or regulate the safety or effectiveness of these products.”Kirsten also did a great job of incorporating quotes from her original article. For example she states, “In a recent report, Dr. Steve X, a resident physician in the department of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, found that in the past 12 years over 5,000 cases of health-related complaints were reported to the FDA concerning cosmetic products.” By incorporating this, the reader understands the exact research that was conducted and also allows the reader to understand the tone of the article. The last aspect that Kirsten presented was the relevance to society paragraph. She mentions that makeup, shampoo and cosmetics are all things that everyone uses. Kirsten successfully wrote a clear and interesting review of the article she read.
Although Kirsten presented a great review of the article, there were some aspects where she could have improved. Firstly, I think Kirsten would have benefited if she went more in depth about the specific toxins that are causing these harmful effects. Also, Kirsten would have benefited by adding more details about the new discoveries that could occur from this study. This would strengthen her review as a whole. These issues are both easy to fix in order to make Kirsten’s review even better. Even though there were some parts of the review that Kirsten could have improved, I think she wrote a great review of the article.
I thought Kirsten did a great job in writing her review and I really enjoyed reading it. I chose to read this article because of the title and how teenagers including myself, especially enjoy to wear makeup and don’t realize that adding things like this onto your body can be detrimental. It was very intriguing to read a topic so related to myself with using cosmetics and I also learned a lot about the lack of regulations on such products. Overall, Kirsten wrote a very strong review about the hidden dangers of makeup, shampoo and cosmetics.
Susie Goodell
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
4/20/18
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Toxins: The Hidden Dangers of Makeup, Shampoo and Cosmetics.” Time,
Time, 26 June 2017, time.com/4832688/makeup-shampoo-toxic/.
Current Event 20
For this current event, I decided to read my classmate Kirsten’s review of the article “The Hidden Dangers of Makeup and Shampoo” by Alexandra Sifferlin of Time Magazine. The article discusses how cosmetics such as lipstick and face cream have hidden dangers in their side-effects and the difficulties of removing the dangerous products from markets. Kirsten did a great job with her review. She wrote a great summary of the article that had a lot of details in it, but not too many that would confuse the reader. She also included quotes and facts that backed up her claims. Kirsten analyzed the successful aspects as well as those that need improvement very well. She explained her statements and provided suggestions to make them better.
Despite all of the good aspects of the article, she could have improved a few things. First, she could have expanded more on how this topic affects the general public. She wrote about how consumers should report any harmful side-effects they experience, but she should have suggested other ways for people to help rid these items from markets, not merely just reporting them to an organization that is having trouble getting rid of the products. Second, she could have used another quote or two to support her statements, especially in the paragraph dealing with the importance of this issue. Overall, however, Kirsten did a great job on her review.
I chose to read Kirsten’s review because I had heard about problems with cosmetics companies, but I was unaware of how much of an issue it still is. This was very informative as it showed me how difficult it is to protect consumers against products with harmful side effects already on the market. I didn’t realize how many types of cosmetics (mascara, eyeshadow, eyeliner, etc) have harmful side effects. This is not an issue that is talked about much in mainstream media, however, it definitely should be.