YONKERS, NY — This morning, advocates, business leaders, and public health experts delivered a letter to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to urge the New York State Assembly to pass the Beauty Justice Act (S.2057/A.2054) before the legislative session ends tomorrow, June 17. The letter was signed by nearly 40 companies which are either New York based or sell products in New York, urging him to take action to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
The Beauty Justice Act passed the Senate last week, and advocates are now calling on Speaker Heastie to bring the bill to the floor for a vote in the Assembly and protect New Yorkers from toxic personal care and beauty products. The Beauty Justice Act would ban some of the most toxic chemicals from personal care and beauty products sold in New York State.
“Advocates and business leaders agree that the Beauty Justice Act is essential to ensure we keep our people safe, and is a critical step toward eliminating toxic chemicals from personal care products we use every day,” said Alexandra Grose, senior policy counsel for Consumer Reports, headquartered in Yonkers, NY. “With Senate passage of the bill, it’s now up to the Assembly to move this crucial legislation forward. Consumer Reports urges lawmakers to act swiftly to ensure all New Yorkers—particularly consumers who are most often exposed to unsafe beauty and personal care products—are protected from harmful chemicals.”
“At Prose, we believe that beauty should never come at the cost of health. We also know the future of our industry is clean, and consumers are demanding change,” said Helen Nwosu, VP of Social Impact at Prose. “That’s why we are committed to ingredient safety and strongly support the Beauty Justice Act — legislation that will protect the health of New Yorkers and reshape the beauty industry for the better. We’re proud to join dozens of other businesses in supporting the Beauty Justice Act. This bill will ensure that every consumer — no matter their race, income, or zip code — is protected from harmful exposures. It levels the playing field and rewards brands that prioritize human health, environmental integrity, and ingredient transparency.”
“The Beauty Justice Act gives voice to the stylists and consumers who’ve long known the harms of toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and parabens—linked to fibroids, chemical burns, hair loss, and alopecia,” said Diane Da Costa, Co-founder of the Natural Hairstyle & Braid Coalition and Founder of SimpleeBeautiful salon in Harlem. “The $11 billion natural hair industry means millions of women and girls have been exposed to these risks for much of their lives. As a master texture pioneer with over 35 years in the industry, I’ve seen the damage caused by relaxers and synthetic braiding hair. We’ve spent decades pushing for safer, more sustainable products. Now, we urge Speaker Heastie to stand with New Yorkers and bring this bill to a vote.”
Thousands of chemicals are used in cosmetics and personal care products. While many are safe, others have been linked to asthma, allergies, hormone disruption, infertility, and cancer. A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that women of color face disproportionately high exposure to toxic chemicals in beauty products compared to white women.
Many of the chemicals, including those this bill would address, are already banned in food, children’s products, and other consumer products. New York State has the opportunity to be a leader in keeping consumers safe and healthy.
The European Union already prohibits the use of carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic substances in cosmetic products, and the Canadian government prohibits or restricts hundreds of harmful chemicals that are currently permitted for use in the United States. Similar bans for toxic chemicals in cosmetic products went into effect this January 1, 2025, in California, Maryland, and Washington, and fourteen states have introduced various forms of legislation to ban toxic chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products.
“The toxic chemicals used in cosmetics and personal care products pose a grave threat to the health of women of color, particularly Black women,” explained Briana Carbajal, State Legislative Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. “Public health professionals, environmental advocates, business leaders, and the New York State Senate, which already passed the Beauty Justice Act, agree that this legislation is important and urgent to protect all New Yorkers from harmful exposure to these dangerous ingredients. We urge Speaker Heastie to bring this bill to a vote in the Assembly today and let its members weigh in on how much they value the health of their constituents.”
“Research has continuously proven that toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, lead, asbestos, and PFAS “forever chemicals” contribute to reproductive harm, respiratory illness, and developmental challenges,” said Sophia Longsworth, Toxics Policy Director at Clean+Healthy and co-lead of the JustGreen Partnership. “Many New Yorkers are unaware that these chemicals are in the everyday personal care products that they use. It is the responsibility of the New York State legislature to protect the health of their constituents by passing the Beauty Justice Act before the 2025 legislative session ends.”
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Media Contact: Emily Akpan, emily.akpan@consumer.org