The new “Toxic Beauty” documentary, which bills itself as “the other inconvenient truth,” features two professors from the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. Both Ami Zota, ScD, MS and David Michaels, PhD, MPH attended the documentary’s premier screening at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto on Sunday, April 28, at the invitation of the film’s director, Phyllis Ellis.
The documentary features observations by Zota about the public health risks of the beauty products that many people use daily, including her concerns about the environmental injustice of beauty. Drawing from her research into the toxic chemicals found in cosmetics, she provides details about skincare, hair and feminine products that have been associated with mercury poisoning and reproductive problems including ovarian cancer, preterm birth and endocrine disruption.
Michaels’ research has included a focus on protecting the integrity of the science underpinning public health and environmental protections. The documentary features his thoughts on how industry scientists can obfuscate data on health concerns related to cosmetics products.
“Chemicals are not like people. They’re not innocent until they’re proven guilty,” says Michaels. He is the author of Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health (Oxford University Press, 2008), as well as the upcoming The Triumph of Doubt: Dark Money and the Science of Deception (Oxford University Press 2020).