Malina Fagan and Lynn Pelletier – Co-Directors of THE COVERUP
Director’s Statement
Our feature film, “The Coverup,” links exposure to toxic chemicals used in everyday products like shampoo, deodorant, baby powder, lipstick, etc. to adverse health effects such as cancer, infertility, birth defects, allergies, asthma, and more. This powerful exposé uncovers the FDA’s lack of regulation over this $250 billion dollar a year industry and how many corporations have put profits before consumer health and safety.
Imagine if instead of using unregulated terms like “natural” and “hypoallergenic”, shampoo bottles contained prominent labels that read “WARNING: this product contains ingredients found to be carcinogenic in animal studies” or “WARNING: this product contains ingredients not listed on the bottle which may be linked to hormone disruption and birth defects. Consult your physician before use if pregnant or nursing.” Wouldn’t that influence your purchase?
This solution-oriented film will inspire consumers to use their purchasing power, motivate companies to reformulate, and encourage our government to protect the public.
This issue affects everyone regardless of age, race, gender, and socioeconomic status. It especially affects women, children, the developing fetus, and also our environment. (Over 3 million tons of cosmetics and personal care products enter the oceans each year and affect marine life.) This issue also disproportionately affects low-income families, women of color, and many ethnic groups that work in hair and nail salons in our country. To quote one of our scientific advisors, Dr. Samuel Epstein; “Unlike some of the chemicals found in our environment, which we have little to no control over, we have absolute control over what we put on our skin through personal choice.”
I know people who exercise, eat well, meditate, and practice yoga and yet they don’t consider what they put on their bodies. Our skin is our largest organ and what we put on it can get absorbed into our bloodstream. This is why some people believe that what goes on your skin should be safe enough to eat.
We reserve the right to know what’s in our products so we can make safer purchases for ourselves and our families. The movement toward safer cosmetics is growing and we believe THE COVERUP will create a tipping point in awareness around this topic and bring about the consumer revolution needed to clean up this industry.