Working for safer cosmetics: a California teenager headed to the state capital in her effort to make sure the ingredients in cosmetics are safe.

• Author: Assaf, Jessica
• Position: VOICES

I started wearing makeup when I was 13, and soon I was using all kinds of products: lipstick, mascara, nail polish, etc. It never occurred to me that I should wonder what was in them. I would just go to the mall and buy whatever I'd seen advertised in the magazines I read.

But when I started high school, I got involved with a group called the Marin Cancer Project as my required community service. The group was trying to figure out why Marin County, where I live, has high rates of breast cancer.

It was through the people there that I became aware of the potential health risks of some of the cosmetic products many of us use daily. Some contain chemicals that have been linked in scientific studies to cancer or reproductive problems.

I started reading the ingredient labels of the products I used. I couldn't even pronounce many of the names, much less know what they were. I did some research, and I found out that one of the ingredients in my mascara was also used to clean airplane wheels! I also learned that, unlike food and drugs, the F.D.A. is not required to test cosmetic ingredients for safety.

'INCREDIBLE STRIDES'

In January 2005, I got involved in Teens for Safe Cosmetics, a local coalition of teens working to spread awareness of the potential dangers of some cosmetic ingredients. Our goal is to ban the use of potentially harmful chemicals in cosmetics and personal-care products.

We have made incredible strides toward that goal here in California. Working with other environmental groups, we approached a state senator about introducing legislation to better...