Advocates Laud Senate Passage of Beauty Justice Act
Urge Assembly to Pass the Bill In Final Days of Session
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2025
CONTACT: Jasmine Phillip, Clean+Healthy, jasmine@cleanhealthyny.org
Albany, NY: Today, the NYS Senate passed the Beauty Justice Act (S.2057A, Webb) which will ban toxic chemicals, scientifically known to cause harm, from all personal care and cosmetic products in NYS. The targeted chemicals are those that disproportionately harm Black women and femmes. The bill, pending in the Assembly, is cosponsored by more than half of its members. With only a few days left in session, JustGreen Partnership, a NY based environmental health and justice coalition, urges the Assembly to pass this key bill immediately.
“I am proud that the Beauty Justice Act has passed in the Senate. Many personal care and cosmetic products contain harmful chemicals like formaldehyde, lead, parabens, and PFAS that are linked to serious human health risks,” said Senator Lea Webb. We must take bold, urgent action to remove these toxic chemicals from the products we use on our bodies every day because these products can have devastating and long-term health impacts. Thank you to Clean and Healthy for all of the work you do to raise awareness for this important issue. I urge the Assembly to take swift action and pass this essential legislation to protect the health and safety of all New Yorkers.”
“Congratulations to Senator Webb for passing the Beauty Justice Act in the Senate,” said Assemblymember Deborah Glick. “The Assembly must follow suit and pass this critically important safety measure to protect New Yorkers, especially women and people of color who are disproportionately being poisoned by dangerous beauty products. Let’s get this done.”
“Senator Webb has been a tireless champion for Beauty Justice and we are delighted that the bill passed with broad bipartisan support. That’s not surprising, because the overwhelming majority of Americans want toxic chemicals out of the products they use daily - especially those that go on our skin,” said Bobbi Wilding, Executive Director of Clean+Healthy, co-leader of the JustGreen Partnership. “Now, with another tireless champion, Assemblymember Glick, we look forward to the rapid passage in the Assembly, where more than half of the members are cosponsors. New Yorkers deserve nothing less.”
Research shows that products marketed to women of color contain more harmful ingredients than the products marketed to white men and women. Items aimed to push eurocentric beauty standards like hair relaxers, skin lightening creams, and ethnic beauty products often contain higher amounts of harmful chemicals.
“Today we thank Senate leadership for passing the Beauty Justice Act, which remains the strongest bill in the nation to protect people of color, particularly Black women, from the harms of dangerous toxic chemicals that are found in our personal care and beauty products," said Briana Carbajal, State Legislative Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and co-leader of the JustGreen Partnership. "Thank you Senator Webb for continuing to be a champion in the fight for women's health. Now, we need our Assembly leadership to pass the bill to protect New Yorkers from unsafe ingredients that do not belong in our everyday products, and that have safer alternatives."
The Beauty Justice Act will protect New York consumers from toxic chemicals that cause or contribute to health harms including asthma, allergies, hormone disruption, neurodevelopmental problems, infertility, and even cancer. The chemicals to be banned in the bill have already been banned in other states and/or the European Union, aggregated into one law that harmonizes with efforts across the US.
“The passage of the Beauty Justice Act by the Senate is a win for New Yorker's health," said Charles Moon, MD, Co-Chair of the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee of the New York State American Academy of Pediatrics. "Regulation of toxic chemicals in our household products will pay long-term dividends and build healthier communities. Pediatricians and other concerned healthcare professionals urge the Assembly to quickly pass this legislation that will make all of our lives safer through less toxic chemical exposures."
“The business community thanks the New York State Senate for passing this crucial legislation, which is an important step toward ensuring the safety of New Yorkers. This will help further innovation in safer alternatives. We now look to the New York State Assembly to pass this bill without delay,” said Bob Rossi, Executive Director of the New York Sustainable Business Council
With more than half of the Assembly co-sponsoring the bill with broad bipartisan support, and given the Senate’s passage without debate, the advocates urge the Assembly to move the bill on consent. The bill is part of a suite of bills addressing PFAS “forever chemicals” that have passed the Senate and require Assembly action, including a bill to ban PFAS in consumer goods, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, and moratorium on land spreading of biosolids (sewage sludge), which contains PFAS washed down drains from products subject to the chemical bans in this suite of bills.
“New Yorkers and our communities are inundated by exposure to toxic chemicals each and every day, and in ways that we don't even realize," said Caitlin Ferrante, Conservation Program Manager, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. "Ridding our environment of these ubiquitous toxins will improve public health and help to reduce the costs of healthcare and expensive filtration of drinking water. The passage of S.2057-A, the Beauty Justice Act, will help limit multiple pathways of toxic chemical exposures, in products used each day by citizens of all ages. The Sierra Club is grateful for the leadership shown by Senator Webb in ensuring this legislation passed in the Senate this session. We urge immediate passage in the Assembly before they gavel out next week."
###
The JustGreen Partnership is an 19 year old collaboration of environmental justice, environmental health, environmental health affected, children’s, and business organization working for environmental health and justice for New York’s people and communities. Learn more here.
