The COVID-19 outbreak and social distancing practices adopted in many countries are affecting the way people shop. While brick and mortar shops are struggling, online shopping is on the rise.
When people are concerned of potential exposure to coronavirus inside crowded shops, new online shopping habits are created and reinforced over time.
The pandemic is increasing public awareness of environmental contaminants and their impact on people’s health. These contaminants include air pollution, but also certain carcinogenic compounds and endocrine disruptors still used in cosmetics and other consumer goods, contribute to the development of underlying health conditions that may increase susceptibility to coronavirus.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, ChemSec, the International Chemical Secretariat, and Clearya, the safe online shopping app and browser plugin, are partnering in helping online shoppers avoid toxic chemicals in daily products.
ChemSec is a non-profit environmental organization established 18 years ago to drive the change to safer chemicals. Its SIN (Substitute It Now) List is a compilation of nearly 1,000 hazardous chemicals used around the world today, which should be avoided in the global supply chain because they fulfill the criteria for “Substances of Very High Concern” as defined by the EU chemicals regulation. The SIN List is available on the ChemSec website and serves sustainable brands and manufacturers in replacing these chemicals with safer alternatives, even before mandated to do so by the regulation.
Clearya is a free web browser extension and a mobile app that helps people reduce exposure to toxic chemicals, while shopping online for cosmetics, personal care, cleaning products and baby care products. Clearya works by automatically analyzing the product ingredient lists at major online shops, and notifying the shoppers if any of the ingredients matches a known toxicant, according to authoritative regulatory or scientific sources.
This new collaboration adds the ChemSec SIN List to Clearya, which makes important ingredient safety information available to consumers right as they browse potentially unsafe products at major online shops.
“You shouldn’t have to be a trained chemist to be able to spot and avoid products containing harmful chemicals. That’s why we are very pleased that Clearya has taken our SIN List and made it useful to all consumers out there,” says Dr. Anna Lennquist, Project Manager for the SIN List at ChemSec.
Amit Rosner, founder of Clearya, added: “the partnership between ChemSec and Clearya comes at a pivotal moment when people are ready to change consumption habits and embrace safer alternatives. I’m thrilled to join forces with ChemSec in empowering consumers in their transition to healthy living.“
Clearya browser extension is available on the Chrome Web Store for computers, and on the Apple App Store for iPhone, and Google Play for Android.
ChemSec: Peter Pierrou, Head of Communications, ChemSec, peter@chemsec.org
Clearya: Amit Rosner, Founder, hello@clearya.com
Photo and video credit: ChemSec.
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