Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm currently in 9th grade and am trying to come up with a science expo project. What I know so far is that I'm hoping to pursue a projects where I can look into testing the toxicity of ingredients within certain items humans use often on themselves such as make-up, hair products (shampoo, hair gel, etc), lotion, etc. I'm hoping to find a way to do a project somewhere along these lines where I can then find out the effects such ingredients have on us and what products are a better choice in the long run. I want to do something original and high level though and am hoping someone can help me develop a more in depth question from this general idea I have.
Your help is much appreciated,
KN

Hi,

ScienceBuddies does not appear to have current project ideas in the area of toxicity of personal care products, though a quick Google search says it is a hot topic of interest. This is not a bad thing as you say you want to do something original, so you will have to come up with your own ideas anyway. Here are some links that might help get you thinking:

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1

http://www.middlebury.edu/administratio ... roject.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19500862

http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/projects/toxicity.html

http://www.national-toxic-encephalopath ... metics.htm

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 030909.php

http://www.setacjournals.org/perlserv/? ... 7-354&ct=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_care

http://eservices.personalcarecouncil.or ... ODUCT=8058

http://www.biowizard.com/pmabstract.php?pmid=19336980

http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/projects/toxicity2.html

http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=406201

These are just a few of the many sites addressing this issue. It feels to me that you can develop a really good science fair project in this area, though your first and perhaps biggest challenge will be to find an interesting and narrow enough question that you can answer with the tools available to you. I strongly suggest reading and understanding the ScienceBuddies Project Guide, amd the safety limits on experiments on humans and animals in science fair projects.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

You have my best wishes for a very successful science fair season!
Barrett Tomlinson