The clean beauty movement highlights wider challenges in balancing chemical risks and benefits

Cartoon of Neil putting sunscreen on his head

Source: © Complot/Shutterstock

The ‘clean beauty’ movement exemplifies broader challenges in how we evaluate chemical safety, balancing risks against benefits while avoiding regrettable substitutions.

From cosmetics to pesticides, consumers and chemists alike face complex decisions about chemical ingredients. But are fears always justified, and are alternatives necessarily better?