Every year, millions of people spend hours decoding ingredient labels and studies just to feel safe at home. What seems like a personal hassle stems from regulatory gaps, opaque supply chains, and an industry that often prioritizes cost over health.
The regulatory contrast is stark: the EU bans over 1,400 chemicals from personal care products; the US bans fewer than 30. Decades of industry lobbying shifted the burden of proof onto consumers. Women bear this burden most, facing greater lifetime exposure through personal care, cleaning, and food packaging products.
Research increasingly links these cumulative exposures to conditions often overlooked or misdiagnosed: hormone imbalances, thyroid dysfunction, endometriosis, and fertility issues.
Even when ingredient information exists, it’s rarely actionable. A label reading “fragrance” may hide dozens of compounds. “Natural” carries no regulated meaning. And the science is complex: what’s fine for one person can pose risks for another, depending on biology, hormones, or life stage.
Shreya, RightShop.ai Co-Founder: TEDx Talk
RightShop’s theory of change operates on three levels.
We provide personalized, evidence-based guidance that accounts for bio-individuality rather than applying a one-size-fits-all score. At the market level, when enough consumers can see clearly, the economic signal to manufacturers changes. We've seen this work: the shift away from BPA wasn't driven primarily by regulation — it was driven by informed consumer rejection that forced industry reformulation ahead of policy. The clean beauty movement has pushed major retailers like Sephora and Target to adopt restricted ingredient lists that exceed current federal standards. Informed consumers, at scale, are a force for market transformation.
The patterns that emerge from personalized health-product matching — across diverse populations and health profiles — contribute to the real-world evidence base that policy reform requires. Regulatory change has historically been hampered by the absence of granular, population-scale data on chemical exposure and health outcomes. The EU's REACH regulation and California's recent PFAS restrictions show what's possible when political will meets credible evidence. RightShop is part of building that evidence architecture.
Women's health has long been underfunded in research and underweighted in regulatory frameworks. The emerging science on endocrine disruption and hormonal health has particular relevance for women across their lifespans — yet much of it remains siloed in academic literature rather than integrated into the consumer decisions people make every day. RightShop exists at that intersection: translating emerging evidence into choices people can act on now, without waiting for the regulatory process to catch up.
Michelle, RightShop.ai Co-Founder
(SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being) The EU bans over 1,400 chemicals from personal care products. The US bans fewer than 30 — leaving women, who use an average of 12 personal care products daily, to navigate that gap on their own.
(SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) A single fragrance listing on an ingredient label can conceal up to 3,000 undisclosed chemical compounds, none of which manufacturers are currently required to disclose.
(SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation) The cosmetics industry used over 10 million tons of water in 2020 alone — and is one of the largest contributors to wastewater contamination globally, with no federal regulatory standards for personal care chemicals in wastewater in the US.
(SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production) The beauty industry produces 120 billion units of packaging annually. 95% is discarded after a single use, and only 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled.
(SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth) 25% of global mica — a mineral used to create shimmer in makeup — is sourced from illegal mines in India, where child labor is documented. 72% of consumers say they believe brands should be transparent about their supply chains, yet few are.
(SDG 15: Life on Land) Approximately 70% of beauty products contain palm oil, whose industrial farming is one of the leading drivers of tropical deforestation and habitat destruction globally.
(SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals) Consumer-led pressure — not regulation — drove the removal of BPA from plastics and microbeads from skincare. Market transformation consistently outpaces policy, underscoring the power of informed purchasing at scale.
(SDG 3 / SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities) Endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to conditions like endometriosis, PCOS, and early puberty are found in everyday personal care products — yet the FDA still cannot require pre-market safety testing for most cosmetic ingredients before they reach shelves.
