Read the following newspaper article and for questions 1 to 7 choose the option that best completes the statement.

For Cosmetics, Let the Buyer Beware

By JANE E. BRODY AUG. 7, 2017

When you wash your hair, clean or moisturize your skin, polish your nails, or put on makeup, deodorant or sunscreen, do you ever think about whether the products you’re using may do more harm than good? Products are not nearly as worrisome as drugs, which require extensive testing and premarket approval by the Food andDrug Administration (F.D.A.).

In a recent editorial in JAMA Internal Medicine, Dr. Robert M. Califf, who served as F.D.A. chief under President Obama, noted, “The cosmetic industry remains largely self-regulated. History has repeatedly shown that when there is insufficient regulatory oversight, a few unscrupulous people or companies will exploit the vulnerable public for profit.” Even when a hazard comes to light, a product can remain on the market for years until negotiations make their way through the legal system or the company decides to halt sales.

A current case is a classic example. When in 2013 the agency received 127 reports of adverse effects from a single line of hair-care products called WEN, it discovered that the manufacturer, Chaz Dean, Inc., had received more than 21,000 complaints of hair loss and scalp damage associated with the products’ use. A lawsuit filed by more than 200 women against the company was settled last year for $26.3 million. Yet the company claims that WEN hair care products are “totally safe” and continues to sell them.

Unlike drugs, cosmetics can be sold based solely on manufacturers’ tests (or no tests at all) and claims for effectiveness and safety. Even the ingredients don’t have to be filed with the government. (Only color additives require premarket approval.)

Asked in an interview whether more can be done to protect the public, Dr. Califf said, “It’s highly unlikely in the current administration. There’s a tiny work force at the F.D.A. to deal with an enormous industry that’s currently self- policing. Voluntary reporting of adverse events linked to cosmetics and personal care products is a lot better than nothing, but it’s way inadequate for the job. There’s no legal requirement for manufacturers to submit reports of adverse events to the F.D.A.”

Dr. Califf’s editorial accompanied a rather startling report in the journal by Dr. Shuai Xu,a dermatologist. On the heels of the thousands of complaints uncovered about WEN products, the F.D.A. made publicly available its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition’s Adverse Event Reporting System, a repository of adverse events related to foods, dietary supplements and cosmetics.

This enabled Dr. Xu to analyze all the adverse events associated with cosmetics and personal care products voluntarily submitted from 2004 through 2016 by consumers and healthcare professionals.Through 2014, he averaged 396 a year. There was a 78 percent increase in reports in 2015 and a 300 percent rise in 2016, largely driven by complaints about WEN products.

Dr. Xu said, “As a dermatologist, I live and breathe personal care products day and night. Patients ask me about them all the time. I warn patients that labeling can be very tricky. One needs a Ph.D. in chemistry to be able to interpret all the terms. What does itmean for a product to be labeled ‘natural’? That doesn’t make it safe. Poison ivy is perfectly natural.”

Adapted from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/well/for-cosmetics-let-the-buyer-beware.html