The Portuguese environmental organization ZERO, which represented Portugal in the project promoted by the Danish consumer protection agency, defended the need for legislation to “progressively remove these chemical substances from cosmetic products”.

Furthermore, it requires that the components are visible in the information to consumers, warning that products of the same brand and with the same barcode may have different ingredients depending on the country in which they are sold.

The study started with 39 products marketed worldwide, but the list was eventually expanded to 176 products because of the different versions and ingredients.

The products were classified into three categories, the worst of which (“C”) indicates that they had one or more ingredients that could interfere with the hormonal system, causing allergies or fertility problems or be harmful to nature.

The study's conclusions are based on the consultation of the labels, the concentration of each substance being unknown.

Shampoos, body creams, shaving gel, children's sunscreen, deodorants and toothpaste of various brands were targeted in the study, which can be consulted in English on the Internet at Cosmetics worldwide – same contents.