KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Now we're really getting personal. We're focused on your private place — the bathroom.

That's generally where you use all that soap, body wash, shampoo and lotion.

And deodorant, perfume, shaving cream, lip balm, lipstick, mascara, eyeshadow, hair gel, mousse, hairspray, anti-aging serum. ...

It all gets applied to your body, including all the chemicals within.

Diane MacEachern, author of "Big Green Purse," suggests a fun little exercise: Gather all those products in one place and take a count. You won't be alone if the number hits 12 or 15.

"People are amazed," she said. "Someone has convinced us we need to use all these products every day."

Eco-groups and environmental researchers have raised alarms about the cumulative health effects of many of the compounds found in personal-care products. While many industry experts say the products are safe, some scientists and others outside the industry disagree.

The health questions boil down to two. What happens to the body after the skin absorbs certain compounds day after day, year after year? What happens to the environment as chemicals from these products are washed down the drain?

Suggestions for cutting back on the consumption of these substances:

1. Take stock of your assortment of personal-care products and find two you can do without. In the future, that's two fewer items to purchase.

2. Give your body a breather one day a week from all products except the very basic, such as soap and toothpaste. OK, and a dab of deodorant.

3. Do some label reading and a bit of shopping to replace two items of questionable chemical formulation with two that are free of such things as phthalates and parabens. Can you do it without spending more money?

In her book, published this year, MacEachern says women spend 85 cents of every dollar in the marketplace and are predisposed to protect the environment and health. That puts them in a strong position to force the greening of products, she argues. And in the personal-care category, they're the target audience.

"The way we spend our money is our first line of defense," she said. "American women have more economic clout than the GDP of China. It's huge."

Emily Main of National Geographic's Green Guide said many consumers aren't aware that the Food and Drug Administration doesn't review the safety of cosmetics and other skin and beauty products. And that many chemicals restricted or prohibited by the European Union aren't restricted in the United States.

A group called the Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel (www.cir-safety.org) evaluates safety, but critics point out that it's funded by the personal-care product industry.

Even so, Main said, consumers seem to be more concerned about broader health effects — that leftover chemicals from soaps, cosmetics and other products are sullying the environment and threatening wildlife and the water supplies.

"I think that's where people really start to pay attention," she said.