Environmental Racism in Personal Care Products
Part 4 of the Environmental Racism in Greater Boston Series
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Introduction
Personal care products include makeup, hair products, body products such as lotions and soaps, and products for nail care and menstrual care. These products can include toxic chemicals that can build in our bodies over time. This can lead to long-term health issues.
Under current laws in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has little ability to regulate what is used in personal care products. Instead, they rely on the industry to regulate itself. The European Union, on the other hand, has stronger regulation of what is used in cosmetics.
Personal care product use is an important environmental justice issue. There are well studied racial/ethnic differences in personal care product use and composition, which may contribute to racial/ethnic health disparities.
A Framework for Understanding Product Use Differences
Personal care product use is determined by more than just individual choice. There are strong social and cultural forces that impact access, affordability, and preference for certain products. Here, we will divide these drivers into three domains:
- Place-based determinants - which products are sold in your neighborhood?
- Occupational determinants - are you exposed to toxic products at work?
- Cultural determinants - how do cultural norms such as beauty standards affect which products you use?
First, let's explore how product use differs among demographic groups. Later, we will explore how the structural factors summarized above might generate these differences.
Personal care product use differs among racial/ethnic groups
Several studies have found racial/ethnic differences in personal care product use. Most recently, Dodson et al. surveyed an ethnically diverse set of 300 women in California. Earlier, James-Todd et al . surveyed 300 women in New York. Both studies found that for some products, there were virtually no racial/ethnic differences in reported use. For others, like vaginal douches, hair gel, and hair oil, there were huge differences between racial/ethnic groups.
The next few slides show graphs of the various products participants were asked about, grouped by race/ethnicity.
For which products do all the columns look about the same size? For which products are there big differences in who uses them?
Toxic Chemicals
Why do these product use differences matter?
Some types of personal care products have more toxic chemicals in them than others. That means that racial/ethnic differences in product use can lead to racial/ethnic differences in toxic chemical exposure.
A clear example of this is shown in a 2015 study in the journal Environmental Health . Researchers found that a greater proportion of Black and Hispanic women used vaginal douches than White women. Even more concerning, they found that douching was associated with increased urinary concentrations of certain phthalates. Phthalates (pronounced 'thA-laytes') are a group of chemicals that are linked with many worrying health effects . This 2015 study is just one of many examples that we will discuss on this page where differences in product use are linked to differences in toxic chemical concentrations inside the body.
Interested in digging deeper into the types of chemicals that might be hiding in your personal care products? See the Environmental Working Group's (EWG*) Toxic Twenty list for a list of the hazardous chemicals that EWG is pushing to regulate or ban from personal care products.
*EWG is a consumer advocacy group that has created a lot of great resources to help guide folks towards safer products. You can find more resources from them in the "Resources for Consumers" section at the end of this page.
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)
One class of hazardous chemicals often found in personal care products are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) . EDCs can disrupt our hormones, causing long-term health effects such as altered sexual development, breast and prostate cancer, neurological and learning disabilities, obesity and type 2 diabetes .
Studies have found that among pregnant women, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women have higher urinary concentrations of several EDCs compared to non-Hispanic White women. These differences matter because higher concentrations of EDCs during pregnancy have been linked to dangerous pregnancy outcomes such as pre-term birth and low birthweight.
For the rest of this page, we will explore some of the structural factors that impact personal care product use. In other words, why are some groups more exposed to hazardous personal care products? And, how can we reduce disparities in toxic chemical exposure?
Place-Based Determinants
Greater Boston
One structural determinant of personal care product use is access. What is sold at your nearest corner store? How much does it cost? What kind of products are being marketed in your neighborhood?
The racial residential segregation is extreme in Greater Boston (if you haven't already, see Part I of this series for more on segregation). Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health set out to see whether hair product safety differs between 7 diverse Boston neighborhoods. This study, called the RESTYLE study, is a first step in investigating the role that access plays in personal care product use.
The map below shows the risk ratio* of finding high-hazard hair products in the included stores in each neighborhood. Hair products were grouped based on their EWG Skin Deep risk score . The risk ratio compares each neighborhood to Beacon Hill (a low-poverty, mostly-White neighborhood). Darker orange means you are more likely to find hazardous hair products in that neighborhood compared to Beacon Hill. Use the data dashboard below to explore the results of this important pilot study.
*The risk ratio for neighborhood X is the ratio between the risk of finding high-hazard hair products in neighborhood X divided by the risk of finding high-hazard hair products in Beacon Hill. The 'risk' in this case is the proportion of hair products in the stores surveyed that are high-risk according to their EWG Skin Deep score. Example: the risk ratio for Dorchester would be: (the proportion of hair products we surveyed that were high-hazard in Dorchester) / (the proportion of hair products we surveyed that were high-hazard in Beacon hill)
Data dashboard for the RESTYLE study. Hover over any part of the graphs for more information, or click on a column to see its neighborhood on the map. Click on a neighborhood in the map to learn more about it.
Retailer Redlining
This study of seven Boston neighborhoods is a crucial start into investigating retailer redlining practices in Boston. The term retailer redlining refers to the spatially discriminatory practice of retailers not serving, or differentially serving, neighborhoods based on their demographic makeup. While the research on personal care products is just beginning, retailer redlining is better-studied in the context of food environments , dollar stores , and more controversially, in the context of tobacco sales (see: Laws 2002 , Duncan 2014 ).
Researchers at Harvard are currently expanding the RESTYLE study to include more neighborhoods -- keep an eye on this page for updates to this work!
Occupational Determinants
People who work in the personal appearance industry spend more time handling personal care products than the average person. This also means that they are disproportionately exposed to the chemicals inside those products. For some industries, like the nail salon industry, these chemicals are particularly dangerous.
It is important to note that occupation is not random. Structural factors like access to education, cultural norms, the availability of jobs in your city or neighborhood, and jobs available to immigrants (to name just a few) sort people into professions unequally.
This graph shows that, compared to the share of the overall workforce (the lime green column), women and people of color are over-represented in the personal appearance service industry.
Even though women make up less than half of the total workforce, they make up about 80% of personal appearance professionals.
Even though Asian people make up less than 10% of the total workforce, they make up about 75% of manicurists and pedicurists.
Case Study: Nail Salon Workers
Zooming in on manicurists and pedicurists alone, we see that women and Asian people are vastly over-represented in the nail care industry. This means that the fraction of nail salon workers who identify as Asian is much larger than the fraction of people in the total U.S. workforce who identify as Asian.
White people make up almost 80% of the total workforce, and less than 15% of nail salon workers.
Conversely, Asian people make up less than 10% of the total workforce, and almost 80% of nail salon workers.
Another way to look at these demographics is using circle charts -- notice that immigrants are also over-represented in the nail salon industry. (Source: Nail Files )
The products used in nail salons have several hazardous chemicals in them, and exposure to these chemicals can be worsened by poor ventilation in the salon.
These chemicals and their associated health effects include:
- Acetone (nail polish remover): headaches; dizziness; and irritated eyes, skin, and throat.
- Acetonitrile (fingernail glue remover): irritated nose and throat, breathing problems, nausea, vomiting, weakness, and exhaustion.
- Butyl acetate (nail polish, nail polish remover): headaches and irritated eyes, skin, nose, mouth, and throat.
- Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) (nail polish): nausea and irritated eyes, skin, nose, mouth, and throat. Long-term exposures to high concentrations may cause other serious effects. Prenatal exposures are associated with increased risk of reproductive and neurological harm.
- Ethyl and isopropyl acetate (nail polish, nail polish remover, fingernail glue): irritated eyes, stomach, skin, nose, mouth, and throat; high levels can cause fainting.
- Ethyl and methyl methacrylate (EMA) (artificial nail liquid): asthma; irritated eyes, skin, nose, and mouth; difficulty concentrating. Exposures while pregnant may affect your child.
- Formaldehyde (nail polish, nail hardener): difficulty breathing, including coughing, asthma-like attacks, allergic reactions, irritated eyes, skin, and throat. Formaldehyde can cause cancer.
- Toluene (nail polish, fingernail glue): dry or cracked skin; headaches, dizziness, and numbness; irritated eyes, nose, throat, and lungs; damage to liver and kidneys; harm to developing fetus during pregnancy.
Nail salon workers have higher urinary concentrations of certain toxic phthalates and are over-exposed to cancer-causing and other hormone-disrupting chemicals compared to the general population. Exposure to these toxic chemicals can also affect the health of children of nail technicians. This is especially true if they are exposed to hormone-disrupting chemicals while pregnant .
For nail salon workers, it is important to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals. A few ideas to do this include using products with safer ingredients, increasing ventilation, and increasing the distance between the technician and the products they are applying. These safety measures are important, but sometimes salon owners don't know about the risks, can't afford to make the changes, or simply don't want to. That's why worker-led groups like the New York Nail Salon Workers Association and the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative are leading the charge to improve work conditions for nail salon workers in New York and beyond.
Cultural Determinants
Another structural determinant of personal care product use is cultural norms such as beauty standards. Eurocentric beauty standards for women promote straight hair, light skin, and scentless or perfumed skin. This has led to the development of skin lighteners, hair straighteners/relaxers, and scented intimate products that contain unsafe chemicals. These products are disproportionately used by women of color . That means that these women are also disproportionately exposed to chemicals like mercury and hydroquinone (skin lighteners), parabens and formaldehyde (hair relaxers) and phthalates (vaginal douches).
Other cultural determinants that don't center European beauty standards can also lead some groups of people to use certain products and cosmetics with unsafe chemicals. And, while 'clean beauty products', those free of certain hazardous chemicals, are sweeping the market, many of these 'clean' brands are marketed toward White shoppers. Today, many entrepreneurs of color are leading the change to make the 'clean beauty' market more inclusive. This movement, along with efforts to de-center Whiteness in cultural beauty standards and regulate the chemicals in personal care products, will hopefully create better access to safe personal care products for all people.
For a great discussion about beauty standards and decolonizing beauty, follow the link below to listen to an episode on NPR's Code Switch podcast.
Navigation
Resources for Community Members
Apps and Databases
Printable Resources
Web-based resources
Videos and Podcasts
The Story of Cosmetics
Toxic Hair Products Are Being Marketed to Black Women | Unpack That
B2C Symposium | Personal Care Products and Black Women's Health by Dr. James-Todd
The hidden cost of black hair | The Economist
EDF Live Update: Beauty Justice Panel
Further Reading
- Stiel L, Adkins‐Jackson PB, Clark P, Mitchell E, Montgomery S. A review of hair product use on breast cancer risk in African American women . Cancer Med. 2016 Jan 15;5(3):597–604.
- Gaston SA, James-Todd T, Harmon Q, Taylor KW, Baird D, Jackson CL. Chemical/Straightening and Other Hair Product Usage during Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood among African-American Women: Potential Implications for Health . J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2020 Jan;30(1):86–96
- James-Todd T, Terry MB, Rich-Edwards J, Deierlein A, Senie R. C hildhood hair product use and earlier age at menarche in a racially diverse study population: a pilot study . Ann Epidemiol. 2011 Jun;21(6):461–5.
- Sargis RM, Simmons RA. Environmental neglect: endocrine disruptors as underappreciated but potentially modifiable diabetes risk factors . Diabetologia. 2019 Oct;62(10):1811–22.
- Huang T, Saxena AR, Isganaitis E, James-Todd T. Gender and racial/ethnic differences in the associations of urinary phthalate metabolites with markers of diabetes risk: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2008 . Environ Health. 2014 Feb 5;13(1):6.
- Llanos AAM, Rabkin A, Bandera EV, Zirpoli G, Gonzalez BD, Xing CY, et al. Hair product use and breast cancer risk among African American and White women . Carcinogenesis. 2017 Sep 1;38(9):883–92.
- McDonald JA, Tehranifar P, Flom JD, Terry MB, James-Todd T. Hair product use, age at menarche and mammographic breast density in multiethnic urban women . Environ Health. 2018 Jan 4;17(1):1.
- James-Todd T, Connolly L, Preston EV, Quinn MR, Plotan M, Xie Y, et al. Hormonal activity in commonly used Black hair care products: evaluating hormone disruption as a plausible contribution to health disparities. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2021 May;31(3):476–86.
- Helm JS, Nishioka M, Brody JG, Rudel RA, Dodson RE. Measurement of endocrine disrupting and asthma-associated chemicals in hair products used by Black women . Environmental Research. 2018 Aug 1;165:448–58.
- James-Todd TM, Meeker JD, Huang T, Hauser R, Seely EW, Ferguson KK, et al. Racial and ethnic variations in phthalate metabolite concentration changes across full-term pregnancies . J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2017 Mar;27(2):160–6.
- James-Todd T, Senie R, Terry MB . Racial/Ethnic Differences in Hormonally-Active Hair Product Use: A Plausible Risk Factor for Health Disparities . J Immigrant Minority Health. 2012 Jun;14(3):506–11.
- Preston EV, Chan M, Nozhenko K, Bellavia A, Grenon MC, Cantonwine DE, et al. Socioeconomic and racial/ethnic differences in use of endocrine-disrupting chemical-associated personal care product categories among pregnant women . Environ Res. 2021 May 3;198:111212.
- Zota AR, Shamasunder B. The environmental injustice of beauty: framing chemical exposures from beauty products as a health disparities concern . American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2017 Oct 1;217(4):418.e1-418.e6.
- James-Todd TM, Chiu Y-H, Zota AR. Racial/ethnic disparities in environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals and women’s reproductive health outcomes: epidemiological examples across the life course . Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2016 Jun;3(2):161–80.
- Dodson RE, Cardona C, Zota AR, Flint JR, Navarro S, Shamasunder B. Personal care product use among diverse women in California: Taking Stock Study . J Exposure Sci & Environ Epi. 2021 May;31:487-502.
- UCLA Labor Center, Nail Files: A Study of Nail Salon Workers and Industry in the United States . 2018.
- Chan M, Mita C, Bellavia A, Parker M, James-Todd T. Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Pregnancy and Prenatal Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Commonly Used in Personal Care Products. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2021;8(2):98–112.
- Qian Y, Shao H, Ying X, Huang W, Hua Y. The Endocrine Disruption of Prenatal Phthalate Exposure in Mother and Offspring . Frontiers in Public Health. 2020;8:366.
- Quach T, Gunier R, Tran A, Von Behren J, Doan-Billings P-A, Nguyen K-D, et al. Characterizing Workplace Exposures in Vietnamese Women Working in California Nail Salons . Am J Public Health. 2011 Dec;101(S1):S271–6.
- Rochon A. “Overexposed, Uninformed”: Nail Salon Workers and Hazards to their Health / A Review of the Literature . North York, Ontario: National Network on Environments and Women’s Health; 2015.
- Xie K. E pigenetic Consequences from Long-Term Exposure to Nail Salons [Internet]. Bruin Medical Review. 2021.
- Berger K, Kogut KR, Bradman A, She J, Gavin Q, Zahedi R, Parra KL, Harley KG. Personal care product use as a predictor of concentrations of certain phthalates, parabens, and phenols in the HERMOSA study . J Exp Sci Env Tox. 2018 Jan;29:21-32.
- Harley KG, Kogut K, Madrigal DS, Cardenas M, Vera IA, Meza-Alfaro G, She J, Gavin Q, Zahedi R, Bradman A, Eskenazi B, Parra KL. Reducing phthalate, paraben and phenol exposure from personal care products in adolescent girls: Findings from the HERMOSA Intervention Study . Environ Health Perspect. 2016 Oct; 124(10):1600-1607.
- From Our Own Voices - report from VietAID and Greater Boston Legal Services on the impact of COVID-19 on nainl salon workers in the Boston area (May 2021)
