The Environmental Injustice of Beauty

By Mary Ellen Capineri, Advocacy Committee

Every year, 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer. Women of color under the age of 40, experience significantly higher rates of breast and gynecologic cancers than other demographics. Why is this happening? Dr. Jasmine McDonald, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, presents a well researched and data-driven explanation in her Webinar, “The Importance of Black Women Understanding the Chemicals in their Personal Care Products.”

She opens her presentation with an explanation of how some personal care products elevate the risk of breast and gynecologic cancers for all women. These products may contain carcinogens as well as endocrine disruptive chemicals (e.g. estrogens, phthalates, parabens), which interfere with natural hormone regulation. Even low exposures can be harmful at critical windows in breast cell development, including fetal growth, puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause. During these periods of changes to the breast tissue, women are more “vulnerable to environmental exposures that increase carcinogenic susceptibility or a tumor permissive microenvironment.”

Black women are at higher risk because they tend to use more hair products and menstrual products than other demograhics, creating a significant equity difference to toxic exposures. Dr. McDonald specifically notes that, for Black women, the “combined application of permanent hair dye, relaxers, the longer use of relaxers, and the earlier age of use of relaxers is associated with poorer tumor characteristics (e.g. larger tumor size and poorer grade).” Using these hair relaxers is driven by the desire to achieve a Eurocentric view of beauty. According to research conducted for California’s CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), Black women’s natural hair is 2.5 times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional.

So what’s to be done? Education and advocacy are essential. For example, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) created an online database of safe Black-owned beauty products and a list of trusted brands: safecosmetics.org/black-beauty-project/. You can also download a free mobile app (e.g.Yuka) to scan products and view their health impacts. Finally, contact your New York State Senator and Assemblymember with an urgent request: Vote for the Beauty Justice Act and the Banning of Restricted Substances in Menstrual Products Act. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

A recording of Dr. McDonald’s webinar is available: The Importance of Black Women Understanding Chemicals in Their Personal Care Products on Youtube: https://youtu.be/1p_bx7NimsM?si=2HHgxtQ_SeNrSe0K