Juan Silva San Jose State University Senior Seminar

Professor Mulvaney December 12, 2015

Assessing Environmental Injustices Regarding Retail Stores Marketing Toxic Shampoo Products to Women in Fremont, California

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….....2

BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………………………2

LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………………………………... 4

RESEARCH QUESTION……………………………………………………………….7

HYPOTHESIS…………………………………………………………………………...7

METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………………8

Study Area and/or Study Population…………………………………………...8

Study Design……………………………………………………………………...8

Data Collection Procedures……………………………………………………..8

Data Analysis Procedures……………………………………………………….9

LIMITATIONS…………………………………………………………………………10

RESULTS……………………………………………………………………………….10

Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………10

DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………………...12

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………13

RECOMMENDATIONS………………………………………………………………13

LITERATURE CITED………………………………………………………………...14

APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………………..15

BUDGET………………………………………………………………………………..15

RESUME………………………………………………………………………………..16

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INTRODUCTION

Throughout civilization, human beings have been using cosmetics for their own

personal use. Some of these products tend to be toxic for human health and the

environment (Ross 2006, 272). As the population keeps on increasing, the number of

people using toxic cosmetics also increases as well. Educating consumers about the types

of cosmetic products they buy is important because they need to be aware of the long-

term health effects.

The importance of this study was to educate and bring public awareness to women of

all racial backgrounds regarding toxic shampoo brands marketed to them in retail stores.

Women need to know that some of those shampoos products they buy from retail stores

are harmful towards their health. After people become aware of the toxicity levels and

health risks, they will be able to make better choices in regards to choosing certified

organic shampoos over conventional shampoos.

BACKGROUND

A few studies show that parabens have been found to weaken the estrogenic

compounds and cause breast cancer in females (Hood 2006, 714). This journal states that

parabens are chemicals found in the estrogenic compounds, which can trigger health

problems to women using hair shampoos. Another study has reported 96% of hair

shampoo products samples to have paraben chemicals (Hood 2006, 714). According to

the International Journal of Toxicology, shampoos products have not been evaluated in

the laboratory by using animals as a test control (Ross 2006, 270). Based on this

evidence, human beings using shampoos containing parabens chemicals are at risk of

developing cancer in the future.

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The environmental working group has stated that some ingredients found in

certain type of shampoo brands can pose high risk for those individuals using the product

more than once per day (Ross 2006, 272). In the majority of cases, advocacy groups have

accused the cosmetic industry for the toxic ingredients that some personal care products

carry, which causes reproductive harm, genetic harm, and cancer to human beings (Ross

2006, 273). Based on past studies, laws don’t require manufactures to submit any safety

data regarding the cosmetic product ingredients to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic

Act (Kessler 2015, 123). This evidence lets us know that the manufacturer is disclosing

chemical ingredients that could possibly be harmful to our human health without us

knowing about it.

In the past 30 years, the scientific community has addressed the problem

regarding the safety levels of certain ingredients found in shampoo products. According

to a scientific study, the scientific panel has reviewed and reported 11 out of 3,600

cosmetic ingredients to be unsafe for people to use for their bodies (Kessler 2015, 124).

A few studies have reported African American women to be overusing personal care

products, which have put them at high exposure risk to unsafe chemicals than women of

other racial groups (Kessler 2015, 125). Based on this evidence, African American

women are at high risk of developing cancer in their future lives.

Lily Tse who developed the Think Dirty software application for people to use

works with the environmental organizations and government agencies to report hazardous

ingredients found in shampoo products. The names of the environmental organizations

and agencies are called Health Canada Hotlist, the Breast Cancer fund, European Union

Health Commission Cosmetics Directive, National Cancer Institute, and David Suzuki

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Foundation (Think Dirty 2014). These organizations and agencies update the database on

the Think Dirty software application to provide consumers with toxicity level reports

about different personal care products sold in stores.

LITERATURE REVIEW

In our society, the use of personal care products keeps on increasing every year as

the human population increases. In the United States, there are thousands of people from

different race backgrounds using personal products such as; shampoos, conditioners,

hand soap, shaving creams, and other products. The majority of these personal care

products carry toxic chemicals that are known to cause short-term and long-term health

effects to human beings (Kessler 2015).

In the majority of case studies, scientists have conducted survey studies on what

personal care products different ethnic and race groups use and how much they use them.

According to a case study, African Americans females use the most personal care

products containing paraben and placenta ingredients in compare to the other racial

groups (James-Todd et al. 2012). The percentage reported for African American females

using products containing paraben and placenta ingredients was 49.4% (James-Todd et

al. 2012). This evidence tells us that African American women are at high risk of being

exposed to toxic ingredients such as parabens and placenta. The study reported to not

have data on ingredients coming from two large set of personal care brand (James-Todd

et al. 2012). The fact that the researchers didn’t have these ingredients for two large sets

of personal care brands is a problem because there could be a slightly higher percentage

increase for all the different racial groups of females. In this particular study, the

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researchers collected their data by hosting in-person interviews, which lasted about 15 to

20 minutes each (James-Todd et al. 2012).

During the interview, the female participants were given a book that had different

hair product labels and a survey (James-Taylor et al. 2012). The purpose of distributing

this label book with hair products was to help them with memory aid (James-Taylor et al.

2012). This study was effective in regards to providing a book label to the participants so

they could know how to answer the questions regarding the personal care products they

use at home. Researchers in this study case mention that future studies should focus on

evaluating products containing hormone and figure out which racial groups are exposed

more to breast cancer (James-Taylor et al. 2012).

Researchers found that African women were exposed more to hair product

containing parabens and phlates at an early age in compare to other racial groups (James-

Todd et al. 2011). This study stated that they did not have samples of hair products that

tested for parabens, estrogen, and phthalates chemicals (James-Todd et al. 2011). The fact

that this study didn’t use samples to test for those ingredients mention can mislead the

results of the data. In regards to methods, researchers recruited a total of 300 women

from three different racial groups in New York City (James-Todd et al. 2011).

Participants were asked questions during the interview regarding what types of hair

products they use during their childhood and how old were they when their period started

(James-Todd et al. 2011). Researchers mention that future studies need to test the

chemical compositions found in hair products to make sure the results don’t have bias

information (James-Todd et al. 2011). The Think Dirty software that I will be using for

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my study has already tested the chemical composition of these hair products, which will

help me come up with a non-bias conclusion about the toxic levels of hair shampoos.

In a scientific study, researchers found that Africans Americans are at high risk of

being exposed to endocrine disrupting chemicals than other racial groups (Kessler 2015).

Therefore, they face more health problems related to using more personal care products.

According to Kessler, Wal-Mart has already classified only 10 chemicals that are found

in their products to be toxic, but they encourage the suppliers to do their jobs in regards to

reducing harmful ingredients in their products (Kessler 2015). Based on this evidence, I

found it surprising for Wal-Mart to have classified ten chemicals known to be toxic in

some of their products.

In another similar study, African Americans reported to have use more personal

care products containing hormone ingredients than whites (Donovan et al. 2006). Some

of the personal care products that African American consumers use in large proportions

are hair styling and shampoo products (Donovan et al. 2006). In this particular study,

African American and white females were distributed surveys to respond to, but the

survey did not include all hair products containing placenta (Donovan et al. 2006). The

fact that this study did not have all the possible products containing placenta can conflict

with the final data reported. According to researchers, future studies should focus on

promoting to manufacturers about having them release all the possible ingredients found

in their personal care products to consumers (Donovan et al. 2006).

Lastly, researchers concluded that African American women had higher levels of

parabens than Caucasian men and women in their urine samples (Smith et al. 2012).

Based on this evidence, the paraben concentration levels found in people urine depended

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on demographic factors related to race and gender. In this study, researchers collected

urine samples from 165 males and 346 from females (Smith et al. 2012). The fact that

this study did not collect a balance sample size of males and females urine samples can

be bias because there are more females than male participants. Therefore, we can

conclude that not enough male participants participate in this particular.

Overall, we can conclude that all of these previous scientific studies support the

concept of environmental racism. The health effects associated with personal care

products is a topic that scientists are currently engaged in, but little information is known

about whether or not stores market high toxic shampoo products to African Americans

compared to women of other racial groups.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Question 1: Are retail and beauty supply stores in Fremont, California, marketing more

toxic shampoo brands to African American women compared to women of other racial

groups?

HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis 1: There is a statistically significant difference in regards to stores marketing

more toxic shampoo brands for African American women compared to women of other

racial groups.

Null Hypothesis: There is no statistically significant difference in regards to retail stores

marketing more toxic shampoo brands to African American women compared to women

of other racial groups.

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METHODOLOGY

Study Area and/or Study Population

In this particular study, gender and race were examined to see if there was

environmental racism factor to be found across all retail stores. The data was collected

from a total of five different retail and beauty supply stores located in the city of

Fremont, California. The inspected stores were CVS pharmacy, Target, Wal-Mart,

Walgreens, and Sally’s Beauty supply store. For every store, an iPhone device was used

to scan all the non-ethnic and ethnic shampoo brands found in the shelves. The unit

analysis for this study was women consumers of different racial groups.

Study Design

The data for this study was collected between October 26th and November 7th.

This particular study focused on whether or not retail and beauty supply stores marketed

more toxic shampoo brands to African American Women compared to women of other

racial groups. In order to find out about this phenomenon, retail stores had to be visited to

scan all the ethnic and non-ethnic shampoo brands marketed to women consumers. A

total of 121 shampoo brands had to be scanned for all the stores combined.

Data Collection Procedures

In order to collect data, attending retail and beauty supply stores in the city of

Fremont, CA was required for this study. First, a software application called Think Dirty

was downloaded into the IPhone device to create an account. After creating an account

with Think Dirty, category folders listing the name of every store were created to separate

ethnic vs. non-ethnic shampoos. After the categories were created, the barcodes of ethnic

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and non-ethnic shampoo brands were scanned in all the stores. For every shampoo brand

scanned, the toxicity level of that shampoo brand had to be added to the ethnic or non-

ethnic category followed by store name. Once they were all saved into the software

application, individual shampoo brands were able to be track down at home from an

IPhone device.

At home, the data results of all the shampoos scanned from the IPhone device

were entered into an excel sheet. The software application called Think Dirty was able to

provide toxicity meter levels for each shampoo brand ranging from 1 to 10. According to

Think Dirty Website, shampoo products reporting toxic levels between 0 and 3 were

considered low due to not containing ingredients that are hazardous to human health

(Think Dirty 2014). Shampoo products reporting toxicity levels between 4 and 7 were

considered moderately hazardous due to containing some hazardous ingredients that are

known to cause long-term health effects (Think Dirty 2014). Shampoo products reporting

toxicity levels between 8 and 10 were considered very hazardous due to having the

majority of ingredients appearing to be toxic towards human health (Think Dirty 2014).

Overall, a total of five days were spent conducting this study for all the retail and beauty

supply stores.

Data Analysis Procedures

In order to analyze the data, a t-test was conducted in excel to compare the

average toxicity levels of African American shampoos and shampoos used by women of

other racial groups. Based on the t-test conducted, a comparison of average toxicity levels

was seen between ethnic and non-ethnic shampoo brands marketed to women. After the t-

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test was conducted, the average means of all the stores were highlighted to create a bar

graph. The bar graph was created to determine whether or not there was an environmental

injustice system found across all retail stores marketing shampoo products to women of

all racial groups.

Limitations

One of the sources that made the data collection and limitations bias was the

effect of having a smaller sample size for the African American shampoo shelves. Having

a smaller sample size for the African American shampoo shelves was an issue because

you want to compare more African American shampoo brands to the shampoo shelves of

other racial groups, which tends to have more brands in the shelves.

Results

Figure 1.) This graph illustrates the average toxicity levels for all the stores inspected in Fremont, CA. The average toxicity level for non-ethnic shampoos brands was 8.90 while the average toxicity level for ethnic shampoo brands was 7.18. The overall p-value for this particular study was 0.046.

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Data Analysis

The average toxicity level for the non-ethnic shampoo brands at CVS pharmacy

was (9) while the average mean for the ethnic shampoo brands was (6.5). The non-ethnic

shampoo brands marketed to women of other racial groups had a higher average toxicity

level than the ethnic shampoo brands. CVS reported a p>0.06063 when comparing both

types of shampoo brands in a t-test.

The average toxicity level for the non-ethnic shampoo brands at Walgreens was

(8.77) while the average mean for the ethnic shampoo brands was (3.50). The non-ethnic

shampoo brands marketed to women of other racial groups had a higher average toxicity

level than the ethnic shampoo brands. Walgreens reported a p < 0.0001 when comparing

both types of shampoo brands in a t-test.

The average toxicity level for the non-ethnic shampoo brands at Target was (8.70)

while the average mean for the ethnic shampoo brands was (7). The non-ethnic shampoo

brands marketed to women of other racial groups had a higher average toxicity level than

the ethnic shampoo brands. Target reported a p < 0.13773 when comparing both types of

shampoo brands in a t-test.

The average toxicity level for the non-ethnic shampoo brands at Wal-Mart was

(9.28) while the average mean for the ethnic shampoo brands was (7.66). The non-ethnic

shampoo brands marketed to women of other racial groups had a higher average toxicity

level than the ethnic shampoo brands. Wal-Mart reported a p>0.08974 when comparing

both types of shampoo brands in a t-test.

The average toxicity level for the non-ethnic shampoo brands at Sally’s Beauty

Supply was (9) while the average mean for the ethnic shampoo brands was (6.5). The

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non-ethnic shampoo brands marketed to women of other racial groups had a higher

average toxicity level than the ethnic shampoo brands. Sally Beauty supply store reported

a p >0.60 when comparing both types of shampoo brands in a t-test.

Discussion

Based on the final results, retail and beauty supply stores marketed highly toxic

shampoo brands across women of all racial groups. The average toxicity level for non-

ethnic shampoos marketed to women in Wal-Mart was (9.28) compare to (7.7) for ethnic

shampoo brands. The average toxicity level for non-ethnic shampoo brands was greater

than the ethnic shampoos marketed at Wal-Mart.

In the other hand, Walgreens marketed the least toxic shampoo brands to African

American women while Target marketed the least toxic shampoo brands to women of

other racial groups. The average toxicity level for ethnic shampoo brands marketed at

Walgreens was (3.5). The average toxicity level for non-ethnic shampoo brands marketed

at Target was (8.70).

The overall P-value for all the stores combined in Fremont, CA was 0.046, which

turn out to be less than the alpha p-value to reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, retail

and beauty supply stores marketed more toxic shampoo brands to African American

women compared to women of other racial groups. The p-value reported could have

been better represented if the sampling size of ethnic shampoos was large. The sampling

size of ethnic shampoo brands was small in compared to the non-ethnic shampoo brands

found in the shelves. The reason why the sampling size was smaller in compared to the

non-ethnic shampoo size was because not all of the ethnic shampoos scanned appear in

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the Think Dirty database. If all the ethnic shampoo scanned appeared in the Think Dirty

database, the sampling size of ethnic shampoo brands could have been larger.

Conclusion

The overall findings of this study show that there is an environmental injustice to

be found across all retail and beauty supply stores marketing more toxic shampoo brands

to African American women compare to women of other racial groups. The majority of

stores inspected reported to have an average toxicity level greater than (6) for almost

every shampoo brand type marketed to women. According to the Think Dirty Meter,

toxicity levels between 6-10 are considered to be moderate and highly hazardous (Think

Dirty 2014). Therefore, we can conclude that women in general are being discriminated

against by the cosmetic industry for putting hazardous chemicals in their shampoos,

which can put them at risk of developing health problems.

Recommendations

Future studies should focus on interviewing African American women and women of

other racial groups to determine the proportion of shampoo they use on a weekly basis.

Interviewing women would be effective in regards to finding out what type of shampoos

they use most often and where they buy them. Gathering responses from women of all

racial groups would help researchers pinpoint and inspect retail stores where women buy

most of their shampoos from.

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LITERATURE CITED

Anon. THINK DIRTY® METHODOLOGY. Think Dirty [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2015 Mar]. Available from: http://www.thinkdirtyapp.com/about-methodology.php

Branch F, Woodruff TJ, Mitro SD, Zota AR. 2015. Vaginal douching and racial/ethnic disparities in phthalates exposures among reproductive-aged women: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2004. Environmental Health 14.

 Donovan M, Tiwary CM, Axelrod D, Sasco AJ, Jones L, Hajek R, Sauber E, Kuo J,

Davis DL. 2007. Personal care products that contain estrogens or xenoestrogens may increase breast cancer risk. Med Hypotheses 68(4): 756-66.

 Duty S, Ackerman R, Calafat A, Hauser R. 2005. Personal care product use predicts

urinary concentrations of some phthalate monoesters. Environmental Health Perspectives 113(11): 1530-5.

Hood E. 2006. Picking up on preservatives - new biomarkers for gauging paraben exposure. Environmental Health Perspectives 114(12): A714

James-Todd T, Senie R, Terry MB. 2012. Racial/Ethnic Differences in Hormonally-Active Hair Product Use: A Plausible Risk Factor for Health Disparities. Journal of Immigrant Minority Health 14(3): 506-11.

 James-Todd T, Terry MB, Rich-Edwards J, Deierlein A, Senie R. 2011. Childhood hair

product use and earlier age at menarche in a racially diverse study population: A pilot study. Annals Epidemiology 21(6): 461-5.

Kessler R. 2015. More than Cosmetic Changes Taking Stock of Personal Care Product Safety. Environmental Health Perspectives 123(5): A120-7.

Philippat C, Bennett D, Calafat AM, Picciotto IH. 2015. Exposure to select phthalates and phenols through use of personal care products among Californian adults and their children. Environmental Research 140:369-76.

Ross G. 2006. A Perspective on the Safety of Cosmetic Products: A Position Paper of The American Council on Science and Health. International Journal of Toxicology 25(4): 269-77.

 Smith KW, Braun JM, Williams PL, Ehrlich S, Correia KF, Calafat AM, Ye X, Ford J,

Keller M, Meeker JD, et al. 2012. Predictors and variability of urinary paraben concentrations in men and women, including before and during pregnancy. Environ Health Perspectives 120(11): 1538-43.   

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APPENDIX

Timeline

Task Date to be Completed by

Collect Data October 26th

Statistically Analyze Data November 1st

Create Draft Report November 8th

Create Poster November 15th

Complete Final Report December 2nd

Budget

For my study on auditing retail and beauty supply stores, money was needed to

buy some shampoo products in every store to be loyal to the store for auditing their

shampoo shelves. A total of 35 dollars was spent for all inspected retail stores in

Fremont, California.

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Qualifications

Juan Silva6393 Baine Ave. Apt B • Newark, CA • 94560 • (510) 943-9542 • silvacampagne@gmail.com

ObjectiveTo obtain a part time internship position as a consumer database researcher for the Environmental Working Group, where I can gain work experience in entering and reviewing data on consumer product ingredients that are known to be hazardous to people. Updating the online database will allow me to publish solid information regarding the safety levels of each consumer product.

EducationSan Jose State University

Environmental Studies Bachelors Degree Sustainable Water Resources Concentration

ExperienceSanta Clara County Recycling and Household Hazardous Waste Hotline February 2014-September 2015 San Jose, CA

Recycling Researcher/Customer Service: Conducting research about recycling materials, updating recycling database, data entry, scheduling appointments for hazardous waste program, and referring callers to recycling companies where they can dispose of household materials properly.

Relevant Courses: Environmental Impact Analysis, Chemistry, Biology, Human Ecology, Environmental Research and Writing, and Resource Analysis.

Skills

Technical: Microsoft Word and Excel Languages: Fluent English and Spanish

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