Many of the beauty products marketed to women of color contain high levels of toxic chemicals that cause cancer and reproductive harm. Black Women for Wellness, a health advocacy nonprofit based in Los Angeles, aims to change that by educating and mobilizing Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) to fight back. I interviewed Dr. Astrid Williams, a public health expert and the organization’s Environmental Justice Manager, on the threats Black women face from the beauty products they use and what they can do to reduce their risks.
Why and how are Black women and babies “over-exposed and under-protected,” as your organization says, when it comes to toxic chemicals?
BIPOC communities are over-exposed because they often live in neighborhoods marked by poor air and water quality, nearby oil and gas drilling, polluting manufacturing operations, and other environmental hazards. Black and Latino women are also exposed owing to the nature of the work they do. Many BIPOC women work in the beauty industry, particularly as hair care professionals. The chemical hair straighteners and dyes they use are toxic for them and their customers both. Finally, like many of us, Black women use multiple products every day, from shampoo and conditioner to makeup, foundation, mascara, blush, and lipstick. The ingredients in these products include chemicals that disrupt our endocrine systems. Over time, these endocrine disruptors build up, creating a dangerous “body burden” that can wreak havoc on our reproductive systems and cause cancer.
These same women are under-protected because there are very few regulations in place to force the beauty industry to use the safest ingredients possible. It’s a “buyer beware” world. More regulation is needed to strengthen rules governing the manufacture of safe and healthy beauty products.
Why are beauty products so toxic anyway, especially after all the research that’s been done on the impact the chemicals they contain have?
The beauty industry is very dismissive of consumer concerns regarding ingredient safety. Plus, manufacturing safer products may mean swapping out cheaper ingredients for more expensive ones, and companies are always looking at their profits and bottom line. With no authority forcing them to make safer products, they don’t do it, even though so many of their chemical ingredients pose risks.
Is hair care the biggest source of toxic chemical exposure for Black women?
Hair care is certainly among the biggest. Chemical hair relaxers, hair dyes that use darker pigments, leave-in conditioners, curl creams, and hair sprays all contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can be inhaled or pass through the skin. Beauty salon workers may be exposed multiple times a day, depending on how many customers they have. Individuals are exposed every time they color or straighten or condition their hair.
(NOTE: Our editor, Ronnie Citron-Fink, wrote an excellent book on the subject of chemicals in hair products: True Roots: What Quitting Hair Dye Taught Me About Health and Beauty)
Your group does a lot of outreach to nurses. Why?
Nurses provide the bulk of patient care; sometimes, they’re the only medical professional a patient sees. In addition, many women of color go into nursing professions. Educating nurses is an important way to reach our audience. That’s why we offer webinars that help nurses talk with patients about the chemicals of concern in beauty and personal care products. We also provide tips and resources nurses can share to help patients avoid toxic exposures.
Your group played a key role in forcing Johnson & Johnson to stop selling talc-based baby powder. Were Black women disproportionately affected by the J&J talc scandal?
Yes. J&J’s talcum powder was heavily marketed to Black and Brown women, even while public concerns over the product and its possible links to cancer grew.
In 2021, Black Women for Wellness and other groups sent a letter to EPA asking the agency to formally designate people of color as vulnerable to the unreasonable health risks caused by exposure to phthalates. Did EPA ever respond?
No. But that doesn’t mean that the problem was solved. To the contrary. Many beauty products continue to be made with toxic ingredients, which is why we continue to raise alarms about them.
What can women do to protect themselves from toxic beauty chemicals? How can we find safer brands?
Start by using fewer products overall if you possibly can. Then, buy the safest products you can find. Working with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, we’ve launched the Non-Toxic Black Beauty Project, which offers a list of Black-owned beauty brands whose product ingredients are free of toxic chemicals. Consumers can download the list and refer to it when they shop. And rather than buy into the “Euro-centric” idea of beauty that reinforces structural racism, determine what beauty means to you, then have the confidence to be your own authentic self, not the beauty industry’s idea of your self.
What advice do you have for moms who want to teach their daughters how to protect themselves?
Encourage girls to love their authentic selves and avoid adopting skewed beauty standards. Encourage other family members and caretakers to celebrate and uplift the natural beauty of the girls in their lives. Have the conversation that natural beauty comes from within.
TELL BIDEN AND EPA: PROTECT PEOPLE FROM THE DISASTROUS PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY