Assessing Environmental Injus3ces Regarding Retail Stores Marke3ng Toxic Shampoo Products to Women in Fremont, California Juan Silva Environmental Studies Department-San Jose State University-Fall 2015 Introduc3on In the United States, there are thousands of people from different race backgrounds using shampoos and condi:oners. 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). According to a study, 48.4% of African American women were expose more to products containing phthalates chemicals than Mexican and white women (Branch et al. 2015). In the past 20 years, researchers found that African American women had higher levels of parabens than Caucasian men and women in their urine samples (Smith et al. 2012). The health effects associated with personal care products is a topic scien:sts are currently engaged, but liQle informa:on is known about whether or not stores market more toxic shampoo brands to African American women. Methods 1. A total of 4 retail stores and 1 beauty supply store were inspected. The stores that were inspected were Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, Target, Wal-Mart, and Sally Beauty supply store. 2. A soUware applica:on called Think Dirty was downloaded into the IPhone device. An account had to be created to save all the shampoos scanned. 3. For each store, the ethnic and non-ethnic shampoo shelves were scanned using the IPhone device. 4. AUer scanning every shampoo brand, the toxicity results would appear in the screen and had to be added to the ethnic or non-ethnic category 5. Overall, Toxicity levels repor:ng 0-3 are clean, 4-7 moderate, 8-10 hazardous (Think dirty 2014). 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 par:cular study was 0.046. Discussion Based on the final results, the average toxicity levels for non-ethnic shampoo brands was higher than the ethnic shampoo brands across all stores due to having a large supply quan:ty. 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. Research Ques3on/Hypotheses: Q1 – Are retail and beauty supply stores in Fremont, California, marke:ng more toxic shampoo brands to African American women compared to women of other racial groups? H1-There is a sta:s:cally significant difference in regards to retail stores marke:ng more toxic shampoo brands to African American women compared to women of other racial groups. Null Hypothesis-There is no sta:s:cally significant difference in regards to retail stores marke:ng more toxic shampoo brands to African American women compared to women of other racial groups. Recommenda3ons Future studies should focus on interviewing African American women and women of other racial groups to determine the propor:on of shampoo they use on a weekly basis. Interviewing women would be effec:ve in regards to finding out what type of shampoos they buy most oUen and where they buy them from. Conclusion The overall findings of this study show that there is an environmental injus:ce to be found across all retail and beauty supply stores marke:ng more toxic shampoo brands to African American women. The majority of stores inspected reported to have an average toxicity level greater than (6) for almost every shampoo brand type marketed to women. Therefore, we can conclude that women in general are being discriminated against by retail stores for selling shampoo brands with hazardous chemicals, which can put them at risk of developing health problems. References Anon. THINK DIRTY® METHODOLOGY. Think Dirty [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2015 Mar].
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AssessingEnvironmentalInjus3cesRegardingRetailStoresMarke3ngToxicShampooProductstoWomeninFremont,California
JuanSilvaEnvironmentalStudiesDepartment-SanJoseStateUniversity-Fall2015
Introduc3onIntheUnitedStates,therearethousandsofpeoplefromdifferentracebackgroundsusingshampoosandcondi:oners.Themajorityofthesepersonalcareproductscarrytoxicchemicalsthatareknowntocauseshort-termandlong-termhealtheffectstohumanbeings(Kessler2015).Accordingtoastudy,48.4%ofAfricanAmericanwomenwereexposemoretoproductscontainingphthalateschemicalsthanMexicanandwhitewomen(Branchetal.2015).Inthepast20years,researchersfoundthatAfricanAmericanwomenhadhigherlevelsofparabensthanCaucasianmenandwomenintheirurinesamples(Smithetal.2012).Thehealtheffectsassociatedwithpersonalcareproductsisatopicscien:stsarecurrentlyengaged,butliQleinforma:onisknownaboutwhetherornotstoresmarketmoretoxicshampoobrandstoAfricanAmericanwomen.
Methods1.Atotalof4retailstoresand1beautysupplystorewereinspected.ThestoresthatwereinspectedwereWalgreens,CVSPharmacy,Target,Wal-Mart,andSallyBeautysupplystore.2.AsoUwareapplica:oncalledThinkDirtywasdownloadedintotheIPhonedevice.Anaccounthadtobecreatedtosavealltheshampoosscanned.3.Foreachstore,theethnicandnon-ethnicshampooshelveswerescannedusingtheIPhonedevice.4.AUerscanningeveryshampoobrand,thetoxicityresultswouldappearinthescreenandhadtobeaddedtotheethnicornon-ethniccategory5.Overall,Toxicitylevelsrepor:ng0-3areclean,4-7moderate,8-10hazardous(Thinkdirty2014).
Results
Figure1.)ThisgraphillustratestheaveragetoxicitylevelsforallthestoresinspectedinFremont,CA.Theaveragetoxicitylevelfornon-ethnicshampoosbrandswas8.90whiletheaveragetoxicitylevelforethnicshampoobrandswas7.18.Theoverallp-valueforthispar:cularstudywas0.046.
DiscussionBasedonthefinalresults,theaveragetoxicitylevelsfornon-ethnicshampoobrandswashigherthantheethnicshampoobrandsacrossallstoresduetohavingalargesupplyquan:ty.TheoverallP-valueforallthestorescombinedinFremont,CAwas0.046,whichturnouttobelessthanthealphap-valuetorejecttheNullHypothesis.Therefore,retailandbeautysupplystoresmarketedmoretoxicshampoobrandstoAfricanAmericanwomencomparedtowomenofotherracialgroups.
ResearchQues3on/Hypotheses:Q1–AreretailandbeautysupplystoresinFremont,California,marke:ngmoretoxicshampoobrandstoAfricanAmericanwomencomparedtowomenofotherracialgroups?H1-Thereisasta:s:callysignificantdifferenceinregardstoretailstoresmarke:ngmoretoxicshampoobrandstoAfricanAmericanwomencomparedtowomenofotherracialgroups.NullHypothesis-Thereisnosta:s:callysignificantdifferenceinregardstoretailstoresmarke:ngmoretoxicshampoobrandstoAfricanAmericanwomencomparedtowomenofotherracialgroups.
Recommenda3onsFuturestudiesshouldfocusoninterviewingAfricanAmericanwomenandwomenofotherracialgroupstodeterminethepropor:onofshampootheyuseonaweeklybasis.Interviewingwomenwouldbeeffec:veinregardstofindingoutwhattypeofshampoostheybuymostoUenandwheretheybuythemfrom.
ConclusionTheoverallfindingsofthisstudyshowthatthereisanenvironmentalinjus:cetobefoundacrossallretailandbeautysupplystoresmarke:ngmoretoxicshampoobrandstoAfricanAmericanwomen.Themajorityofstoresinspectedreportedtohaveanaveragetoxicitylevelgreaterthan(6)foralmosteveryshampoobrandtypemarketedtowomen.Therefore,wecanconcludethatwomeningeneralarebeingdiscriminatedagainstbyretailstoresforsellingshampoobrandswithhazardouschemicals,whichcanputthematriskofdevelopinghealthproblems.
ReferencesAnon.THINKDIRTY®METHODOLOGY.ThinkDirty[Internet].2014[cited2015Mar].
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