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].