Sisters In ControlEnvironmental Justice Newsletter

Healthy Hair I nitiative ReportHealthy Salon Days of Action

Stylin' Safely TrainingSummer Toxic Free Recipes

and More!

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Healthy Hair Initiative Report

Each year, Black women spend about 5-9 bil l ion dollars on beauty products alone, twice as much as any other ethnic group.

However many of these products marketed to and used by Black women are rarely researched for toxic health consequences, and in the rare cases they are, our products our found to be some of the most toxic beauty products on the market.

But Black hair and beauty is more than big business, it?s a culture that is layered with stereotypes, personal expression and history that

inf luences how, where and what we style our hair with.

The idea that Black women wearing their hair in it?s natural state is some how revolutionary, or polit ical, goes to the very complex decisions black women have to juggle when making decisions

about when making decisions about their hairstyles.

Black Women for Wellness launched a multi-year research project where we looked at both hair professionals and black women consumers, and the products we use for our hair. We compiled our data into report Natural Revolution, released this month. We put together this report with the goal of looking at both culture and research around black women?s hair.

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"Resources and research on product safety and salon safety are not readily available to

consumers and salon workers"

Moving forward, Black Women for Wellness plans to take our report and move into action with more trainings, legislation and education around safety from chemicals.

From 2010-2014 Black Women for Wellness conducted 9 focus groups, survey over 60 hair care professionals, and mapped over 85 salons.

Important f indings from our research were that:

-Products used in our community were not on the Environmental Working Group?s Skin Deep database

-Consumers and stylists were will ing to pay a litt le more for safer alternatives to toxic hair care products

-Resources and research on product safety and salon safety are not readily available to consumers and salon workers

-There is a signif icant lack of personal protective equipment use in salons

-Top health concerns faced by hair care professionals included irritation (skin, eye, nose), fatigue, nausea, pain (wrists, f ingers, hands), and chemical burns

-Skin toxicants, allergens, and endocrine system disrupting compounds were found in a review of products used and recommended by stylists

-Many hair care professionals knew of a colleague who had been seriously affected by products used in the salon

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During the evening advocates from groups such as Women?s Voices for the Earth and Adhikaar met with salon workers for dinner and got to know more about all the great work the various organizations were doing.

In addition to the congressional visits, the days of action included a meeting with the Federal Interagency Working Group on Salon Workers. At this event BWW was able to tell a longer narrative about the work that is currently being done with hair salon workers in areas such as Leimert Park and Inglewood. Work such as surveying hair professionals, conducting trainings and focus groups

Black Women for Wellness participated in the Healthy Salons Days of Action in Washington D.C. as part of the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance. The days of action, held November 11-13th, included a gathering of individuals from advocacy groups and salon workers that have worked together to improve salon conditions

The week started with congressional visits where the advocates and workers spoke with representatives of selected off icials, including California?s Senator Dianne Feinstein, about the need for regulations in the cosmetic and beauty industry. At these meetings Black Women for Wellness representatives Jan Robinson-Flint and Teni Adewumi spoke about the work currently being done with hair salons in South Los Angeles and the Black community.

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Heal t hy Salons Day of Act ion

The meeting included representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were present. Salon owner Safiyyah Edley spoke of her own experiences in the beauty industry and her role in becoming a health advocate for the hair care community. The representatives listened to the work being done in various communities and joined in a conversation as to how we can move forward in improving salon working conditions.

The Days of Action concluded with a philanthropic brief ing with representatives from the Ford Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation and many more funders. The foundations and funders had a chance to hear salon workers tell their personal experiences and learn about opportunities to improve salon and domestic work in the U.S.

The week was an important step in showcasing the work many organizations have been doing in salon worker health and gathering additional support from legislators and funders.

Moving forward BWW will be holding additional trainings to educate stylists and create more beauty salon health advocates.

Continuing our work in empowering and educating hair care professionals, BWW held a training about health and safety in the salon. The training was held on December 9th and was attended by several stylists interested in learning how to make their salons a healthier environment.

The Stylin? Safely workshop included information on how to protect one?s self from hazardous chemicals, how to choose and use personal protective equipment, and how to have proper ventilation inside salons. The training was interactive and many interesting topics and discussions were brought up.

A stylist spoke of her own experience working in salons where the fumes from hair processes made the air quality in the shop unbearable. Stylists in attendance participated in ergonomic exercises and learned how they could potentially turn their salons into ?Green Salons?.

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The training concluded with a presentation of certif icates for the stylists that completed the whole workshop. The training was a success and we would like to thank all the hair care professionals in attendance, we also look forward to putting on future trainings in the upcoming year.

Stylin' Safely Training

Cucumber Lemon Face Refresher

Materials

½ Chopped cucumber with peel

Juice of ½ of a lemon

2 tbsp Distil led water

3tbsp Witch Hazel (alcohol-free)

1 tbsp Aloe Vera gel (optional)

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a blender, strain with a strainer or cheese cloth, store in a spray bottle or bottle with a lid, lasts up to 1 week refrigerated

How to use

Use this gentle toner to remove cleanser and makeup residue, restore the natural pH of the skin, hydrate and rejuvenate, and close pores. Wash your face with cleanser and warm water, rinse with cold water, spray toner on face or apply with cotton balls in an upward motion, apply your personal moisturizer.

***Don?t know what to do with the extra halves of cucumber and lemon? Use extra cucumber slices and place over the eyes for 10 minutes to feel that relaxing spa-like feeling! Add cucumber and water to water for a tasty, detoxifying and refreshing summer treat.

They are many natural ingredients that are great substitutes for other more toxic more harmful chemicals. They can be used in everything from cleaning to adding a kick of f lavor to your favorite dishes.

Black Women for Wellness is putting together a series of cards highlighting some of our favorite multi-use, all natural, working before the hipsters knew it was cool, ingredients.

The f irst to kick off this series is lemon, a fruit that has been in use for over 2500 years all over the world. It?s benefits include getting rid of oily skin, reducing acne blemishes, and whitening teeth.

Keeping it all natural - Recipes for at home beauty products

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K eeping I t Natural !

"One stylist told a story of how her friends don?t have fingerprints due to the chemicals that she was using on her clients"

This past summer BWW was pleased to partner with UCLA?s Labor Occupational Health and Safety department as a part of the nationwide Occupational Health Internship program (OHIP). Two well accomplished graduate student interns were placed with BWW to work on our Healthy Hair Init iative Project.

Esmeralda graduated from Dominican University of California with a Bachelor?s degree in biology with an emphasis in cell and molecular biology and a minor in chemistry.. After graduating from Dominican University of California with a Bachelor?s degree in 2010 she began working on her Masters in biological sciences focusing on cancer biology. Currently she is working on her second Masters in public health at Touro University of California while teaching microbiology for a health sciences laboratory course as an adjunct faculty at Dominican University of California.

Teni is a master?s student studying Industrial Hygiene at the UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health. Previously, she has worked in the development of environmental health and safety training programs for a fortune 500 company, focusing on overall worker health and safety. Teni?s research interests include indoor air quality assessment and monitoring, hazardous waste disposal methods, and applying industrial hygiene to under-served worker communities. udies. Teni completed her Bachelors of Science in Environmental Health Sciences at California State University, San Bernardino.

Occupational Health

Internship Program

During their two month stay at BWW our interns canvassed Leimert Park and Inglewood salons to administer and collect 22 surveys from hair professionals.

The survey included questions on their occupational health and safety exposures, such as product use, salon ventilation, chemical exposures and ergonomic issues. Analysis of the surveys provided some interesting results.

The interns found the following key information from the surveyed stylists

-65% of surveyed stylist received formal training from cosmetology school, but only 40% received training on health effects of chemical hair products

-90% of stylist did not wear any eye protection while working, only 36% of stylists always used gloves

-86% were very concerned over the health effects of chemical hair products on their clients and 78% were concerned for their own health

-Common health symptoms and physical injuries found were nose irritation, fatigue, stress, and musculoskeletal pain

-Additional health problems found were uterine f ibroids, carpal tunnel, and miscarriages

In addition to the surveys our interns also facil itated a focus group with hair care professionals. The group comprised of f ive female hair stylists all eager to share their experiences and hair stories. The major takeaway points from the focus group were:

-More education needs to be given to stylists about toxic hair care products

-Products should be labeled and used correctly

-Many hair stylists know of someone that has been negatively affected by products they?ve used on clients. One stylist told a story of how her friends don?t have fingerprints due to the chemicals that she was using on her clients

-Unbiased resources and research should be readily available to hair stylists

Our interns took several trips while they were with us. The f irst was to Nappywood, a natural hair care convention in Los Angeles and to Sacramento on a community day of action for environmental health and justice.

While in Sacramento our interns participated in the day of action with members from the Central Valley Air Quality Coalit ion (CVAQC), California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA), and Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy (CHANGE).

The day of action started with a cross coalit ion networking meeting and policy training with lobby teams. After the training the group headed to the Capital for legislative meeting with elected off icials on specif ic environmental justice concerns.

The work our 2014 summer interns completed helped towards increasing awareness about chemical exposures in everyday beauty products and generating ideas in improving the health and safety of hair salon workers.

Contact us at :www.bwwla.org

323- 290 - 5955

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