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Changing Your Beauty Routine Could Prevent Cancer and Lower Your Body’s Exposure to Toxins

Published on: Published in: Blog

Summary

Hey Beautiful, let’s talk about something that’s real but often invisible... what you put on your body. The lotions, hair products, soaps, face washes, and perfumes can carry chemicals that make their way into your body. A new community‐based study shows that when women
intentionally pick safer personal care products, measurable changes happen in what’s inside
them. Let’s break it down together.

What’s the Study? And Why You Should Care 

The Taking Stock Study is a community driven effort involving Columbia University, Silent Spring Institute, LA Grit Media, and yours truly Black Women for Wellness. It focused on Black and Latina women in South Los Angeles, a population already facing added chemical exposure burdens. 

The study: 

  • 35 Black women and 35 Latina women participated. 
  • Researchers asked them about their shopping habits for personal care products 
  • Researchers collected urine samples and tested for 28 different chemicals (including but not limited to phthalates, parabens, BPA, and oxybenzone) often found in personal care products. 
  • Then researchers looked at whether the women who already tried to select safer products had lower levels of certain chemicals. 

The rationale: Can your choices in buying unscented products and avoiding certain ingredients reduce toxins, hormone disruptors, and carcinogens within your body? 

What They Found (The Good News + The Warnings) 

  • For Black women who avoided fragranced products, they had less than half the amount of a metabolite of diethyl phthalate in their urine, compared to women who didn’t avoid fragrance. 
  • Latinas who avoided oxybenzone (a UV filter chemical often used in sunscreens and other products) had significantly lower levels of oxybenzone in their urine.
  • Women who avoided parabens (preservatives in many cosmetics) had about two times lower concentrations of methyl and propyl parabens. However, the study notes that those results did not reach statistical significance. Meaning, researchers saw the trend, but the data wasn’t strong enough to rule out chance. 

In short: Avoiding certain ingredients can make a difference, at least for some chemicals. However, it’s not a magic wand. Shopping safer helps, but it’s only part of what we need. 

Why This Matters 

  1. We’re Often Exposed to More 

Beauty and personal care products marketed to Black women have historically had more synthetic fragrance, preservatives, strong conditioning agents, and chemicals that are less regulated. 

  1. It’s Unfair Pressure 

Imagine having to act like a chemist to protect yourself because the regulations are weak. “Fragrance” can hide dozens of chemicals, and “clean beauty” means different things to different brands. The burden often falls on the consumer to learn, read, scan, swap. 

  1. Not Everyone Has Equal Access 

“Clean” or “safer” products often cost more and are less available in low-income neighborhoods. Also, ingredient lists may be hard to read, especially for those whose first language isn’t English. 

  1. Policy & Market Shifts are Essential 

As a community we have to advocate for stronger labeling laws, so “fragrance” can’t hide harmful compounds, standardized definitions for “clean,” and call out companies to make safer products across the board. Visit Black Women for Wellness’ next Curls & Conversations to learn more about preventative measures. Click here to see upcoming BWW events.

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