‘Skin deep’ in more ways than oneby Thandisizwe Chimurenga
Part 1Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), refused to allow advertisements for products to lighten the skin and straighten the hair of African Americans in The Negro World, the UNIA’s newspaper. That was “back in the day” – between 1918 and 1933 – when the paper had a circulation estimated at close to 200,000 per week.
During the 1960s, Black Power and Black Pride proponents ushered in “naturals” and “afro” hair styles. In between shouts of “Right on” and “Power to the people,” many of these proponents declared that the hair straightening process was damaging to the brains of African Americans. These proponents were more than likely speaking figuratively about the psyche of Blacks; but from a literal standpoint, they may have actually been on to something.
The 1970s saw the environmental movement in the U.S. creating unprecedented awareness of the damage that humans were doing to planet Earth and various measures to cease or slow that damage. The majority of media attention regarding toxic chemicals since that time has focused on the possibly adverse effects of household chemicals on the environment or industrial chemicals’ possibly adverse effects on the environment and/or human, animal and plant life.
Very little if any media attention or research has looked at the possible connections between African American beauty salons, the personal care products utilized primarily by Black women and adverse health outcomes, specifically in the area of reproductive health. But that has begun to change.
In May of 2011, Dr. Mary Beth Terry and others authored a study which found that African-American and African-Caribbean women were more likely to be exposed to hormonally-active chemicals in hair products.
Terry’s study, “Racial/Ethnic Differences in Hormonally-Active Hair Product Use: A Plausible Risk Factor for Health Disparities,” published in the Journal of Immigrant Health, found that the African-American and African-Caribbean women surveyed used products that contained chemicals that are commonly referred to as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which have been linked to various reproductive effects and birth defects, breast cancer and heart disease.
Most recently, a team of researchers led by Dr. Lauren Wise of Boston University’s Slone Epidemiology Center found strong evidence which indicates that African-American women’s hair relaxer use increases the risk for uterine fibroid tumors by exposing Black women to various chemicals through scalp lesions and burns from the products.
Fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or just outside a woman’s uterus (womb) from normal uterine cells that begin to grow abnormally. Although fibroids tend to be extremely common, African-American women tend to get them two to three times as often as white women and tend to experience more symptoms from them, such as prolonged and heavy menstrual flow, difficulty conceiving a child, and instances of pain during menses and also during intercourse.
Wise’s team also found that women who got their first menstrual period before the age of 10 were more likely to have uterine fibroids. The researchers followed more than 23,000 pre-menopausal African-American women from 1997 to 2009 and published their study, “Hair Relaxer Use and Risk of Uterine Leiomyomata in African-American Women,” onlined in the Jan. 10, 2012, edition of the Journal of American Epidemiology.
Researchers have also posited that a link exists between the early onset of puberty in Black girls and Black hair care products. In a study of 300 African-American, African-Caribbean, Hispanic and white women in New York City, the reported age when these women experienced their first menstrual period (menarche) varied from age 8 to age 19; however, the African-Americans were more likely to use hair products and reached menarche earlier than other racial or ethnic groups.
Dr. Tamarra James-Todd of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital is the lead author of “Childhood Hair Product Use and Earlier Age at Menarche in a Racially Diverse Study Population,” published online in the June 2011 Annals of Epidemiology. The study specifically cited the use of hair oils and hair straightening (“perm”) products and the onset of early menarche in the women.
According to figures from the Black-Owned Beauty Supply Association, African-Americans are estimated to spend between $7 billion and $9 billion dollars per year on hair and beauty products. The potential costs to our health, however, have yet to be adequately quantified.
Part 2“Take the kinks out of your mind, instead of out of your hair.” – Marcus Mosiah Garvey, founder, Universal Negro Improvement Association
Black women today who strive to take Marcus Garvey’s admonition to heart are in a better position than their sisters of the past. Research focusing on the products used in African-American beauty salons – and homes – is increasing; and while the findings are showing links to adverse health outcomes primarily amongst Black women, there exists an increased motivation for natural, less toxic beauty products, as well as calls to more stringently regulate the personal care product industry.
Full article:
http://sfbayview.com/2012/skin-deep-in-more-ways-than-one/
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