Chemicals of concern in personal care products used by women of color in three communities of California.

Background: Personal care products (PCPs) may contain chemicals associated with adverse health effects. Prior studies found differences in product use by race/ethnicity and suggest some women are disproportionately exposed to chemicals of concern (CoCs).

Objective: We quantified chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive or developmental harm, or endocrine disruption in PCPs used by women of color.

Differences in personal care product use by race/ethnicity among women in California: implications for chemical exposures.

Background: Personal care products may contain many chemicals, some of which are suspected endocrine disrupters. This is an important source of chemical exposure for women, but little is known about how chemical exposure differs among different races/ethnicities.

Objective: This study examines differences in personal care product use among Black, Latina, Vietnamese, Mixed Race, and White women in California.

: Black Men's Perspective on Harmful Effects of Black Women's Hair Product Use and Breast Cancer Risk.

Racial disparities in breast cancer are well-documented, and Black women assume a disproportionate burden of breast cancer mortality. Black women also commonly use hair products containing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) more often at an increased rate, as compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Emerging findings have reported the use of hair and other personal care products containing EDCs may contribute to breast cancer risk.

The Black identity, hair product use, and breast cancer scale.

Introduction: Across the African Diaspora, hair is synonymous with identity. As such, Black women use a variety of hair products, which often contain more endocrine-disrupting chemicals than products used by women of other races. An emerging body of research is linking chemicals in hair products to breast cancer, but there is no validated instrument that measures constructs related to hair, identity, and breast health.

A review of hair product use on breast cancer risk in African American women.

The incidence rate of breast cancer for African American women has recently converged with that of non-Hispanic White women in the United States, although African Americans have a higher mortality rate due to this disease. Although most research exploring health disparities associated with this phenomenon has focused on differences between women based on biology and behavior, both the academic and lay communities have begun to explore the potential role of environmental exposure to estrogen and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). This study reviews the current state of the science associating one such means of exposure, hair products containing EDCs, with breast cancer risk in African American women.

Integrating family planning into postpartum care through modern quality improvement: experience from Afghanistan.

To address low contraceptive use in Afghanistan, we supported 2 large public maternity hospitals and 3 private hospitals in Kabul to use modern quality improvement (QI) methods to integrate family planning into postpartum care. In 2012, QI teams comprising hospital staff applied root cause analysis to identify barriers to integrated postpartum family planning (PPFP) services and to develop solutions for how to integrate services. Changes made to service provision to address identified barriers included creating a private counseling space near the postpartum ward, providing PPFP counseling training and job aids to staff, and involving husbands and mothers-in-law in counseling in person or via mobile phones.

Peer-based models of supportive care: the impact of peer support groups in African American breast cancer survivors.

Purpose/objectives: To examine the impact of support groups among African American breast cancer survivors (BCSs).

Research Approach: A qualitative research study.

Setting: Community health and cancer centers and churches.