Tools for Addressing Cumulative Impacts on Human Health and the Environment

Montague, Peter; Raffensperger, Carolyn

doi:10.1089/env.2014.0016

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…17–20 Workers in the beauty industry, who are predominantly women of color and immigrant women, can also face occupational health hazards from chemicals in professional cosmetic products and ad-hoc workplace safety standards. 21–23 Cumulative assessments of environmental risk factors among socially marginalized groups have historically prioritized place-based pollution sources, such as polluting industries or high traffic density, 24, 25 however, beauty product exposures may be elevated in some of the same communities that encounter disproportionate exposures to place-based pollution. 26, 27 …”

Section: Pre-existing Vulnerabilities and Cumulative Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental injustice of beauty: framing chemical exposures from beauty products as a health disparities concern

Zota

Shamasunder

2017

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

178

162

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The ObGyn community has issued a call to action to prevent toxic environmental chemical exposures and their threats to healthy human reproduction. Recent committee opinions recognize that vulnerable and underserved women may be disproportionately impacted by environmental chemical exposures and recommend that reproductive health professionals champion policies that secure environmental justice. Beauty product use is an understudied source of environmental chemical exposures. Beauty products can include reproductive and developmental toxicants such as phthalates and heavy metals; however, disclosure requirements are limited and inconsistent. Compared to White women, women of color have higher levels of beauty product-related environmental chemicals in their bodies, independent of socioeconomic status. Even small exposures to toxic chemicals during critical periods of development, such as pregnancy, can trigger adverse health consequences such as impacts on fertility and pregnancy, neurodevelopment, and cancer. In this commentary, we seek to highlight the connections between environmental justice and beauty product-related chemical exposures. We describe racial/ethnic differences in beauty product use such as skin lighteners, hair straighteners, and feminine hygiene products as well as the potential chemical exposures and health risks associated with these products. We also discuss how targeted advertising can take advantage of mainstream beauty norms to influence use of these products. Reproductive health professionals can use this information to advance environmental justice by being prepared to counsel patients who have questions about toxic environmental exposures from beauty care products and other sources. Researchers and health care providers can also promote health-protective policies such as improved ingredient testing and disclosure for the beauty product industry. Future clinical and public health research should consider beauty product use as a factor that may shape health inequities in women’s reproductive health across the life course.

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Section: Pre-existing Vulnerabilities and Cumulative Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental injustice of beauty: framing chemical exposures from beauty products as a health disparities concern

Zota

Shamasunder

2017

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

178

162

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“…Regulatory systems that limit environmental contamination pollutant-by-pollutant and traditional discipline-specific research initiatives generally have not encouraged holistic cumulative measures of human exposure and outcomes [39]. This review therefore focuses on air and water exposures separately, while recognizing the likely interactions of multiple exposures on health outcomes.…”

Section: Potential Sources Of Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental health disparities in the Central Appalachian region of the United States

Krometis

Gohlke

Kolivras

et al. 2017

Reviews on Environmental Health

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AbstractHealth disparities that cannot be fully explained by socio-behavioral factors persist in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. A review of available studies of environmental impacts on Appalachian health and analysis of recent public data indicates that while disparities exist, most studies of local environmental quality focus on the preservation of nonhuman biodiversity rather than on effects on human health. The limited public health studies available focus primarily on the impacts of coal mining and do not measure personal exposure, constraining the ability to identify causal relationships between environmental conditions and public health. Future efforts must engage community members in examining all potential sources of environmental health disparities to identify effective potential interventions.

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“…For regulation and management of specific stressors or sources, such a reductionist approach may be both feasible and necessary. However, many environmental concerns, especially at the scale of entire watersheds – where there may be cumulative effects of multiple stressors from multiple sources 41 and a variety of conditions that modify stressor–response relationships – are laden with complexity and uncertainty. Scientific uncertainty about particular issues may result in controversy among scientists, and confusion among nonscientists – for example, the case of the harmful dinoflagellate Pfiesteria spp., which raised major concerns for human health and fisheries in Maryland in 1997.…”

Section: Uncertainty Complexity and Other Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Watersheds: Integrating Ecosystem Services and Public Health

Jordan

Benson

2015

Environ�Health�Insights

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Sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems is a worldwide priority; the integrity of these systems depends, in turn, on the integrity of the watersheds (catchments) in which they are embedded. In this article, we present the concepts, background, and scientific foundations for assessing, both nationally and at finer scales, the relationships between ecosystem services, human health, and socioeconomic values in the context of water quality, water quantity, landscapes, the condition of watersheds, and the connectivity of waters, from headwaters to estuaries and the coastal ocean. These assessments will be a foundation for what we have termed “watershed epidemiology,” through which the connections between ecosystems and human health can be explored over broad spatial and temporal scales. Understanding and communicating these relationships should lead to greater awareness of the roles watersheds play in human well-being, and hence to better management and stewardship of water resources. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing the research, models, and planning tools to support operational national assessments of watershed sustainability, building upon ongoing assessments of aquatic resources in streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands and estuaries.

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Tools for Addressing Cumulative Impacts on Human Health and the Environment

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

The environmental injustice of beauty: framing chemical exposures from beauty products as a health disparities concern

The environmental injustice of beauty: framing chemical exposures from beauty products as a health disparities concern

Environmental health disparities in the Central Appalachian region of the United States

Sustainable Watersheds: Integrating Ecosystem Services and Public Health

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