POLISH (Participatory Research, Organizing and Leadership Initiative for Safety and Health) will research, using a community based participatory research methodology, Asian Pacific Islander women's and girls' exposure to hazards in beauty products in Alameda County, California. POLISH will research: 1) Asian Pacific Islander teenage girls' exposures through personal use of beauty products and 2) Vietnamese women's exposures through their work in nail salons - exposures that are under-researched, particularly with this population. POLISH's long-term goal is to increase Asian Pacific Islander girls' and women's capacity to identify environmental health problems and improve the community's health status.
Its specific aims are to: 1. Educate, train and mentor Asian Pacific Islander teenage girls and Vietnamese nail salons workers who will: a) become knowledgeable about women's and girls' exposures to hazardous chemicals, b) design and implement community based participatory research, c) become skilled in educating peers and community about environmental and occupational health problems and d) be mentored for careers in the sciences. 2. Increase scientific knowledge of Asian Pacific Islander low-income women's and girls' exposure to environmental hazards associated with beauty products: a) Conduct a peer consumer hazard survey and media survey, b) Test for phthalates in products used by Asian Pacific Islander teenagers c) Conduct an occupational hazard survey in nail salons and d) Test for airborne chemicals in nail salons. 3. Develop culturally relevant interventions that educate the community and achieve one to two public policy or corporate changes designed to lessen exposures to hazardous chemicals in beauty products. 4. Share research findings and intervention models with researchers, public health students, the environmental justice movement, the women's health field, and clinics.
| Liu, Sa; Hammond, S Katharine; Rojas-Cheatham, Ann (2013) Concentrations and potential health risks of metals in lip products. Environ Health Perspect 121:705-10 |
