U01FD007846

Raising awareness on the health risks of skin-lightening practice and chemical exposure using cultural lens approach - project summary

Project: Skin-lightening, whitening, and bleaching products are prolific in black and brown communities throughout the world, but they have had a particularly strong impact in the U.S., Africa, and Asia. Skin-lightening products come in many different forms, including soaps, creams, lotions, and ingestible pills. This is a massive industry: globally, it’s estimated market value is $8.3 billion, and the U.S. market alone is an estimated $2.3 billion. Given the size of this industry, it is critical that we raise awareness of the health and psychological impact of these toxic products.

It is highly unregulated, diffuse, and the products are sold in venues from high-end retail stores to community corner stores. Products contain a range of harmful chemicals including mercury, hydroquinone, and steroids, that promise to lighten skin or reduce dark spots, but these products can have a range of negative impacts including on a person’s reproductive and neurological health. We are especially worried about the impact it can have for women’s health, not only on their reproductive health but also negative kidney effects, neurological problems, and early childhood developmental problems, given what we know about mercury’s negative developmental impacts.

Many consumers are unaware of the dangers associated with the use or misuse of these products. For example, we have seen individuals that had higher mercury in their urine due to use of skin-lightening products. A woman in Minnesota from the Somali community lost her vision due to mercury exposure from skin-lightening cream. In order to address this huge health disparity that is disproportionately impacting communities of color, we need to get support to expand the current outreach and education we are doing to combat skin-lightening and chemical exposures.

The use of these products is also driven by colorism, where social and racial pressures lead to feelings of inadequacy or internalized racism. Thus, educational efforts for communities must address the root causes of this issue, consider how to uplift and communicate messages of diverse beauty standards and community strength, while also communicating specific information about health harms from chemicals.

Project activities: We have learned that cultural specificity and trust is critical to this work. Communities receive information in diverse formats-- from trusted community health workers, cultural brokers, local language media, and community leaders. Most communities utilizing these products do not refer to public health websites or the FDA websites. Thus, we propose to produce content in three formats-- an infographic, short-form videos, and local language news media. Also, we will be developing an animated video that will be translated into three languages: Somali, Spanish, and Hmong. Both short and longer videos we will translate messages into several languages. We plan to make five videos.

In the past and currently, our work through BeautyWell is community-based work and we work to respond to the specific needs of each community that is impacted by skin-lightening practices and chemical exposures.

The Beautywell Project

NOT APPLICABLE

93.103 - Food and Drug Administration Research

FDA Office of Acquisition and Grant Services (OAGS) [HHS - FDA]

FDA Office of the Commissioner [HHS - FDA]

Minnesota United States

State-Wide

OMHHE Educational Funding Opportunity: Expanding education on skin lightening products (U01) Clinical Trials Not Allowed (RFA-FD-23-005)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 02/29/24 to 02/28/25 and the total obligations have decreased 50% from $499,156 to $249,578.