Feasibility and Acceptability of Assessing Personal Care Product Use and Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Among Black and Hispanic Breast Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Study

Erin Speiser (), Peggy-ita Obeng-Nyarkoh, Wanting Zhai, Adana A. M. Llanos, Jennifer Hicks, Chiranjeev Dash, Lucile L. Adams-Campbell, Gail E. Starr and Traci N. Bethea
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Erin Speiser: The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center ® , Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ 07601, USA
Peggy-ita Obeng-Nyarkoh: Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Wanting Zhai: Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA
Adana A. M. Llanos: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
Jennifer Hicks: Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC 20003, USA
Chiranjeev Dash: Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA
Lucile L. Adams-Campbell: Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA
Gail E. Starr: The Betty Torricelli Institute for Breast Care, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ 07601, USA
Traci N. Bethea: Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: This pilot study explored the feasibility and acceptability of utilizing silicone wristbands to assess exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) among 25 Black and Hispanic breast cancer survivors recruited in Washington, DC, and Hackensack, NJ. Over half of participants (58%) were diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer and the mean age was 58 ± 9 years. Most of the 24 survey respondents (95.83%) reported that the wristband did not interfere with daily activities and few (4) removed the wristband during the 7-day data collection period, demonstrating feasibility of use. Acceptability of passive sampling via silicone wristband was high with 73.91% of survivors reporting being “very satisfied” and 21.74% reporting being “satisfied” with their experience. The wristbands were analyzed via gas chromatography mass spectrometry for approximately 1500 semi-volatile organic compounds. This untargeted approach detected sixty distinct chemicals with an average of 21.8 per wristband. Personal care product, flame retardant, commercial product, and pesticide chemical classifications were detected in every wristband and frequently detected chemicals included biologically active compounds with potential genotoxic or endocrine-disrupting effects. This study demonstrates the feasibility of use and technical feasibility, as well as the acceptability, of utilizing silicone wristbands to assess exposure to semi-volatile organic compounds, including EDCs, among Black and Hispanic breast cancer survivors and lays the foundation towards engaging diverse cancer survivors in environmental health research.

Keywords: endocrine-disrupting chemicals; personal care products; environmental health; Black; Hispanic; breast cancer; cancer survivorship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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