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

TL;DR

This pilot study tested silicone wristbands to measure exposure to harmful chemicals in Black and Hispanic breast cancer survivors, finding the method feasible and acceptable.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the feasibility and acceptability of using silicone wristbands to assess endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure in a diverse breast cancer survivor population.

Findings

Most participants found the wristbands non-intrusive and reported high satisfaction with the passive sampling method.

Sixty distinct chemicals, including potential endocrine-disrupting compounds, were detected across wristbands using untargeted analysis.

Chemical classifications like personal care products and flame retardants were consistently detected in all wristbands.

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.

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