What a mix! Volatile organic compounds and worker exposure in small business beauty salons in Tucson, Arizona

Abstract

Introduction: Small business beauty salons have volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their workplace air. VOCs are present as ingredients in beauty or hair products. They may also form because of chemical reactions, where thermal-styling elements accelerate the volatilization of these compounds. Uncertainties remain about the relationship between air pollutant concentrations and the variety of beauty salon activities in a work shift. Investigating these associations can help determine high-risk services, associated products, and at-risk workers.

Methods: In this exploratory study, female community health workers recruited beauty salons from target zip codes in predominately Latino neighborhoods, including primarily Spanish-speaking small businesses. We collected salon chemical inventories, business characteristics, and participant activity logs to understand how chemicals and activities influence the total and specific VOC concentrations. We sampled personal total VOCs and specific VOCs from the same shop during the participant work shift. We also measured personal total VOCs for four work shifts per shop.

Results: A linear mixed effects model of log VOCs on the fixed effect of activity and the random effects of salon and shift within the salon showed that the variance between salons explains over half (55%) of the total variance and is 4.1 times bigger than for shifts within salons. Summa canisters detected 31 specific VOCs, and hazard scores ranged between 0 and 4.3. 2-Propanol (isopropyl alcohol) was the only VOC detected in all shifts of all salons.

Discussion: In this study, differences in VOC measurements were primarily between salons. These differences may result from differences in ventilation, services rendered, and product lines applied.

Keywords: Spanish-speaking small businesses; VOC exposure; beauty justice; beauty salons; heat-styling; hierarchy of controls; salon products; worker health.

Figure 1

Total VOC concentration grouped by activity and colored by salon. The first quartile (Q1), median, and third quartile (Q3) are shown by black horizontal lines; a black diamond shows the geometric mean. Because of the temporal autocorrelation of the real-time VOC data, each data point represents a time-weighted average for each activity-ventilation span. Due to the skewed distribution of the total VOC concentration, the plot is on a log scale.

Figure 2

Real-time total VOC data from one shift (B001W01–2018-07-03) with labeled peaks.

Figure 3

VOC concentration (ppb) of specific VOCs measured by the Summa canisters in 10 beauty salons, for VOCs measured according to the US EPA TO-15 method detected in at least one salon. The hazard score was determined by calculating the measured VOC concentration in ppb divided by that VOC’s reference value in ppb and summing that quantity for all measured VOCs in a Summa canister in a salon on a given date, and it is presented in the last row of the figure.