We just pulled a powerful essay from the vault that dives into why housing status should never determine access to a clean, safe bathroom.

👉 Read the essay: agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com/p/from-the-v...

For people experiencing homelessness, lack of bathrooms isn’t an inconvenience — it’s a daily barrier to health, safety, and dignity. Many cities have 1 public toilet per 100+ people, far below the UN’s recommended 1:50 standard.

💥 3.5 billion people don’t have access to safe toilets.
That’s almost half the planet.

The Taking Stock Study is a community-academic partnership between:
👩🏽🔬 @columbiauniversity.bsky.social Mailman School of Public Health
👩🏽🎓 @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social
🌱 Silent Spring Institute
🎥 LA Grit Media
💜@ bwwla.bsky.social

Learn more abput it here: takingstockstudy.org

🌍 Bottom line: Women’s choices can help reduce exposure — but equity, affordability, and policy reforms are key to safer products for everyone.

💡👩🏽🦱 Community groups like @ bwwla.bsky.social host Curls & Conversations workshops to share safer beauty tips. Efforts like these empower women — but systemic change is essential.

⚠️ BUT: “The burden to protect oneself from risky products should not be on the consumer,” says Dr. Lariah Edwards, lead author and assistant director at Agents of Change.
👉 Stronger policies + transparency in labeling are needed to protect all communities.

📉 Women who avoided parabens also showed lower exposures — though results weren’t statistically significant. Still, the pattern is clear: shopping clean matters.

✨ Findings:
👉Black women who avoided fragrance had less than half the levels of a phthalate metabolite.
👉Latinas who avoided oxybenzone (a sunscreen chemical) had much lower levels in their bodies.

🔬 Researchers analyzed urine samples from 70 women for 28 chemicals (like phthalates, parabens, oxybenzone, BPA).
They compared results with each woman’s shopping habits.

In a powerful essay, Diné scientist Dr. Valerisa Gaddy reflects on how history, policy, and privilege shape these disparities.

📖 Read Dr. Joe-Gaddy’s full essay via Substack: agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com/p/from-the-v...

And for Diné/Navajo families, the inequity is even more staggering: they’re 67x more likely to live without clean water than other Americans.

Native Americans are 19x more likely to lack access to safe, reliable water.

Black and Latino households are 2x more likely to be without clean water compared to white households.