Parents' anti-Black messages, empathic reactions toward racism, fear of Black individuals, and perceived ability to engage in anti-racism advocacy among Asian American emerging adults.

Asian Americans, historically oppressed and influenced by White supremacist norms, may internalize anti-Blackness (beliefs of behaviors that minimize, marginalize, or devalue Black individuals) as they navigate White-dominated environments to survive and seek acceptance. However, there is limited research addressing the intergenerational socialization of anti-Blackness within Asian American communities and its impact as a barrier to cross-racial solidarity and involvement in anti-racism efforts. Thus, we tested whether parents' anti-Black messages were associated with fear of Black individuals and lack of empathic reactions to anti-Black racism, and in turn, related to hindrance in the perceived ability to engage in anti-racism advocacy among Asian American emerging adults. With data from 205 participants (Mage = 19.92, SD = 2.64, online convenience sample), we conducted a path analysis of parents' anti-Black messages indirectly associated with perceived ability in advocacy against anti-Black racism through fear of Black individuals and empathic reactions to anti-Black racism. Parents' anti-Black messages were associated with greater fear of Black individuals, which was associated with lower empathic reactions to racism, and in turn, ultimately associated with a lower perceived ability to engage in advocacy against anti-Black racism. This pathway was the best-fitting model compared with an alternative parallel model (fear and empathy as separate mediators) and a model with empathy as the first mediator. Our study suggests that clinicians, educators, and researchers should target parents' anti-Black messages and Asian American emerging adults' emotional responses (fear, empathy) to anti-Black racism in disrupting anti-Blackness at parental/family and individual levels.

Continuing animal tests on cosmetic ingredients for REACH in the EU

EU cosmetic ingredients are governed by two regulations that conflict. Regulation EC 1223/2009, the Cosmetic Regulation, bans in vivo (animal) testing for cosmetic product safety assessments, including both final products and ingredients. At the same time, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation can impose in vivo testing of those same ingredients under its chemical testing requirements. Here, we examined REACH dossiers for chemicals for which the only reported use is cosmetics to determine the extent of new in vivo testing caused by REACH. We found the REACH database has 3,206 chemical dossiers with cosmetics as a reported use. Of these, 419 report cosmetics as the only use, and 63 of these have in vivo tests completed after the Cosmetic Regulation ban on in vivo testing. Registrants largely used alternative, non-animal methods to evaluate ingredients for REACH, but some still conducted new in vivo tests to comply with REACH requirements for toxicity data and worker safety assessments. In some cases, ECHA, the agency that evaluates REACH dossiers, rejected registrants' alternative methods as insufficient and required new in vivo tests. As ECHA continues to evaluate dossiers, more requests for in vivo tests are likely. REACH tests on cosmetic ingredients appear only as "industrial chemicals legislation" tests in EU reports. Given the importance to consumers and the cosmetic industry of having cosmetics free of animal testing, the public should be made aware of REACH testing until the conflict between the regulations is resolved.