Rep. Shontel Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, urges the FDA to conduct further research into hair straightening products containing chemicals linked to health risks.
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Rep. Shontel Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, urges the FDA to conduct further research into hair straightening products containing chemicals linked to health risks.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
In April, after twelve years of formaldehyde being classified as a human carcinogen by a federal agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is set to propose a ban on the chemical in hair-straightening products. This move comes amid growing concerns among researchers regarding the health effects of hair straighteners, which are widely utilized and heavily marketed to Black women. However, advocates and scientists argue that the proposed regulation is inadequate and long overdue. “The fact that formaldehyde is still allowed in hair care products is astonishing to me,” said Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program. “I don’t know what we’re waiting for.”
When questioned about the delay in addressing the issue, Namandjé Bumpus, the FDA’s chief scientist, stated to KFF Health News that “I think primarily the science has progressed.” She added, “the agency is always balancing multiple priorities. It is a priority for us now.” The FDA’s sluggish response to concerns over formaldehyde and other hazardous chemicals in hair straighteners is partly attributed to the agency’s limited authority regarding cosmetics and personal-care products, according to Lynn Goldman, former assistant administrator for toxic substances at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Under the law, she explained, the FDA must treat all chemical ingredients as “innocent until proven guilty.” Critics argue that this also reflects broader issues. “It’s a clear example of failure in public health protection,” said David Andrews, senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, which initially petitioned the agency to ban formaldehyde in hair straighteners in 2011 and subsequently sued over the matter in 2016. “The public is still waiting for this response.” The FDA advises consumers to inquire with their hair stylists about the ingredients and look for words such as Formaldehyde, Formalin, and Methylene glycol on labels. Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) called on the regulatory agency last year to investigate straighteners and relaxers due to mounting evidence linking these products to hormone-driven cancers.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat of Massachusetts, also urges further FDA investigation of curl relaxers. Pressley has alopecia, a spontaneous dermatological condition causing baldness.
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Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat of Massachusetts, also urges further FDA investigation of curl relaxers. Pressley has alopecia, a spontaneous dermatological condition causing baldness.
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In response, the FDA proposed to take action similar to what many scientists believe should have been done years ago — to initiate a plan to eventually prohibit chemical straighteners containing or emitting formaldehyde.
While such a ban would be a significant public health measure, scientists studying the issue believe it does not go far enough. They argue that the heightened risk of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers linked to hair straighteners is likely due to ingredients other than formaldehyde. Namandjé Bumpus, in a video announcement of the proposed ban on X, the social media platform, stated that formaldehyde has been associated with an increased risk of upper respiratory tract cancer and myeloid leukemia. However, Kimberly Bertrand, an associate professor at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and other scientists mentioned that they were unaware of any studies linking formaldehyde to the hormone-driven cancers that prompted recent calls for the FDA to act. “It’s difficult for me to imagine that removing formaldehyde will impact the incidence of these reproductive cancers,” said Bertrand, an epidemiologist and lead author of a December study, the second linking hair relaxers to an increased risk of uterine cancer. Hair products marketed to African Americans contain numerous hazardous chemicals, according to Tamarra James-Todd, an epidemiology professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who has studied the issue for 20 years. Studies have revealed that straightener ingredients include phthalates, parabens, and other endocrine-disrupting compounds that imitate the body’s hormones and have been associated with cancers as well as early puberty, fibroids, diabetes, and gestational high blood pressure, which is a key contributor to Black women’s elevated risk of maternal mortality, James-Todd stated. “We have to do a better job regulating ingredients that people are exposed to, particularly some of our most vulnerable in this country,” she added. “I mean, children are being exposed to these.” The initial study linking hair relaxers to uterine cancer, published in 2022, found that frequent use of chemical straighteners more than doubled a woman’s risk. This was followed by studies revealing that women who frequently used hair relaxers had double the ovarian cancer risk and a 31% higher risk of breast cancer.
Bumpus commended the studies as “scientifically sound” and mentioned that determining whether straightener ingredients other than formaldehyde might contribute to an increased risk of hormone-driven cancers is a matter for epidemiologists and others. She was unable to provide a timeline for a formaldehyde ban, except to say that the agency was scheduled to commence proceedings in April. She also stated that the schedule could change and she did not know how long the process of finalizing a rule would take. Brazilian Blowouts and similar hair-smoothing treatments sometimes utilize formaldehyde as a bonding agent to maintain straight hair for months. Stylists typically seal the product into the hair with a flat iron. The heat transforms liquid formaldehyde into a gas that produces fumes capable of causing illness in salon workers and patrons. Apart from cosmetics, formaldehyde is present in embalming fluid, medicines, fabric softeners, dishwashing liquid, paints, plywood, and particleboard. It causes irritation to the throat, nose, eyes, and skin. If there are opposing voices to a ban on formaldehyde in hair straighteners, they have not been vocal. Even the Personal Care Products Council, representing hair straightener manufacturers, supports a formaldehyde ban, as conveyed by spokesperson Stefanie Harrington in an email. She noted that over ten years ago, a panel of industry-funded experts deemed hair products with formaldehyde unsafe when heated. California and Maryland will prohibit formaldehyde in all personal-care products from next year. Furthermore, manufacturers have already reduced their use of formaldehyde in hair care products. Reports to the California Department of Public Health’s Safe Cosmetics Program indicate a tenfold decrease in products containing formaldehyde between 2009 and 2022. John Bailey, former director of the FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors, highlighted that the federal agency often waits for the industry to voluntarily remove hazardous ingredients. Cheryl Morrow, co-founder of The Relaxer Advocates, established late last year to advocate for California Curl, a business inherited from her father, a barber who founded the company, and other Black hair care companies and salons. She stated, “Ban it,” in reference to formaldehyde, “but please don’t culturally associate it with what Black people are doing.”
Morrow emphasized that the active ingredient in historically used curl relaxer products is sodium hydroxide, commonly known as soda ash. She asserted that the relaxers used by African Americans contain no formaldehyde or other carcinogens and are safe. A 2018 study discovered that hair products primarily used by Black women and children contained numerous hazardous ingredients. Researchers tested 18 products, including hot-oil treatments, anti-frizz polishes, conditioners, and relaxers, and found at least four and as many as 30 endocrine-disrupting chemicals in each product. Racist beauty standards have long compelled girls and women with kinky hair to straighten it. Studies indicate that between 84% and 95% of Black women in the U.S. have reported using relaxers. Epidemiologists, including Bertrand, suggest that the frequent and lifelong application of chemical relaxers to their hair and scalp by Black women may explain why hormone-related cancers kill more Black women than white women per capita. Users often refer to relaxers as “creamy crack” due to their addictive nature. As a public health educator, Astrid Williams, director of programs and initiatives at the California Black Health Network, has been aware of the health risks associated with hair relaxers for years. Nevertheless, she used them from age 13 until two years ago, when she was 45. “I felt I had to show up in a certain way,” she expressed. According to Williams, a formaldehyde ban will not make “creamy crack” safe. She emphasized, “It’s not even a band-aid. The solution is to address all chemicals that pose risk.” This article was produced by KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. KFF Health News is the publisher of California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
