FDA mulls banning hair straighteners with formaldehyde over cancer-causing chemicals

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Click here! A study by the National Institutes of Health involving 33,500 women in the US, suggested that women who use straightening products often face more than twice the risk of developing uterine cancer than those who do not, and they also have a harder time conceiving a baby. The study also noted that roughly 60% of the participants who reported using straighteners in the previous year were self-identified Black women.

While rates of uterine cancer have been rising among all women in recent years, but the increase has been steepest among women of colour, including Asian and Hispanic women. In the letter sent to the FDA, two US representatives--Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio--asked the agency to investigate the products since Black women "could be disproportionately impacted." "Chemical hair straighteners and relaxers are primarily marketed to Black women to alter the appearance of hair…" Fox Business quoted the representatives as saying.

"As a result of anti-Black hair sentiment, Black women have been unfairly subjected to scrutiny and forced to navigate the extreme politicization of hair. Hence, generations of Black women have adapted by straightening hair in an attempt to achieve social and economic advancement.

Manufactures of chemical straighteners have gained enormous profits, but recent findings unveil potentially significant negative health consequences associated with these products," the representatives added. Pressley applauded the FDA for advancing the proposed rule to ban the product by April 2024.