Proposed FDA ban on hair straighteners a ‘move in the right direction,’ Northeastern researchers say

Steam rising from a person's hair as it's straightened.
Steam rises as a hair stylist works on a model prior to a show displaying the Tom Ford collection during Fashion Week on Feb. 6, 2019, in New York. People of color in the industry trace bias and discrimination in predominantly white salons to the sidelining of formal education focused on Black hair. AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File

For decades, women have used chemical straightening products on their hair. Now, studies show that the use of these products may lead to an increased risk for uterine cancers, prompting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to propose a ban on hair relaxers that emit formaldehyde. 

A study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health published last year found women who use chemical hair straightening products were almost twice as likely to develop uterine cancer than those who didn’t use these products. In response, the FDA is considering a ban on hair-straightening products that contain or emit formaldehyde, a carcinogen in many of these formulas.

Further research is needed to prove these products are what’s causing the cancer, the study says. But Roger Giese, professor of chemistry and biomedical science and director of the Environmental Cancer Research Program at Northeastern University, says these early results are enough to prompt concern.

“Epidemiology studies are the key to get things going,” he says. “There’s always these confounding factors. … But I think in this case it’s pretty clear that formaldehyde is a real worry. We know it’s a carcinogen. We know how it is a carcinogen. The results have been pretty sharp.”

Headshot of Kabria Baumgartner.
Kabria Baumgartner, associate professor of history and africana studies. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

The study also pointed out the impact these products have on Black women since they are more likely to use chemical straighteners. Most of the study participants who used straighteners identified as Black. 

“Because Black women use hair straightening or relaxer products more frequently and tend to initiate use at earlier ages than other races and ethnicities, these findings may be even more relevant for them,” says study author Che-Jung Chang, Ph.D. in an article published by the NIH.

The use of these products are about more than just aesthetics, says Kabria Baumgartner, dean’s associate professor of history and Africana studies and the associate director of public history at Northeastern. They tie into a history of Black women being judged for wearing their hair with its natural texture.

“Too often Black hair has been fodder for debates about beauty,” Baumgartner says. “I think, for Black women especially, it’s been complicated. … There’s often the sense that we are judged no matter how we wear our hair. Some women might feel more pressure to use hair-straightening products.”

Black people — especially women — who wear their hair in natural styles have been subject to judgment and discrimination, Baumgartner says. A study from Dove of Black women and girls found at least 53% of young girls faced hair-based discrimination as early as age 5. At the same time, 81% of Black girls in majority-white schools who partook in the survey said they sometimes wish they had straight hair.

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