The Food and Drug Administration has proposed a ban on certain hair relaxers, citing its link to cancer and other “long-term adverse health effects.”
According to Fox News, the FDA is considering a ban on formaldehyde and other formaldehyde-releasing chemicals like methylene glycol found in many hair straightening products, the agency said in a release.
Formaldehyde has been linked to short and long-term health issues including irritation of the eyes and throat, coughing, wheezing, chest pain, headaches, asthma, and certain cancers.
According to a 2022 study by the National Institutes of Health, women who use chemical hair straightening products have a higher risk of developing uterine cancer and a harder time conceiving a baby. Out of the over 33,000 participants, 60 percent of those who used straighteners in the past year self-identified as Black women, leading federal lawmakers to urge the FDA to investigate the effects of formaldehyde.
Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass) and Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) wrote a letter to the agency asking it to launch an investigation into hair relaxers as Black women “could be disproportionately impacted.”
“Chemical hair straighteners and relaxers are primarily marketed to Black women to alter the appearance of hair…” the representatives wrote. “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.”
Pressley praised the FDA for proposing the rule to ban the product.
“The FDA’s proposal to ban these harmful chemicals in hair straighteners and relaxers is a win for public health — especially the health of Black women who are disproportionately put at risk by these products as a result of systemic racism and anti-Black hair sentiment,” Pressley said. “Regardless of how we wear our hair, we should be allowed to show up in the world without putting our health at risk.”
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