The FDA Is Currently Considering A Ban Against Hair Straightening Chemicals!

Cousins! In response to the scientific study between hair straightening chemical products and the development of cancerous hormone-related issues amongst Black and Latina women, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed a ban against specific hair smoothing products!

Though there is no set timeline at the moment of if or when the ban will go into effect, ABC News reports that the FDA’s proposal has been entered into the Unified Agenda government registry. The system consists of actions administrative agencies plan to issue in the near future.

It has been indicated in countless studies within the last few years that consistent use of hair straightening products created with chemicals such as formaldehyde, has put women at a higher risk of uterine cancer.

Formaldehyde is noted as being a colorless, flammable gas that can lead to adverse health issues when exposed to it. The Environmental Protection Agency says that when used in hair smoothing products formaldehyde is released into the air as a gas because of the heat.

A 2022 published study details how a woman who frequently uses hair straightening products that obtain formaldehyde numerous times within a week is twice as likely to develop uterine cancer as opposed to women who don’t use such products.

“The FDA has been aware of this issue for a long time,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group to Good Morning America.

“There is no reason that the FDA shouldn’t have acted earlier on what is a real public health issue, particularly for salon workers.”

Reports read that both California and Maryland State have recently passed legislation to ban the use of formaldehyde in hair straightening products. Both laws are to go into effect in January 2025.

Beneath says that, “Consumers are going to be exposed if they get one of those treatments or if you’re in the salon while someone else is getting that same kind of treatment.”

“But salon workers are more likely to do multiple treatments a day or multiple treatments a week and over the course of a year, and so those repeat exposures can really add up to an increased risk.”