The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to propose a ban on certain hair-straightening products, such as chemical relaxers and pressing products which are used by African American women.
Those chemicals, Media Take Out has learned, have been linked to health risks, according to an entry in the Unified Agenda, which lists actions that administrative agencies plan to issue.
The agency is currently looking into a proposed rule that would specifically ban hair-straightening products that contain formaldehyde and other formaldehyde-releasing chemicals like methylene or glycol. Most of the popular “lye” relaxers use those products.
If such a proposed rule is issued, the FDA will receive public comments on it, and after reviewing those comments, the agency will decide whether further action is needed, spokesperson Courtney Rhodes said Friday.
If the rule goes into place – it could be a shock to the millions of Black women who use the straighteners – as they would now become illegal to sell or use inside the United States. Consumers would be forced to use other chemical straighteners, which are safer – but don’t typically straighten hair as well.
“Based on the comments, we might decide to end the rulemaking process, to issue a new proposed rule, or to issue a final rule. If we decide to issue a final rule, we publish the final rule in the Federal Register,” the FDA says on its website.
Scientists have long identified an association between the use of hair-straightening chemical products with an increased risk of certain hormone-related cancers, including ovarian and breast cancers, and uterine cancer, particularly among Black and Latina women. Research suggests that about 50% of products advertised to Black women contain these types of chemicals, compared with about 7% that are advertised to White women, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The FDA is expected to propose language noting that these types of hair-straightening chemical products are also “linked to short-term adverse health effects, such as sensitization reactions and breathing problems” and that “these chemicals are used in certain cosmetic products that are applied to human hair as part of a combination of chemical and heating tool treatment intended to smooth or straighten the hair.”