Are Hair Relaxer Ingredients Dangerous?

Hair relaxer ingredients are now associated with uterine, endometrial, and ovarian cancer, proving that they are dangerous and put women’s health at risk. While evidence against companies producing toxic hair care products has been growing for several years, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) study served as an epiphany for researchers and women nationwide. The study’s data showed that using chemical hair straighteners caused women to develop uterine cancer at rates more than double that of non-users.

The resounding response to the news propelled thousands of women to file lawsuits against relaxer manufacturers. These companies concealed the endocrine disrupting and carcinogenic ingredients from their labels and promoted these products as safe. The litigation provides a means for women harmed to hold negligent cosmetic companies accountable for the life-altering impact hair relaxers made on them.

Visible Reactions From Hair Relaxer Ingredients

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) performed a recent risk evaluation¹ stating that formaldehyde, a hidden ingredient in hair relaxers, can cause health problems when inhaled or absorbed into the skin. Relaxers can also contain lye, a known skin and scalp irritant, and even no-lye formulas that substitute harsh sodium hydroxide for its gentler cousin, calcium hydroxide, are caustic enough to cause noticeable, immediate reactions. Most women report skin and scalp tingling or burning during the application, and others identify longer lasting effects, including brittle, thinning hair, and even minor hair loss. Unfortunately, it took decades for consumers to understand there were invisible consequences of using hair relaxers.

Hidden Long-Term Health Risks of Hair Straighteners

Even women who stopped using hair relaxers years ago recall the applications’ signature burning sensation and scalp irritation. Now we’re learning these chemical burns and sores aren’t innocuous. Lesions give cancer-causing ingredients an easier pathway to a woman’s bloodstream. Countless users unknowingly absorbed endocrine disruptors, including parabens and Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, known as DEHP, plus formaldehyde, a human carcinogen, during relaxer applications.

Girls grew up repeating the familiar expression ‘beauty is pain’ when their hair treatments began to burn, not realizing the real anguish was yet to come. Thousands of women diagnosed with uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, and ovarian cancer are experiencing the long-term health risks of relaxers firsthand. Diagnoses happen at astonishing rates and early in life, forcing women into premature menopause after life-altering hysterectomies. These women never imagined their haircare routine was a trade-off for their health or that a hair product would threaten their golden years.

The litigation against hair relaxer manufacturers provides women the forum to demand the accountability they deserve.

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¹ Read the entire EPA findings.