The Reasons People File Lawsuits Against Chemical Hair Straighteners?
According to lawsuits filed by people against chemical hair straighteners, they increase the risk of uterine cancer, uterine fibroids, breast cancer and endometriosis. According to a 2022 National Institutes of Health study, women who used chemical hair straighteners were at higher risk of developing uterine cancer.
In a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, NIH researchers found that women who used these products more than four times a year had twice the risk of uterine cancer. In addition to uterine cancer, other studies have linked chemical hair straighteners to an increase in risk of uterine fibroids, endometriosis and breast cancer.
There are several companies being sued, including L'Oreal, Strength of Nature, Soft Sheen, and others. The lawsuits claim that these products were heavily marketed to Black women, who are more likely to use chemical hair straighteners.
After doctors diagnosed Jenny Mitchell with uterine cancer in October 2022, she became the first woman to file a lawsuit. According to her lawsuit, her uterine cancer was caused directly and proximately by exposure to phthalates and other endocrine disruptors in Defendants' hair care products.
What is the process of chemical hair straightening?
Using heat and chemicals, chemical hair straightening breaks down the natural bonds in hair. Disulfide, hydrogen, and salt bonds make up these bonds.
Chemical hair straighteners break disulfide bonds, allowing hair to be straightened. This typically lasts until the hair grows out.
Among the chemicals used in hair straighteners are sodium hydroxide, ammonium thioglycolate, sodium thioglycolate, formaldehyde, cyclosiloxanes, parabens, diethanolamine, phthalates, benzophenone-3, and triclosan.
Chemical hair straighteners cause what types of cancer?
According to researchers, endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, found in chemical hair straighteners increase the risk of uterine and breast cancer.
Chemical hair straighteners have also been linked to endometriosis and uterine fibroids. People who frequently use these products have a greater risk of cancer and other health issues.
Those women who use these products more than four times a year, or every five to eight weeks, are most likely to develop uterine or breast cancer, according to researchers. Some of the cancer-causing chemicals in hair straighteners include parabens, phthalates, and DEHP.
Researchers found that more Black women used hair straighteners.
Cancer of the uterus
Women who use the products more than four times in a year are more likely to develop uterine cancer according to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health in 2022.
In a study of 33,947 women aged 35 to 74, researchers found that women who used hair straighteners had a higher incidence of uterine cancer.
Cancer of the breast
According to a 2019 NIH study, women who used chemical hair straighteners every five to eight weeks had a 30% higher risk of breast cancer.
The researchers also found that Black women were more likely to use chemical hair straighteners, which increased their risk of breast cancer.