FDA Finds Severe Health Risk From Hair Relaxers Marketed to Black Community. Many Contain Formaldehyde and Cause Uterine Cancer, Infertility, Hair Loss, Hormone Imbalance, Fibroid Tumors, Chemical Burns, Revlon, Loreal, AND OTHER COMPANIES Cited in Massive Lawsuits! NOTE: formaldehyde can cause airway irritation, bronchospasm, and pulmonary edema. Absorption of large amounts of formaldehyde via any route can cause severe systemic toxicity, leading to metabolic acidosis, tissue and organ damage, and coma. There is no antidote for formaldehyde.
The FDA has proposed a new rule be implemented banning the use of formaldehyde and a grocery list of other chemicals that can release formaldehyde when heated such as methylene glycol. This proposal is based on the findings of multiple studies published in the past decade that found that there was a notable increase in the risk of BIPOC women developing uterine cancer by age 70 if they frequently used (4 or more times per year) hair relaxers such as keratin treatments or Brazilian blowouts. Studies found that many of the harmful chemicals were not placed in products marketed to white women.
The percentage of risk of developing this rare cancer goes from 1.64% of women to nearly 5% of women with regular hair relaxer use. While this rule will not ban all hair relaxers, such as those by black owned companies specializing in natural ingredients testing by several agencies shows that formaldehyde and chemicals that release formaldehyde are extremely common in hair relaxers marketed to the black community.
In fact , it is common to find toxic products marketed to Black women! Chemicals linked to causing infertility has been found in in nail products and cancer-causing chemicals are prevalent in most if not all skin lighteners! Hair relaxers with ingredients linked to immune system problems and hormone disruption have been known to cause early puberty in black children.
Formaldehyde is the main focus of the FDA ban despite all the other poisons in black marketed cosmetics from petro-pharmaceutical owned companies it is a colorless gas that can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, as well as breathing tissues with immediate short exposures, and has been linked to certain cancers with long-term or larger-amount exposure. It has a very strong vinegar-like odor.
Formaldehyde is produced naturally as well as commercially for use in certain industrial processes. Most living organisms produce small amounts of formaldehyde during normal chemical processes. It is also produced in the decay of plants in the soil. It is also released into the air from tobacco smoke, tail-pipe emissions, kerosene heaters, and wood stoves. Formaldehyde has a number of uses in its natural state as well as when dissolved in water (formalin) including:
It is used industrially in the process of pressing wood such as particle board.
It is used for embalming bodies.
It is used as a fungicide.
It is used as a germicide.
It is used as a disinfectant.
It is used as a preservative in certain medicines, antiseptics, and cosmetics.
In the past, the EPA has pushed for and obtained emissions regulations regarding formaldehyde release from compressed wood products during the manufacturing process.
A number of safety organizations have conducted testing and found over 150 hair-relaxing products on the market that contain formaldehyde and formalin—a formaldehyde-releasing product when heated. According to the New York Department of Health, the following products were found to have formaldehyde or formaldehyde-releasing chemicals:
Brazilian Blowout Solution
Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Solution
Brazilian Gloss Keratin Smoothing Gloss
Cadiveu Brazilian Thermal Reconstruction
Coppola Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy, Natural Keratin Smoothing Treatment
Coppola Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy, Natural Keratin Smoothing Treatment, Light Wave
Coppola Keratin Express Brazilian Smoothing Treatment
Coppola Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy
Global Keratin Functional Keratin Hair Taming System Light Wave Chocolate
Global Keratin Taming System Strawberry
Global Keratin Taming System with Juvexin Strawberry Resistant
Global Keratin Taming System with Juvexin Strawberry Light Wave
IBS Beauty IStraight Keratin Advanced Keratin Treatment
Kera Green Keratin and Protein Hair
Marcia Teixeira Advanced Brazilian Keratin Treatment
Marcia Teixeira Brazilian Keratin Treatment
Marcia Teixeira Chocolate, extreme de-frizzing treatment
Pro-Collagen RX Keratin Treatment
QOD GOLD Solution
The Above list is a list compiled from products tested and is not comprehensive the actual list is much much larger. Not all products on the market have undergone testing and many companies are pulling them from the shelves for fear of class action lawsuits that could date back 20 years or more!. Even some products that were marketed as formaldehyde-free were discovered to have formaldehyde or release it during the application process. Those companies would be exceptionally vulnerable to lawsuit. There are 16 and counting companies that make hair-straightening products with high formaldehyde content but falsely claimed they did not . All exceeded safety limits set by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, an industry safety panel.
Companies whose claims and tests do not match include Brazilian Blowout, Keratin Express, KeraGreen, Tahe and R&L. The 16th company, Goleshlee, admits on its website that its product contains formaldehyde but omits the toxic chemical from its online ingredient list. Leading hair straighteners, including Brazilian Blowout, claim that formaldehyde mixed with water creates a new chemical, methylene glycol. That is like saying that sweet tea does not contain sugar. In fact, when you purchase straight formaldehyde from a chemical company, you are actually buying a formaldehyde-water mixture. Over time, if exposed to air, the formaldehyde will off-gas, in other words, reverting to a gas, its natural state at room temperature.
When its scientists conduct risk assessments, the Environmental Protection Agency calls this formaldehyde/water mixture a “pool of free formaldehyde” (EPA 2010B). The American Chemistry Council says the scientific community widely considers methylene glycol to be “formaldehyde in solution” for the purpose of determining a product’s formaldehyde content (ACC 2010). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s formaldehyde regulations cover formaldehyde gas and “its solutions, and materials that release formaldehdye” (OSHA 1992).
Some makers of hair straighteners - Brazilian Blowout, Cadiveu, Global Keratin and Marcia Teixeira – make the misleading claim that methylene glycol is not formaldehyde. Altogether, four companies list “methylene glycol” on their websites or worker safety materials.
Hair Relaxer Lawsuits
With the emergence of all of the studies linking cancer to hair relaxer use, consumers and their hair straightener lawyers have filed over 3700 hair relaxer lawsuits. The hair relaxer lawsuits have been consolidated into a hair relaxer MDL.
The rule to ban the poisoned relaxers is set to go into effect in April of 2024