FDA misses own deadline to propose ban on cancer-linked formaldehyde from hair relaxers

Share

More Breaking News

Wisconsin now funding driver education for low-income teens

Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei dies after being set alight by ex-boyfriend

Wisconsin voter ID law still causing confusion, stifles turnout in Milwaukee, voting advocates say

Lack of arts programs for working class will make UK theatre whiter and posher, director says

Labor Day Black History: Honoring A.Philip Randolph And Black Labor Unions

University of Virginia suspends tours that had come under fire for mentioning Thomas Jefferson’s ties to slavery

How many Black farmers are there in the US? Why we doubt the government stats

Supreme Court Rebuffs Biden Administration Plea to Restore Multibillion-Dollar Student Debt Plan

All News

Tags

Activism activists Africa America's Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM) American history anti-Black violence Art Black Arts and Culture Black Athletes Black Children Black Health Black Lives Matter (BLM) Black Men Black Students Black Women Books California Civil Rights COVID-19 Donald Trump Economic inequality Education Entertainment Health Disparities LGBTQ Lynching Milwaukee Movies Music police Police Violence politics prison Protests Racism Remembrance Reparations Representation Segregation Slavery Sports Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Trailblazers White Supremacy Wisconsin

Explore Our Galleries

Dr. James Cameron
Portraiture of Resistance
1968 Olympics – A peaceful protest by Daron Wolf
Echoes of Equality: Art Inspired by Memphis and Maya
The Common Great Plantane
The Published Medical Discoveries of the Enslaved Dr. Caesar

Breaking News!

Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.

Click Here

Ways to Support ABHM?

Click Here
May 1, 2024

By Michelle Garcia, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Janelle Griffith, NBC

Chemicals used to straighten hair can increase the risk of uterine cancer (Tomas Anderson/Alamy Stock Photos)

A proposal to ban formaldehyde in hair-straightening products that was scheduled to take place in April has not been released by the Food and Drug Administration, disregarding the agency’s own deadline. 

The proposal had come after wide-ranging studies found an association between some of the ingredients in hair-smoothing and hair-straightening products, which are used mostly by Black women, and cancer. 

It is unclear why the FDA has not released its proposed ban. The agency has not responded to requests for comment by NBC News.

[…]

Formaldehyde is used in many household products, including some topical medicines and cosmetics such as some nail polishes, hair gels, baby shampoos and others. Not all chemical hair-straighteners include it, but many do include components that, once heated, can release formaldehyde. It is highly toxic and linked to certain cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.

“About 50% of products advertised to Black women contain these types of chemicals, compared to maybe only 7% that are advertised to white women,” Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Tamarra James-Todd said in a radio interview in 2020. 

Learn more.

Head to our online exhibits to discover Black history.

More breaking news here.

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.

Leave a Comment