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Various scientific research supports lawsuits by women who developed cancer and other illnesses after using hair relaxer products. Despite the concrete and disturbing evidence that certain hair relaxants increase the risk of certain cancers, hair relaxant companies continue to market and sell harmful relaxers containing toxic substances.

For over 45 years, Sommers Schwartz attorneys have been helping people get their lives back on track after suffering from the life-changing effects of dangerous and damaging products. We will continue that fight for you.

FACT

45 percent

In one study, the risk of breast cancer in black women who used hair relaxants rose by 45 percent.

Hair relaxer cancer

Hair relaxant home-kit users, salon owners, stylists, distributors and other individuals involved in the hair care industry may be suffering from cancer or other serious illness due to long-term hair relaxant exposure. The experienced lawyers at Sommers Schwartz can help.

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What Is Hair Relaxing?

Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawyers

Relaxing, also called lanthionization, breaks the hair’s disulfide bonds to alter the curl pattern. After the initial session, re-touches are generally done every four to eight weeks as new growth occurs, and many women will have re-touches for decades.

Although women (and men) of all races use these products, they are significantly more common among Black women. Many women regularly use hair relaxants for decades, inadvertently exposing themselves to a higher risk of infertility disorders in both genders and uterine and breast cancer in women.

HAIR RELAXER MANUFACTURERS

Products Involved in Lawsuits

The companies and products named in product liability and consumer product misrepresentation actions include:

  • L’Oréal USA: Dark and Lovely
  • Namaste Laboratories: ORS Olive Oil and Olive Oil Girls (targeting young Black girls)
  • SoftSheen-Carson: Optimum
  • Strength of Nature Global: Soft & Beautiful and Motions; TCB Naturals and Just for Me brands (targeting young Black girls)

Hair Relaxer Risks

Despite the concrete and disturbing evidence that certain hair relaxants increase the risk of certain cancers, hair relaxant companies continue to market and sell harmful relaxers containing toxic substances. Women have filed lawsuits against several manufacturers alleging they knew or should have known their products increased the risk of cancer without warning consumers.

How Do EDCs in Hair Relaxants Increase the Risk of Cancer and Illnesses?

Certain chemicals have been found to heighten uterine cancer risk, including bisphenol A, metallics, and formaldehyde. Hair relaxers also contain carcinogenic compounds, including parabens and phthalates like DEHP (Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate), which can hijack the endocrine system by blocking or imitating hormones. These compounds are often referred to as hormonally active or endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs).

Women typically begin using hair relaxants during adolescence when exposure to EDCs can be particularly damaging to girls’ development. While relaxers can cause burns and lesions, damage to the skin can also increase the body’s absorption of these toxic chemicals, further increasing the possibility of cancer over the long term. Makers of no-lye relaxers advertise that they cause fewer scalp lesions and burns than lye relaxers, but there is little evidence to support this claim.

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EDCs May be Hidden

Despite the association between EDC exposure and cancer, the Food and Drug Administration does not require manufacturers to separately identify EDCs among the ingredients in hair relaxants and other consumer products. Haircare product makers often discreetly lump EDCs into different categories, such as “fragrance” and “perfume.”

Researchers have found no connection between uterine cancer and other hair products, such as dyes, bleach, highlights, or perms.

Cancers Associated with Hair Relaxers

Hair Relaxants Are Connected to Uterine Cancer and Reproductive Health Issues

Various scientific research supports lawsuits by women who developed cancer and other illnesses after using hair relaxer products.

Uterine Cancer:

Each year, approximately 65,000 women in the U.S. develop uterine cancer, receiving the diagnosis at an average age of 61.

Uterine Cancer: Black women who frequently use hair relaxants have one of the highest incidence rates and are more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer as white women.

A study published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in October 2022 found that women who use chemical hair straightening or relaxing products have a higher risk of contracting uterine cancer. The research estimated that nearly 1.64% of women who never used chemical hair straighteners or relaxers would develop uterine cancer by age 70. That percentage more than doubles to 4.05% for regular relaxant users.

Breast Cancer

An eight-year National Institutes of Health study discovered a significant link between hair relaxants and breast cancer.

Breast Cancer: Research published in Oxford University’s Carcinogenesis Journal indicates Black women who used lye-based hair relaxants a minimum of seven times per year for at least 15 years had a roughly 30 percent greater chance of developing breast cancer than less-frequent users.

Also, an eight-year National Institutes of Health study discovered a link between hair relaxants and breast cancer. Of the 46,000 women between the ages of 35 and 74 and across all races, the risk of breast cancer in Black women who used hair relaxants rose by 45 percent.

Breast cancer studies

Breast Cancer Risk Factors

Researchers examined data from the 2012 Boston University’s Black Women’s Health Study (reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology), which assessed the medical diagnoses of 50,000 African American women over 25 years and variable factors that could affect their well-being. Between 1997 and 2017, 95% of the women reported using lye-based relaxers, and 2,311 developed breast cancers.

Consult an Experienced Consumer Product Liability Attorney

L’Oréal and other manufacturers have known that DEHP and EDCs increase the risk of uterine cancer, breast cancer, and other reproductive issues since at least 2015. Still, they continue aggressively marketing these products to their predominantly African American client base.

Are you a hair relaxant home-kit user, salon owner, stylist, haircare sales representative, or beauty supply store owner or employee? Do you suspect long-term hair relaxant use is to blame for your uterine cancer or another serious illness? The experienced lawyers at Sommers Schwartz can help.

Contact us today for a free and confidential consultation about your case and potential compensation for your medical expenses, physical pain, emotional suffering, and lost wages.

Talk to an Attorney About Hair Relaxer Cancer Claims

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