Hair straightening products may increase risk of cancer in women: Study

For women in the study who frequently use hair straightening products, the risk of developing uterine cancer by the age of 70 was 4.05 per cent while it was 1.64 per cent for people who never used the products.

United States: Women who use chemical hair straightening products often could have a higher risk of developing uterine cancer than women who have never used the products, according to new findings from a national study that has followed nearly 34,000 women in the United States for more than a decade.

For women in the study who frequently use hair straightening products, the risk of developing uterine cancer by the age of 70 was 4.05 per cent while it was 1.64 per cent for people who never used the products.

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“We don’t want to panic people,” said Alexandra White, head of the environment and cancer epidemiology group of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the study’s lead author.

“One could make a decision to reduce this chemical exposure, but we also want to acknowledge that there is a lot of pressure on women, especially Black women, to have straight hair. It’s not an easy decision to not do this.”

The researchers cautioned that the findings need to be confirmed with more studies. In previous studies, hair straightening products use has also been tied to a higher risk of ovarian and breast cancers.

The researchers noted that several chemicals that have been found in the products, such as parabens, bisphenol A, metals, and formaldehyde, could play a role in the increased uterine cancer risk, and that some of those chemicals have endocrine-disrupting properties.