Source: Level Up
Black British women are demanding an immediate ban on harmful substances found in certain Black hair care products that have been connected to cancer.
These include well-known hair products like chemical relaxers, which straighten Afro-textured hair and contain sodium hydroxide, sometimes referred to as lye, which also clears clogged drains.
It has been discovered that several Black hair products contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are synthetic or natural substances that imitate or disturb the endocrine system, which is the body’s hormone system.
Studies have connected these to a higher incidence of fibroids, uterine malignancies, problems with reproductive health, and early menstruation.
Now that manufacturers are under increasing pressure to take action, the push to eliminate dangerous chemicals from Black hair products is gathering steam.
Leading hair and beauty firm L’Oréal is being urged by the feminist group Level Up’s #NoMoreLyes campaign to remove harmful substances from hair relaxers that have been connected to major health hazards like fibroids and uterine cancer.
Other activists on the topic contend that more urgent action is required to shield Black women from the long-term health effects of harmful hair products, despite the group’s open letter to L’Oréal calling for transparency regarding the substances it uses in its products.
“Toxic ingredients in our hair relaxers leave us vulnerable to all sorts of things,” Seyi Falodun-Liburd, co-director of Level Up, told The Voice. “Other research is linking hair relaxer use to uterine cancer, fibroids, and other endocrine-disrupting illnesses in Black women. L’Oréal is being urged by our campaign to either make hair relaxers safe or take them off the market.”
The #NoMoreLyes campaign began in 2021 when Oxford University research revealed that Black women who used lye-based relaxers at least seven times a year for more than 15 years had a roughly 30% higher risk of breast cancer.
