Are you a woman who uses chemical hair straightening products? Research indicates that you would be at a higher risk of uterine cancer. Before you panic or rise up in defense of chemical hair straighteners, calm down and let’s have a woman-to-woman conversation.
When I was younger, I obsessed over straight hair. There was a particular way I felt my hair needed to look after a good blow-dry.
But it never looked sufficiently bone straight. In my quest for bouncy, windswept hair I could run my fingers through, I begged my mother, the custodian of my hair until I turned 18 - though truthfully it was a smidge older than that - to let me relax my hair. She was resolute. Nothing would come between her jojoba oil, her wallet and my natural hair.
I, she said, will relax my hair at my own cost when I was old enough to be employed, enough to pay for my own hair. Lately, I have found myself grateful for this stubborn streak.
America’s National Institutes of Health researchers studied over 30,000 women ages 35-74 for 11 years who were taking part in the Sister Study. Sister Study, led by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, an arm of NIH, was designed to identify risk factors when it comes to breast cancer and other health conditions.
According to the site, “From 2003 to 2009, more than 50,000 women across the US and Puerto Rico, who were between ages 35–74 and whose sister had breast cancer, joined this landmark research effort to find causes of breast cancer.”
Something else equally sinister came up. “We estimated that 1.64 per cent of women who never used hair straighteners would go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70; but for frequent users, that risk goes up to 4.05 per cent,” said Alexandra White, said Alexandra White, PhD, head of the NIEHS Environment and Cancer Epidemiology group and lead author on the new study. “This doubling rate is concerning. However, it is important to put this information into context - uterine cancer is a relatively rare type of cancer.”
It turns out that rates of uterine cancer have apparently been on the rise in the US, particularly among black women. The findings are regarded as relevant for black women because we tend to use chemical hair straighteners or relaxers far more frequently and at earlier ages than any other races or ethnicities.
It will be necessary to expand this research and make it more inclusive, looking into other races and ethnicities as well for comparative analysis. Right now though, around 60 per cent of women who reported using hair straighteners are black.
The disadvantage here is that the adverse effects are greater for black women because we are addicted to our ‘white crack.’ And there is that whole thing about good hair being straight hair.
One thing that came out clearly was that it is the frequency, which is using chemical hair straighteners more than four times a year, which makes users more than twice as likely to eventually develop uterine cancer.
This is in comparison to women who do not use said products. The women who were followed for over a decade, however, had 378 uterine cancer cases diagnosed from a total of 33,497 women. It is the first study to ever offer evidence of an association between hair straighteners/relaxers and uterine cancer risk.
Now, this is very important. First, the study does not name any brands. Secondly, the ingredients to look out for are parabens, bisphenol A, metals, and formaldehyde.
Third, and this is critical. What bears repeating is that the frequency with which black women use chemical hair straighteners and relaxers is where the crux lies. Hair is big business. And there have been a few lawsuits since the study came out in October this year.
Let’s keep in mind that these products are aggressively marketed towards black women as a means to set beauty standards. There is an expression, “Beauty is pain.” This one hurts a little too much.
Dr White does clarify there are other factors that cause uterine cancer that are within our control. She does say we can mitigate the development of uterine cancer by reducing the frequency with which we use chemical hair straighteners.
There is also the fact that we might need to do more research about the products that we use. This is a good thing because you get to know what goes on and into your body.
It gives you agency, and you will find yourself making better self care choices. The natural hair movement was the result of this, with women attempting to minimise the impact of chemicals on themselves. Being vigilant about where you spend your money can only be a good thing.
It should come as no surprise to learn that a 2016 study assessed almost 1,200 products specifically targeting black women and found that safe products were not as many as there are for other products not targeting black women.
There were more hazardous ingredients in the products we as black women tend to use. In 2019, research that was reiterated in 2021, researchers discovered that hair products used by black women had more endocrine-disrupting chemicals than in products used by white women.
Black women are encouraged to take up physical activity and to get to, and stay on, at a healthy weight. Black women have the highest obesity rates in the US.
Our very own 2015 survey also found that more than 50 per cent of Kenyan women are overweight or obese. It is tough being black and female in this world!
If you use hair relaxers, I’ll keep watching this space and keep you appraised of any surveys that connect more dots when it comes to our hair and beauty choices. Meanwhile, wise yourself up however you can.
