ATLANTA — Some women are realizing the effort to get straight hair may have caused them more harm than good if they used chemical straightening products. Some studies show the chemicals could increase the risk of certain cancers.
“I was terrified, I just didn’t want to die. That was my main focus,” said Toya Dickerson, a uterine cancer survivor.
Dickerson is among the many women diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Despite not having any established risk factors, Dickerson said she was she exposed to chemicals known to cause cancer from hair products.
"I’ve been using relaxers since I was about 16, 17 years old, just because of the marketing. They gave you that slick look, like it was manageable, and I just felt like it was something easier for me or maybe to help me look better," added Dickerson.
But the pressure for more manageable hair came at a price, as Dickerson's cancer diagnosis resulted in her having to get a hysterectomy. According to a 2022 study from the National Institute of Health, those who used of chemical straighteners have a higher risk of uterine cancers and fibroids. Dr. Katrina Gibson broke down the numbers.
“Of the women who have never used hair straighteners, only about 1.64% of these women would contract uterine cancer by the age of 70. However, women who use the straighteners regularly -- approximately four times per year -- had a rate of 4.05% of uterine cancer. That’s almost at three times the risk," added Gibson.
The NIH study mentioned Black women may be more affected due to higher use of the products.
The issue has prompted multiple lawsuits. Attorney Danielle Ward-Mason represents many of those clients.
“We’re still in the early phases of the litigation and were engaging in discovery but if they (manufactures) didn’t know they should have known. The manufactures of these products, this is their wheelhouse. That is their duty to know about their products, to test it, to be able to set substantiate its safety," Ward-Mason said.
And as the legal process plays out, those like Dickerson said their lives have been forever changed.
“I have to live with the fact the I’m married to someone that I couldn’t give children to and it’s caused a lot of anxiety. It’s caused a lot of depression. If I can go back and change the hands of time, I would never touch a relaxer,” added Dickerson.
The Food and Drug Administration has also proposed new rules that would ban formaldehyde and other FA-releasing chemicals as ingredients in hair smoothing or hair straightening products.