The Racial Justice Group Color Of Change Calls For A Ban On Chemical Hair Straighteners And Hair Relaxers

Lawyers cite the studies that link using chemical hair products with an increased risk of developing cancer for Black women

Friday, January 20, 2023 - Hair relaxer cancer lawsuits against Dark & Lovely, Motions, Namaste Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Relaxer, and others have taken root and are gathering steam as more than two dozen women with various types of cancer have come forward. The victims allege that using chemical hair straighteners more than just a few times per year for several years has caused them to develop uterine, breast, ovarian, and other types of cancer. Motions are already underway to establish multi-district litigation (MDL) so that the court system is better able to cope with the volume of lawsuits. MDL is not a class-action lawsuit as each case will be tried one by one after first being grouped together to streamline certain repetitive court procedures. Most chemical hair straightener lawsuits allege that about a dozen companies manufacturer hair relaxers that caused specific types of cancer. MDL also permits one judge to interview scientific experts for both the plaintiffs and the defense and select just a few that pass muster. In addition to the pure scientific credibility of using toxic hair relaxers and developing uterine and other cancer, there may be a more sinister racial element involved in how chemical hair straighteners were marketed. It is estimated that more than 90% of Black adult women have used chemical hair straighteners at one point of their lives and long enough to have developed cancer. Such a high user rate and the validity of study after study linking the use of hair straighteners to cancer leads legal experts to expect the number of chemical hair straightener lawsuits could approach 1000 in the months to come. Hair straightener cancer lawyers are interviewing potential clients to joint the MDL.

A prominent consumer watchdog group is also taking names of people who want to join the petition to remove the deadly, toxic product from the market. "In a recent call to action, racial justice organization Color of Change urges consumers to sign a petition demanding that Target, ShopRite, Giant, Food Lion, and other major retailers remove "toxic" products such as lye relaxers and hair dyes from shelves," according to CosmeticsandToiletries.com. The motion to remove the product from store shelves cites numerous scientific studies as the basis for their action, and also is concerned that the product is marketed primarily towards Black women. Two studies the group has cited, according to CAT were written by the National Institute of Environmental Health Studies (NIEHS), which concluded: "Women who used permanent hair dye and chemical straighteners have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who do not use these products." Dangerous chemicals in hair straighteners include sodium hydroxide and formaldehyde. Lawsuits allege there is a racial element in targeting black women and putting the picture of Black Women on the covers of its packaging... women who have never used the product. According to CAT, "Corporations have been selling Black women lies, and now our communities are dying because of it. ... It's time the hair care industry reckons with its anti-Blackness."

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