Kayleigh Butler, a hair stylist, stands for a portrait at her studio in Atlanta on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. “Relaxers have taken an extreme decline … as we became more knowledgeable about the effects of the relaxer on your hair and what it can do to your hair,” says Butler, who remembers getting relaxers when she was 5 years outdated.

Kenya Hunter/AP

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Kenya Hunter/AP

Kayleigh Butler, a hair stylist, stands for a portrait at her studio in Atlanta on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. “Relaxers have taken an extreme decline … as we became more knowledgeable about the effects of the relaxer on your hair and what it can do to your hair,” says Butler, who remembers getting relaxers when she was 5 years outdated.

Kenya Hunter/AP

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing a ban on utilizing the chemical formaldehyde as an ingredient in hair relaxers, citing its hyperlink to most cancers and different long-term antagonistic well being results.

The new rule proposed by the federal company would ban the colorless and extremely poisonous chemical in high-straightening and hair-smoothing merchandise — additionally known as relaxers.

The goal date for the proposed ban is about for April 2024.

The proposed rule takes a big step in elevating consciousness concerning the potential hurt that formaldehyde creates for the various Black girls who usually use common straightening merchandise, together with many sorts of chemical relaxers, Brazilian blowouts and keratin treatments.

News of the proposed guidelines comes as researchers on the National Institutes of Health released a study final 12 months exhibiting an elevated danger of hormone-related most cancers in girls who’ve used the chemical substances of their hair.

The findings within the report had been particularly regarding for Black girls, who’re way more prone to report utilizing such merchandise.

“We estimated that 1.64% 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%,” lead writer Alexandra White, the pinnacle of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Environment and Cancer Epidemiology group told NPR last year.

The proposed rule by the FDA continues to generate questions concerning the risks of formaldehyde and the dangers related to the extremely poisonous chemical in hair-straightening merchandise.

What are the well being dangers related to formaldehyde?

Steam rises as a hair stylist works on a mannequin previous to a present displaying the Tom Ford assortment throughout Fashion Week on Feb. 6, 2019, in New York. People of colour within the trade hint bias and discrimination in predominantly white salons to the sidelining of formal schooling centered on Black hair.

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Julio Cortez/AP

Formaldehyde is a colorless and strong-smelling gasoline that presents well being hazards when breathed into the lungs or when coming into contact with the eyes or pores and skin, according to the FDA.

When the chemical is current within the air at ranges exceeding 0.1 ppm (components per million), people can expertise antagonistic results reminiscent of:

• Watery eyes
• Burning sensations within the eyes, nostril and throat
• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Nausea
• Skin irritation

Exposure to formaldehyde may also trigger allergic (or contact) dermatitis, an itchy rash attributable to direct contact with a substance or an allergic response to it.

The FDA studies that the extra publicity one has to merchandise containing formaldehyde — when it comes to size of time and focus — the upper the well being danger.

The long-term effects associated with formaldehyde can embody an elevated quantity of complications, bronchial asthma, contact dermatitis and presumably most cancers.

Chemical hair straighteners have additionally been associated with risks of uterine most cancers, breast most cancers and even ovarian most cancers — particularly for Black girls.

How many sorts of relaxers have formaldehyde in them?

Many keratin-based hair-smoothing and hair-straightening merchandise include formaldehyde. So far, there are greater than 150 hair-straightening merchandise available on the market that include formaldehyde, according to the New York State Department of Health.

And whereas some claimed to be “formaldehyde-free,” “organic” or “natural,” investigators with the New York State Department of Health found that formaldehyde was really current within the merchandise when examined.

In addition to hair straighteners and smoothers, the chemical can also be utilized in varied glues and resins, dyes, textiles, disinfectants, constructing supplies, car components, embalming and laboratories, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What comes subsequent?

Michele Watley, founding father of Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet, testifies in favor of a invoice earlier than the Kansas Legislature to ban discrimination primarily based on hairstyles in employment, housing and public lodging throughout a committee listening to, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, on the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan.

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Michele Watley, founding father of Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet, testifies in favor of a invoice earlier than the Kansas Legislature to ban discrimination primarily based on hairstyles in employment, housing and public lodging throughout a committee listening to, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, on the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan.

John Hanna/AP

The proposed ban on the usage of formaldehyde is within the early phases, as nothing has been made everlasting but by the federal company. But earlier than a ban is put into place, the FDA will obtain and evaluate public feedback on the proposed ban.

In a video posted to X (previously generally known as Twitter) Wednesday, the FDA’s chief scientist, Namandjé Bumpus, cleared up misinformation spreading on-line relating to the federal company’s proposal.

“When we do propose this rule, it will be specifically focused on removing potentially cancer-causing formaldehyde and other formaldehyde-releasing chemicals from these products, so we can protect the health of all us consumers using them,” Bumpus stated within the video.

“If finalized, this proposed rule will help to address this disparity by really setting a standard for safety in promoting safer alternatives,” she added.

The federal company’s proposed ban comes months after Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, wrote an open letter asking the FDA to analyze whether or not chemical hair straighteners include carcinogens that result in the next danger of creating uterine most cancers.

“Consumers need to be reassured that the cosmetic products they use do not threaten their health. It is critical that the agency act quickly to address these legitimate concerns,” the representatives wrote within the letter.

NPR’s Becky Sullivan contributed to this report.