Black women ditching hair straighteners amid proposed FDA ban

ATLANTA — The Food and Drug Administration is now proposing a ban on certain hair straighteners due to a possible link to cancer.

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“It felt good,” said Amanda Wisdom as she talked about going natural.

“I was missing my natural hair texture and how full it was,” Wisdom told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington on Thursday.

Some hairstylists told Washington that a number of their clients are ditching the hair straighteners or relaxers and going natural.

“They’re more educated about what relaxers are and how it really affects their hair,” said celebrity hairstylist and owner of the J Spot Studio Salon, Derek J.

“It’s a chemical. I think a lot of these new chemicals that they come out with we never know what the end result is,” Derek J added.

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The FDA noted that straighteners that emit formaldehyde could be connected to uterine, breast and ovarian cancers.

These hair straightening products are mostly marketed to Black women and other women with coarse hair. While studies show that uterine cancer rates are rising among all women, the increase is highest among Black women and other women of color.

Film and TV hair department director, Ralph Ochoa believes the ban will go too far.

“I think it’s a horrible thing because the FDA approved this over 50 years ago,” said Ochoa.

Ochoa said the risk is in how the chemical straightener is applied.

“It’s supposed to be applied directly – as close to the scalp as possible without getting it on the scalp,” Ochoa explained.

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“I’m not against relaxers, but if there was a way to do it in a safe way where it doesn’t cause cancer, things like that then I feel like that would be the best option,” Wisdom said.

The FDA is now urging people to read the labels and avoid products that contain formaldehyde and other harmful chemicals.

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