They are saying magnificence is ache, but it surely isn’t alleged to be lethal. So why has a new evaluation discovered that 80% of greater than 4,000 magnificence merchandise marketed in direction of Black ladies comprise at the least one hazardous ingredient (with most containing a number of)? This follows varied latest research highlighting how some artificial braiding hair might comprise carcinogens, lead and different dangerous chemical compounds.

From hair relaxers to skin-lightening lotions and the artificial hair we use to braid our hair, these experiences paint a grim image of a market the place a lot of merchandise comprise doubtlessly harmful chemical compounds – parabens, phthalates, endocrine disruptors – a lot of which disproportionately goal Black ladies. In actual fact, in 2020, Tamarra James-Todd, a Harvard researcher, went on file saying that in accordance with her analysis “about 50% of merchandise marketed to Black ladies comprise most of these chemical compounds, in comparison with possibly solely 7% which can be marketed to white ladies”, and we’ve not seen a lot enchancment.

What’s extra disheartening? This isn’t new data. Almost a decade in the past, in 2016, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the group behind the examine, issued an identical warning, and but not a lot has modified. The analysis is there (albeit not at all times complete) but it surely all factors to the identical conclusion: magnificence rituals for Black ladies will be dangerous, and even lethal.

For years, researchers have flagged the connection between sure magnificence merchandise and elevated well being dangers, significantly for Black ladies. For instance, formaldehyde, a identified carcinogen present in some hair relaxers, has been a focus of concern. Research, together with one from the Nationwide Institutes of Well being in 2022, discovered that frequent use of chemical hair straighteners doubles the danger of uterine most cancers. In the meantime, skin-lightening merchandise can harbour mercury or steroids, which might disrupt hormones and harm organs over time.

The most recent EWG evaluation, co-authored with Dr Kristian Edwards, who co-founded all-natural Black market BLK + GRN after studying the preliminary report, reveals the scope of the issue. Of the 4,011 merchandise evaluated, solely 21% are ranked as “low hazard” in EWG’s Pores and skin Deep database. The remainder? Over 3,000 reasonable to excessive hazard, with haircare merchandise (specifically relaxers) main the pack. Some very well-known manufacturers in Black households seem on the checklist with components like sodium hydroxide, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, and hormone-disrupting parabens flagged as harmful.

The report comes with receipts. It names names and spells out precisely which chemical compounds pose dangers, which is a stage of readability we’re not used to on the subject of analysis involving Black ladies’s well being and wellness – however for the reason that first 2016 report, Black ladies have demanded extra transparency on the subject of their every day routines.

Whereas Black ladies are more and more embracing their pure hair, significantly in traditionally hostile environments akin to faculty and the office, the second we do resolve to present into the strain of assimilating to western magnificence requirements – significantly on the subject of hair – we’re met with alarming well being considerations.

You’ve got in all probability ran into latest viral movies of Black ladies disowning their artificial braiding hair on account of well being considerations, together with allergic reactions, scalp irritation, and respiratory points. These claims had been fuelled by a 2020 examine by ATLAS Institute’s Dr. Donna Auguste PHD reporting that some artificial hair emits poisonous unstable natural compounds (VOCs) when heated, doubtlessly linked to most cancers and different ailments. Client Stories not too long ago corroborated this by releasing their findings round cancer-causing chemical compounds and lead in a few of the artificial hair marketed to Black ladies.