Now Reading: ‘Known Carcinogen’ Found in Women’s Beauty Products
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‘Known Carcinogen’ Found in Women’s Beauty Products
NEED TO KNOW
- Preservatives that slowly release the “highly toxic” chemical formaldehyde have been found in more than half the personal care products used by women
- Researchers found the “known carcinogen” in products marketed to Black and Latina women, like hair straighteners, as well as lotions and eyelash glue
- “Repeated exposures like these can add up and cause serious harm,” study author Dr. Robin Dodson said in a press release
Cancer-causing chemicals have been found in a variety of women’s beauty products — particularly in those marketed to women of color.
A new study, published May 7 in Environmental Science & Toxicology Letters, analyzed the personal care products used by Black and Latina women, and found that more than half used products that contained formaldehyde-releasing chemicals.
Formaldehyde is a preservative that’s added to the products to increase its shelf life, but as the study says, “is highly toxic and classified as a known human carcinogen,” and was banned by the European Union for use in beauty products in 2009.
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The preservatives were found in multiple beauty products marketed to women of color, Dr. Robin Dodson, an exposure scientist at Silent Spring Institute, which conducted the study, said in a press release. The chemicals were found in approximately 47% of skincare products and 58% of haircare products. “We found that this isn’t just about hair straighteners,” said Dodson, whose study found it in the chemical straighteners as well as shampoo, lotions, body soap, and even eyelash glue.
“These chemicals are in products we use all the time, all over our bodies,” she said. “Repeated exposures like these can add up and cause serious harm.”
The study was limited to just 70 women, but does highlight how systemic racism can be driving health issues. As the research pointed out, “previous studies have characterized the disproportionate burden of [beauty product]-related exposures among Black women and Latinas. Hair straighteners are used more often by Black women compared to White women: hair discrimination and racialized beauty standards often drive use of hair-straightening products to better ensure social and economic opportunity.”
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One temporary solution could be putting warning labels on products that contain formaldehyde-releasing chemicals, like DMDM hydantoin, which was the most commonly found one. “They have long, weird, funny names,” Dodson said, explaining how even reading the ingredient list won’t help women avoid the chemicals, as “they typically don’t have the word formaldehyde in them.”
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