They are saying magnificence is ache, but it surely isn’t imagined to be lethal. So why has a new evaluation discovered that 80% of greater than 4,000 magnificence merchandise marketed in direction of Black girls comprise at the least one hazardous ingredient (with most containing a number of)? This follows varied current research highlighting how some artificial braiding hair could 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 studies paint a grim image of a market the place quite a lot of merchandise comprise doubtlessly harmful chemical compounds – parabens, phthalates, endocrine disruptors – a lot of which disproportionately goal Black girls. In truth, in 2020, Tamarra James-Todd, a Harvard researcher, went on document saying that in keeping with her analysis “about 50% of merchandise marketed to Black girls comprise these kinds of chemical compounds, in comparison with possibly solely 7% which might be marketed to white girls”, and we’ve not seen a lot enchancment.
What’s extra disheartening? This isn’t new info. Practically a decade in the past, in 2016, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the group behind the examine, issued the same 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 girls might be dangerous, and even lethal.
For years, researchers have flagged the connection between sure magnificence merchandise and elevated well being dangers, notably for Black girls. For instance, formaldehyde, a recognized 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 chance of uterine most cancers. In the meantime, skin-lightening merchandise can harbour mercury or steroids, which might disrupt hormones and injury organs over time.
The newest 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 average to excessive hazard, with haircare merchandise (specifically relaxers) main the pack. Some very well-known manufacturers in Black households seem on the listing with substances 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 degree of readability we’re not used to with regards to analysis involving Black girls’s well being and wellness – however because the first 2016 report, Black girls have demanded extra transparency with regards to their every day routines.
Whereas Black girls are more and more embracing their pure hair, notably in traditionally hostile environments resembling college and the office, the second we do determine to present into the stress of assimilating to western magnificence requirements – notably with regards to hair – we’re met with alarming well being issues.
You have in all probability ran into current viral movies of Black girls disowning their artificial braiding hair as a consequence of well being issues, 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. Shopper Reviews just lately corroborated this by releasing their findings round cancer-causing chemical compounds and lead in among the artificial hair marketed to Black girls.
