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The FDA’s Stance on Hair Relaxers With Formaldehyde
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What is formaldehyde?
Formaldehyde is a pungent, colorless, and flammable gas commonly used to make a variety of industrial products, such as building materials, glues, disinfectants, and foam insulation. Formaldehyde can be found naturally in the human body and the environment, but it can cause negative side effects through significant exposure.
Some of these symptoms include:
- Eye or skin irritation
- Respiratory issues
- Skin rashes or scalp burns
- Drowsiness
- Diarrhea or constipation
- Vomiting
- Contact dermatitis
- Chronic headaches
- Hormone disruption
- Cellular toxicity
In 2004, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified formaldehyde as “carcinogenic to humans” for its tendency to cause nasal cancer in industrial workers. Formaldehyde exposure has also been linked to an increased risk of leukemia, sinonasal cancer, and reproductive toxicity.
Many hair relaxers, keratin treatments, and Brazilian blowout treatments offered at the salon contain either formaldehyde or methylene glycol, a chemical that releases formaldehyde when applied to the scalp and heated. When a hair relaxing treatment is left on for a long period of time, it can cause the scalp to develop burns, lesions, or skin damage. These wounds give formaldehyde and methylene glycol an opening to travel into the bloodstream, allowing cancerous chemicals to enter the body.
What is the FDA doing about formaldehyde in relaxer treatments?
A non-profit activist organization called the Environmental Working Group (EWG) petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban hair relaxers with formaldehyde back in 2011, and again in 2021. The FDA did not take significant action in response to either petition.
According to the Environmental Working Group, the FDA had plans to ban formaldehyde from hair relaxer products in 2016. However, those plans apparently fell through when the FDA attorney handling formaldehyde regulation was reassigned and suddenly replaced. In response to the delay, the EWG sued to demand action from the EPA in late 2016, but the lawsuit was dismissed in 2018 over procedural issues.
Several years later, the FDA finally revealed in October 2023 that it was planning to propose a ban on using formaldehyde in hair relaxer products in April 2024. Once the proposal was official, the FDA would have assessed whether or not it should finalize the ban. But when April came around, the FDA failed to act, stating that its proposal would be delayed until July.
Then, July came and went, and there was still no proposal announcement. The FDA missed its deadline once again, quietly pushing its already-delayed proposal date to September 2024. Whether or not the FDA will follow through with its new September deadline to propose a ban on the use of formaldehyde in hair relaxer products is currently unclear.
Join the hair relaxer lawsuit
If you or a family member was diagnosed with uterine cancer after frequently using a hair relaxer product, you may be eligible for a hair relaxer settlement.
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See if you qualify for the hair relaxer lawsuit.
Referenced Articles
National Cancer Institute. (2024, August 6). Formaldehyde. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/formaldehyde
- Environmental Working Group. (2011, April). Brands that hide formaldehyde. Retrieved from https://www.ewg.org/hair-straighteners/our-report/hair-straighteners-that-hide-formaldehyde/
View more sources
International Agency for Research on Cancer. (2006). Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol and 1-tert-Butoxypropan-2-ol. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (Vol. 88). Retrieved from https://publications.iarc.fr/Book-And-Report-Series/Iarc-Monographs-On-The-Identification-Of-Carcinogenic-Hazards-To-Humans/Formaldehyde-2-Butoxyethanol-And-1–Em-Tert-Em–Butoxypropan-2-ol-2006
Benesh, M. (2020, October 21). ‘Let’s Just Ban the Damn Ingredient’: Inside FDA Scientists’ Failed Attempt To Ban Formaldehyde in Hair Treatments. Environmental Working Group. Retrieved from https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/lets-just-ban-damn-ingredient-inside-fda-scientists-failed-attempt-ban
Franklin, J. (2023, October 21). The FDA is proposing a ban on hair relaxers with formaldehyde due to cancer concerns. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2023/10/21/1207127777/fda-proposal-ban-hair-relaxers-formaldehyde
Franklin, J. (2024, May 9). The FDA misses its own deadline to propose a ban on formaldehyde from hair products. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1249365649/fda-misses-deadline-formaldehyde-ban
Franklin, J. (2024, July 20). The FDA misses its deadline again to propose a ban on formaldehyde in hair products. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2024/07/20/g-s1-12400/fda-misses-formaldehyde-hair-relaxers-ban-deadline
About the Hair Relaxer Lawsuit
Products at-risk
- Store-bought chemical hair relaxers that have endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs.
- Professional, in-salon relaxing treatments that release the chemical formaldehyde.
Who's being sued?
- L’Oreal
- Revlon
- Softsheen-Carson
- Strength of Nature
- Original Root Stimulator (ORS)
- Luster’s
- Olive Miracle
- TCB Naturals
- House of Cheatham
- Mizani
- and other hair relaxer companies.
Which illnesses are eligible?
- Uterine Cancer
- Endometrial Cancer
- Ovarian Cancer
- Fallopian Tube Cancer
- Primary Peritoneal Cancer
