Hair Dyes and Straighteners Linked to Higher Cancer Risk for Black Women

*A new study has warned women who chemically process their hair that permanent dye and chemical straighteners, especially among Black women, has been linked to cancer. 

Via NPR:

• Researchers analyzed data from an ongoing study called the Sister Study, looking at medical records and lifestyle surveys from 46,709 women between the ages of 35 and 74.
• Women answered questions about their use of hair dyes and straighteners. While earlier studies on hair dye and cancer risk included mostly white women, the new study includes 9% African American women.
• Researchers found that women who used permanent hair dye or chemical straighteners were at higher risk of developing breast cancer.

The study was published Wednesday in the International Journal of Cancer.

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“The association was notably higher among black women,” says epidemiologist Alexandra White, study author and an investigator with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Via NPR:

• White found permanent hair dye use was associated with about a 7% higher risk of developing breast cancer among white women, “whereas in black women that risk was about 45 percent.”
• That risk was even higher among black women who dyed their hair frequently, every one or two months.
• Researchers don’t know which ingredients in the products might be of concern, as the study did not look at the specific ingredients in the products women were using.
• All women in the Sister Study were already at high risk for breast cancer since they had a sister who had breast cancer. 

Hair products contain more than 5,000 chemicals, according to researchers.

“For the chemical straighteners one of the big concerns there is formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen,” says White. She notes that the popular Brazilian keratin treatments, commonly called a Brazilian blowout, contains formaldehyde, and earlier hair straightening treatments did not.

“I think it’s important for women, particularly African American women, not to panic every time a study comes out,” said Dr. Doris Browne, a medical oncologist and former president of the National Medical Association, . “But it should raise questions for our primary care providers.”

Browne suggests doctors and patients discuss the health risks of hair products like dyes and straighteners.

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