Although hesitant at first, as a mom of four daughters—I’m the youngest—she knew my pleading wouldn’t stop until my hair looked like one of the girls in the “Just For Me” box. I only recently found out that these models didn’t really have loose hair. Before that Christmas break was over, what was once a giant afro was straight and back length like I’d never seen it before. My hair is thick and coarse, so at the time, I assumed that the chemical straightening cream needed to stay on my hair longer to really straighten the kinks and curls. So when my mom asked if my scalp was burning — yes, it was! — I pushed and held a little longer to make sure it would actually work. Even at that young age, I believed that beauty was pain and that having straight hair was more socially acceptable — although no one in my family ever told me that. This belief was confirmed for me that Monday when I walked into school and people responded well to the length and straightness of my hair. I took relaxers pretty regularly for the next six or seven years after that. My mom, I, our friends and family had never considered how applying these chemicals to our hair and scalp could affect our physical health. And we wouldn’t know until over a decade after my first relaxer and over a century after chemical straightening was introduced to the Black community in the early 1900’s.
An association between chemical hair straighteners and uterine cancer in black women
On Oct. 17, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) released findings from the Sister Study, including data from more than 33,000 women followed for nearly 11 years. The goal was to identify risk factors for breast cancer and other health conditions, and the researchers discovered something alarming. Within that time frame, 378 women were diagnosed with uterine cancer, and those who used hair straighteners more than four times in the previous year “were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer compared to those who did not use the products.” “ About 60% of women who reported using hair straightening products self-identified as Black, the press release said. “Because black women use hair straightening or relaxing products more often and tend to start use at younger ages than other races and ethnicities, these findings may be even more important for them,” said Che-Jung Chang, author of study and researcher at the NIEHS Epidemiology Branch in the press release. Although the study did not include specific brands, there are certain chemicals that may contribute to an increased risk of uterine cancer, including:
Parabens Bisphenol A metals Formaldehyde
For other chemical-based hair products, such as highlights, bleach, hair dyes and perms, researchers found no associations with uterine cancer. Fortunately, the women in my life, like my older sister and best friend, who defied the “straight hair” norm, showed me what it could be like to embrace my natural hair. I started my natural hair journey at 16 and haven’t relaxed my hair since. However, I wonder what these findings will mean for me, my loved ones, and other black women in the future. Subscribe Now: Get smarter about your money and your career with our weekly newsletter Dont miss:
