Hair Care Products for Black Women May Disrupt Hormones

The current black hair care market is saturated with fad hair growth products, miracle elixirs and tragic hair straightening processes that are leaving black hair in a state of crisis. Many black women use a plethora of hair care products that contain chemicals that can interfere with their hormones and researchers are now warning consumers just how harmful their trendy hair care routines can be.

They noted these chemicals could be a reason why black women have higher rates of certain hormone-related health conditions than other women in the United States.

For example, black women begin puberty at younger ages, and they have higher rates of hormone-linked problems such as preterm birth, uterine fibroids, and infertility than other groups of women. Their rates of breast cancer and endometrial cancer are also on the rise, according to the scientists at Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Mass.

“Chemicals in hair products, and beauty products, in general, are mostly untested and largely unregulated,” said study author Jessica Helm.

“This study is a first step toward uncovering what harmful substances are

The current black hair care market is saturated with fad hair growth products, miracle elixirs and tragic hair straightening processes that are leaving black hair in a state of crisis. Many black women use a plethora of hair care products that contain chemicals that can interfere with their hormones and researchers are now warning consumers just how harmful their trendy hair care routines can be.

They noted these chemicals could be a reason why black women have higher rates of certain hormone-related health conditions than other women in the United States.

For example, black women begin puberty at younger ages, and they have higher rates of hormone-linked problems such as preterm birth, uterine fibroids, and infertility than other groups of women. Their rates of breast cancer and endometrial cancer are also on the rise, according to the scientists at Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Mass.

“Chemicals in hair products, and beauty products, in general, are mostly untested and largely unregulated,” said study author Jessica Helm.

“This study is a first step toward uncovering what harmful substances are