Study finds cancer-causing chemicals in several popular beauty products used by Black and Latina women

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Many Black and Latina women are regularly using beauty products which contain cancer-causing chemicals — and not just in hair straightening products, a new study reveals.

Several lotions, cleansers and other beauty products marketed to Black and Latina women contain formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, according to a study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed Environmental Science & Technology Letters journal. These chemicals are known carcinogens, which means they can cause cancer or help it grow.

The study was based on surveys filled out by 70 Black and Latina women in Los Angeles. Each time one of the women used a personal care product, they took a picture of the ingredient label and sent it to researchers via an app.

Fifty-three percent of the women used at least one personal care product that listed formaldehyde releasers on its label, the study found. These women also reported using many of these products daily or multiple times per week.

The carcinogen was found in 58 percent of the haircare products reported, the study revealed. But women also reported using shampoo, lotions, body soap and eyelash glue that contain the carcinogen. Twelve of the lotions containing formaldehyde-releasing preservatives that the women reported using were from the same brand: Bath & Body Works.

The study found that various products, including hair-straighteners, shampoos, lotions and eyelash glues, contain formaldehyde (Getty Images)

The Independent has contacted Bath & Body Works for comment.

Formaldehyde presents an “unreasonable risk of injury to human health” in current practices, the Environmental Protection Agency said in January. Previous studies had already revealed the carcinogen is in products to help straighten hair or smooth curls, and it poses a disproportionate risk to Black women and other women of color.

This week’s study is the first to demonstrate that the carcinogen is in a wide variety of products beyond hair straighteners, according to the researchers.

“We found that this isn’t just about hair straighteners,” lead author Dr. Robin Dodson said in a press release. “These chemicals are in products we use all the time, all over our bodies. Repeated exposures like these can add up and cause serious harm.”

Twelve of the lotions containing formaldehyde-releasing preservatives were from Bath & Body Works (Getty Images)

Dodson said it can be hard for consumers to identify which products contain formaldehyde: “They have long, weird, funny names, and they typically don’t have the word formaldehyde in them.”

One of the key chemicals to stay away from is the formaldehyde-releasing preservative DMDM hydantoin, she said.

Janette Robinson Flint, executive director of the advocacy organization Black Women for Wellness, called for greater government oversight of these products.

“We’re trying to do the right thing,” Flint said in a statement “But there needs to be more government oversight. We shouldn’t have to be chemists to figure out what kinds of products will make us sick.”

The European Union and ten U.S. states have banned or proposed a ban on formaldehyde. The Food and Drug Administration even proposed a national ban on formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals in 2023, but it has yet to be enacted.

But Dodson said the best solution would be ending the use of these chemicals in personal products altogether.

“Ideally, companies shouldn’t be putting these chemicals in products in the first place,” she said.