Arizona’s attorney general sued L’Oréal USA and SoftSheen-Carson in Maricopa County on Friday, claiming the beauty product manufacturers failed to disclose cancer risks associated with their chemical hair relaxers.
“L’Oréal knew or should have known about the dangers associated with these toxic hair straightening products,” said Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes in a statement. “Instead of warning their consumers, they put profits over the safety of women and children. That is unacceptable and we will hold them accountable for it.”
L’Oréal and SoftSheen-Carson sell products under the Dark and Lovely, Optimum and Mizani brands that claim to provide “a safe and desirable means of conforming naturally textured hair to prevailing beauty standards,” primarily targeting women of African descent, according to the 25-page complaint.
Mayes argues the manufacturers promote their products’ aesthetic benefits without disclosing increased risks of uterine and ovarian cancer, violating the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.
Garrett Augustus Morgan is credited with developing a chemical hair straightener in the early 20th century. The complaint says Morgan was trying to flatten fabrics for easier sewing when he discovered his invention also worked on hair.
By 1913, Morgan was advertising G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Cream in newspapers. Chemical hair relaxers have since grown into a $718 million industry, accounting for about a quarter of the $2.5 billion in hair products marketed to Black consumers.
Using alkaline and hydroxide-based formulas, chemical relaxers break down proteins that give hair its shape, smoothing curls.
Mayes claims L’Oréal and SoftSheen-Carson have marketed chemical relaxers to Black and Brown women in Arizona since the 1970s by touting “Eurocentric beauty standards,” even as the products’ health risks have become better understood.
Today’s chemical relaxers often contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including phthalates, parabens, cyclosiloxanes, diethanolamine and benzophenones, which can pose reproductive and hormonal risks.
Because the effects are temporary, consumers regularly reapply relaxers. Overuse can cause short-term chemical burns and hair loss, while long-term use has been linked to increased cancer risk as chemicals are absorbed through the scalp and forehead.
Mayes claims the risks have been known for more than three decades, citing a 1995 Boston University study and the National Institutes of Health’s 2009 “Sister Study,” which examined cancer risk factors among Black Americans.
In 2021, a NIEHS Environment and Cancer Epidemiology researcher homed in on hair products and found people who used chemical relaxers regularly doubled their risk of developing ovarian cancer.
Mayes asked the court to award restitution and require the companies to warn consumers adequately.
Inquiries sent to L’Oréal and SoftSheen-Carson went unanswered at the time of publication.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.