Chemical Hair Straightener Cancer Lawsuits

Our chemical hair straightener lawsuit lawyers are filing cases against several beauty product companies for women diagnosed with cancer.

Many Black women use hair straighteners and hair relaxers in the United States and in other countries throughout the world. Women who have used chemical hair straighteners and were diagnosed with cancer may be able to file a lawsuit. Black women are more likely than others to use chemical hair straightening products.

Studies show a possible correlation between hair products used primarily by Black women and several types of cancer, including uterine cancer, breast cancer, and endometrial cancer.

A product liability lawyer at The Buckfire Law Firm will review your case for free to see if you are eligible for a case.

How Do Chemical Hair Straighteners Work?

Hair relaxing is also called lanthionization and causes the hair to straighten. Relaxers and the other methods permanently alter the structure of the hair. The drug interferon alpha can modify hair follicles and cause a permanent change in a person’s hair texture.

After the initial relaxing session, there are “re-touches” that are done every four to eight weeks on average as new growth comes in. Many women will have “re-touches” for decades.

Hair straightening chemicals are very common in the United States and around the world. Statistics show that up to 90% of black and brown women have used hair relaxants. Hair relaxer usage often begins in formative childhood years, and the adolescent years are the period of primary susceptibility to cancers caused by exposure to these chemicals.

Hair relaxing can be performed by a professional cosmetologist in a hair salon or barbershop, or at home with at-home relaxer kits designed for individual use. These home kits are sold in grocery, drug, and beauty supply stores in urban and rural cities throughout the United States.

Dangerous consumer products that cause physical harm and disease to the public are often the subject of lawsuits. These lawsuits allege that the product manufacturers sold harmful products to the public when they knew or should have known of the potential or likely health hazards. In addition, the manufacturers and sellers failed to provide adequate warnings to the users and purchasers.

What are the Major Chemical Hair Straightener Companies?

There are several companies that make and sell hair relaxer products. The major chemical hair straighter products at issue in these lawsuits may include the following hair relaxer brands and products:

Ultra Precise
Dark & Lovely (L’Oréal)
Bantu
Optimum (L’Oréal)
Motions
Just for Me (Strength of Global LLC)
ORS Olive Oil
African Pride
TCB Naturals
Luster’s
Africa’s Best
Creme of Nature
TCB Naturals (Strength of Global LLC)
Mizani Rhelaxer
Soft & Beautiful Motions (Strength of Global LLC)
Ultra Sheen Supreme
Olive Oil Girls (Namaste)

If you or someone you care about used these products and was diagnosed with cancer, you may be able to file a chemical hair relaxer lawsuit. Contact Buckfire Law now to see if you qualify.

Do Chemical Hair Straighteners Cause Cancer?

Nearly 66,000 uterine cancer cases have been reported this year in the U.S., and the cancer makes up about 3% of all new cancer cases, according to the NIH.

Breast, uterine and ovarian cancers are known to have a strong hormonal cause, White said.

“They are all influenced by our endocrine system, so it made sense that (if) we see these associations with breast and ovarian that we might also see it with uterine,” White said.

While the study didn’t collect details on specific products or ingredients women are using, researchers pointed out chemicals like formaldehyde and parabens that could be contributing to the higher uterine cancer risk.

What Hair Straightening Chemicals are at Issue?

Relaxers contain hormonally active and carcinogenic compounds, such as phthalates, known to cause endocrine disruption, which are not required to be listed separately as ingredients and are often broadly lumped into the “fragrance” or “perfume” categories.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (“EDCs”) are chemicals, or chemical mixtures, that interfere with the normal activity of the endocrine system. Defendants’ products referenced herein contain phthalates, including Di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (“DEHP”).

Hair relaxers can cause burns and lesions in the scalp which facilitate entry of hair relaxer constituents into the body. No-lye relaxers are advertised to cause fewer scalp lesions and burns than lye relaxers, but there is little evidence to support this claim. The frequency of scalp burns with relaxer application can increase the risk of permanent and debilitating diseases associated with long-term exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

According to the recently filed lawsuit against L’Oréal and others, Defendants have been aware of the positive association between a chemical used in their products and an increased risk of cancer demonstrated by epidemiology studies since at least 2015 that exposure to the phthalates in their products enhance invasive and proliferative activities of endometrial cells.

Recent Study Linking Hair Chemicals to Cancers

Women who use chemical hair straighteners frequently could have a higher risk of developing uterine cancer than women who have never used the products, according to new findings from a national study that has followed nearly 34,000 U.S. women for more than a decade.

The National Institutes of Health study defined frequent use as more than four times in the previous year, and included any personal use, whether women applied products themselves or had the straighteners applied by others. It did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between hair straighteners and cancer of the uterus, a form of reproductive cancer that has been increasing in incidence among women in recent years, especially among Black women.

For women in the study who had never used hair straighteners, the risk of developing uterine cancer by the age of 70 was 1.64 percent, the research found, while the rate for frequent users of straighteners was more than doubled at 4.05 percent.

While the increased risk was found among women from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, Black women might be disproportionately affected: Sixty percent of participants who reported using hair straighteners self-identified as Black women, according to the study. Rates of uterine cancer have been rising recently among all women in the United States, but Black women die of uterine cancer at twice the rate that white women do, according to a report from an expert panel in March.

What Cancers May be Caused by Hair Products?

The following types of cancers are being investigated to determine if they may be caused by the use of chemical hair relaxing products:

Uterine Cancer (Endometrial carcinoma)

Every year around 65,000 females develop uterine cancer in the USA alone, out of which more than 90% is of endometrial origin. It is commonly diagnosed in the seventh decade, with the mean age being 61 years.

The incidence in Black women is twice that of white women. In addition, Black women with uterine cancer carry a poorer prognosis as compared to white women.

A new study recently found that women who use chemical hair straightening or relaxing products have a higher risk contracting of uterine cancer. The study found that an estimated 1.64% of women who never used chemical hair straighteners or relaxers would go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70; but for frequent users, that risk more than doubles, increasing to 4.05%.

It is this study that really created the statistically significant correlation between Defendants’ products and uterine cancer.

Breast Cancer

A recent study, published in the Carcinogensis Journal by Oxford University, concluded that Black women who used lye-based relaxers at least seven times a year for over 15 years or more had around a 30 per cent increased risk of developing breast cancer, compared with those who used it less frequently.

The US-based researchers examined data from Boston University’s Black Women’s Health Study, which assessed the medical diagnoses of 50,000 African American women over a 25-year time period plus variable factors that could impact upon their wellbeing. Between 1997 and 2017, some 95 per cent reported using lye-based relaxers and 2,311 developed breast cancers.

Uterine Fibroids

Black women have a higher prevalence of uterine fibroids and tumors than any other ethnicity/racial group.

More recently, the National Institutes of Health spent eight-years studying over 46,000 women of all races between the ages of 35–74. They were looking for links between chemical hair relaxers and breast cancer. And, they discovered African American women’s breast cancer risk increased risk by 45%.

Breast cancer and other reproductive issues, including, fibroid development, are often connected. So this study suggests there are even more reasons to steer clear of black hair relaxers.

There is also another study from the American Journal of Epidemiology further confirms this link. In their group of 23,000 menstruating Black American women, these participants displayed two to three times higher uterine fibroid incidences. In 1997, participants reported on hair relaxer use (age at first use, frequency, duration, number of burns, and type of formulation).

From 1997 to 2009, 23,580 premenopausal women were followed for incident uterine leiomyomata. The incidence of uterine leiomyomata is 2–3 times higher in US black women than in US white women.

Do I Qualify to File a Hair Straightening Cancer Lawsuit?

There are specific criteria used to determine if the use of chemical hair relaxers caused cancer in a particular woman. The main factors for filing a lawsuit are:

Used one of the above-mentioned hair straightening products.
Started using as an adolescent but can be later in life.
Used relaxers for several years.
Relaxers were applied by professionals or at home
Suffered scalp burns, but not required to pursue a case
Was diagnosed with uterine cancer or another type of cancer.
Does not have a family history of uterine cancer or similar cancer.

It is not necessary that a woman meet all of the above-criteria to qualify for a hair straightening lawsuit, but the more factors that are met makes it a stronger case. Our lawyers will evaluate your factors to determine if you are eligible for a hair straightening cancer settlement.

Are There Any Hair Straightening Cancer Lawsuits Filed?

Yes. A few lawsuits have been filed and it is expected that many new cases will be filed very soon.

Are There Chemical Hair Straightening Verdicts or Settlements?

There have not been any settlements paid yet to women or their families. The litigation for chemical hair straightening cancer cases is very new and lawsuits are in their initial stages.

Who Can File A Chemical Hair Straightening Cancer Lawsuit?

Baby powder ovarian cancer lawsuits can be filed by women diagnosed with the condition or family members of women who died from the disease.

The factors mentioned above must be met to qualify for filing a lawsuit. Many families do not know all of the information in the factors, but our legal team will get the medical records and interview family members to see if they can sue the manufacturer.

What is Compensation for Chemical Hair Straightening Lawsuits?

In cases where a woman has survived cancer or is current fighting the disease, compensation from a lawsuit includes pain and suffering, psychological harm, and loss of enjoyment of life. Claims for disability, loss of income, and medical expenses are also included in the case.

In cases involving death, the surviving family members are entitled to compensation under the Wrongful Death Laws. In most states, these laws provide compensation for the loss of society and companionship of the loved one. Other claims include loss of income and financial support, medical expenses, and funeral and burial expenses.

How do I Start my Chemical Hair Straightening Cancer Lawsuit?

The first step is to contact our award-winning legal team to see if you are eligible to sue the product manufacturer. We will get the medical records, investigate the claim, and determine if you can file a chemical hair straightening lawsuit against the beauty care companies.

If you have a case, we will file your product liability lawsuit and demand the maximum compensation.

How Much are Lawyer Fees for Filing Hair Straightening Lawsuits?

Our attorneys do not charge any legal fees unless you receive a settlement. We also pay all of the case costs. If your claim is not successful for any reason, you do not owe us anything.

We put it in all in writing for you.

Contact a Chemical Hair Straightening Cancer Lawyer Now

Our hair straightening cancer lawyers will help you file your lawsuit. To get started, you can submit the Free Case Review Form or call us to discuss your case

We will listen to your story and answer your questions. If you have claim, we will start immediately.