Relaxers were more harmful Than anyone could've imagined

If you've got a hair relaxer or you know someone who has, you need to listen up because we are finally learning just how devastating these products actually are. 89% of black women have used a hair relaxer at some point in their life. But a study completed in 2022 followed 34,000 women and managed to connect the use of hair relaxers to ovarian cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer, pre-term birth, infertility, and more. For years, doctors couldn't figure out why black women were more susceptible to those illnesses and why they had higher death rates of those illnesses than women of other races. But now we understand how harmful the chemical compounds within relaxers really were. They included chemicals like formaldehyde, which was a known carcinogen. The study also found that this was a uniquely American experience because black women in Europe also used hair relaxers, but they didn't have the same negative health outcomes. The European Union regulates 1,300 ingredients used in cosmetic products. However, the United States only restricts the use of nine chemicals that are known to have had harmful human effects. In fact, relaxers marketed in the US were found to have five toxic chemicals in them that were otherwise banned in Europe. And even if a woman wanted to avoid the use of those harmful chemicals, 84% of the toxic chemicals in relaxers weren't even listed on the box. Over time, the use of relaxer products fell out of favor as women were more confident to rock natural hairstyles, likely because they became more acceptable in the professional workspace. But there are still tens of millions of women out there that are at risk of facing these severe health consequences. So what do you think about this? Did you know or suspect that relaxers came with these health risks? Let me know what you think and if you like these sorts of discussions, like and follow for more.