Study finds cancer-causing chemicals in several popular beauty products used by Black and Latina women
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 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.'
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Parents who advised daughter against chemotherapy warned over inquest behaviour
The parents of a Cambridge graduate who refused chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer have both been warned about their behaviour in court during an inquest into her death. Paloma Shemirani, 23, collapsed on July 19 last year and was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital where she died five days later. She had earlier declined treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her mother, Kay 'Kate' Shemirani, a prominent online conspiracy theorist and her father, Dr Faramarz Shemirani, who is 'sympathetic' to his ex-wife's views, believe medical professionals are to blame for their daughter's death. Coroner Catherine Wood, presiding over the inquest at Kent and Medway Coroner's Court in Maidstone, left the court due to the behaviour of Miss Shemirani's parents on Tuesday afternoon. The inquest, which was originally scheduled to conclude on Wednesday, had been extended as the evidence and questioning of witnesses had taken longer than anticipated. On Tuesday, Mrs Shemirani, who was struck off as a nurse in 2021 after spreading harmful misinformation about Covid-19, was cross-examined by Dr Shemirani. Questioning broke down when Dr Shemirani, who is understood to have a PhD in computational fluid dynamics, tried to ask his ex-wife's opinion of medical evidence which she would then try to answer, despite warnings from the coroner. 'Mrs Shemirani, I've told you not to speak, I'll find you in contempt if you keep on speaking now,' the coroner said. 'Confine (yourself) to asking questions of this witness as a witness of fact,' she told Dr Shemirani. As Dr Shemirani argued back through his video-link, the coroner said: 'Dr Shemirani, challenge me by judicial review later' before trying to move on. 'Of course I will, of course I will,' he replied. Later, Dr Shemirani once again tried to ask questions which had already been ruled irrelevant by the coroner. 'I'm going to rise for a few minutes because I'm finding it incredibly difficult to keep you on track,' said Ms Wood. Dr Shemirani continued to speak until the coroner shouted 'Dr Shemirani, listen'. 'Your behaviour has been bordering on contemptuous to the court – when I make a ruling on something you cannot come back,' she added. Mrs Shemirani also accused osteopath Nick Gosset of lying under oath earlier in the inquest. Mr Gosset treated Miss Shemirani the day she collapsed and said she had appeared to be in the 'last stages of a very difficult disease'. He told the court that when he inspected her, he could feel lumps in her right shoulder going all the way up into her neck, which he identified as lymphoid mass and that he 'had never seen anything like it' in 43 years of practice. Mr Gosset told the court: 'It was obvious to me that I was not the right person to be helping her, normally you see a patient like that, you would refer her (to a GP). 'Any referral was refused – when I suggested that the proper avenue of approach was through a normal, medical channel she dismissed it. On Tuesday, Paloma's mother said 'his statement under oath is completely opposed with the truth' and has argued her daughter was healthy the day she collapsed. The inquest continues on Wednesday.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
FDA Approves Insmed's Drug As First Treatment For Type Of Chronic Lung Disease
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday approved Insmed Incorporated's (NASDAQ:INSM) Brinsupri (brensocatib 10 mg and 25 mg tablets). It is an oral, once-daily treatment for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) in adults and children 12 years and older. Brinsupri is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for NCFB, a chronic lung condition characterized by permanently widened and damaged airways (bronchi), leading to persistent mucus production, recurrent infections, and difficulty breathing. There are approximately 500,000 people in the U.S. diagnosed with NCFB. The approval is based on data from the Phase 3 ASPEN and Phase 2 WILLOW ASPEN, patients taking Brinsupri 10 mg or 25 mg had a 21.1% and 19.4% reduction in the annual rate of exacerbations, respectively, as compared to placebo. Both dosage strengths of Brinsupri also met several exacerbation-related secondary endpoints, including significantly prolonging the time to first exacerbation and significantly increasing the proportion of patients remaining exacerbation-free over the treatment period. Patients who received Brinsupri 25 mg experienced a statistically significantly less decline in lung function, as measured by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) after using a bronchodilator, at week 52. The safety profile for adult patients with NCFB in WILLOW was generally similar to ASPEN, except for a higher incidence of gingival and periodontal adverse reactions in WILLOW. In parallel, applications for brensocatib with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have been accepted, and the company plans to file in Japan in 2025. Commercial launches are anticipated in 2026, pending approval in each territory. Price Action: INSM stock is up 6.20% at $119.89 at the last check on Tuesday. Read Next:Photo: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? INSMED (INSM): Free Stock Analysis Report This article FDA Approves Insmed's Drug As First Treatment For Type Of Chronic Lung Disease originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What to say and do if your child comes out as trans
"Is it a boy or a girl?" expectant parents are often asked. Some even hold a gender reveal party, where a popped balloon might release blue or pink confetti, depending on the baby's sex. But sex isn't the same as gender. Just because someone is assigned, on the basis of their physical characteristics, the sex of male or female at birth, doesn't mean they'll later identify with their biological status. Their gender identity may be different, as gender is a social construct. A transgender person is someone who doesn't, or doesn't fully, identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Some identify as male or female, others as non-binary - that is, neither exclusively male nor female, or as no gender at all. If a child comes out as transgender - often shortened to "trans" - or non-binary, parents may be out of their depth and not know how best to handle the situation. Ulrich Ritzer-Sachs, a counsellor with Germany's Federal Conference for Child Guidance Counselling (bke), offers some tips: How should you react on learning your child doesn't identify with their assigned sex? Ritzer-Sachs: Stay calm, listen to your child, take them seriously and give them a hug. Taking your child in your arms is always the best thing you can do. You should also consider whether you're ready and able to talk about the matter right away. You may be flummoxed at first and need some time, in which case it's OK to say, "It's great that you're telling me this. Why don't we find another time so that we can talk about it at length?" But then you really must find the time, since it's such an important issue. You can't just discuss it while, say, you're cooking dinner or have just 10 minutes to spare. How can you help your child's gender identity formation if you're not well informed about the subject or aren't comfortable with it? Ritzer-Sachs: You should take your child really seriously and address the subject together. Find out, educate yourself about it and talk to experts. You can find specialized advice centres that are well versed [in transgenderism]. The current state of research says it's wise to accept children and adolescents in their development, whether or not it's as you envisioned it would be. The thinking is that they'll be able to grow up better having found their true gender identity, and live a much happier life if it's not suppressed. No one has to go through this alone. If you're unsure what to say or how to act, it's sometimes a good idea to get professional advice independently of your child, who, after all, has already grappled with the issue and given it a lot of thought before coming out to you. So it's perfectly all right for you to first get clarity, because no matter how equanimous and liberal-minded you are, it's a big challenge and not easy for anyone. Go to an advice centre and ask all the questions rushing through your mind, including those that may be difficult for your child. One concern of parents is that their child could face problems in school or elsewhere on account of not everyone accepting their gender identity. Are there ways you can protect your child? Ritzer-Sachs: That kind of support starts a lot earlier, namely by raising your child to be as self-confident as possible in all areas. You want to help them be able to deal with setbacks as well as successes. You can prepare them for intolerant people they'll come across who may make fun of them. There will always be people who make stupid comments - you've got to let them bounce off. You can't protect your child from this, as it's fairly certain to happen. But it happens in many areas and is part of life. You always have to look at the situation individually. What does your child need? Can they handle it? Can they steer clear of such people? Do you have to speak with the school or peer group? It is always a balancing act, between how much you can bear your child's difficult confrontations, and how much you get involved yourself. I don't think it's any different from going against other norms. The norm is always what the majority does - that doesn't mean it's right or wrong. You can explain this to your child in a way that is appropriate for their age. I wouldn't say, "If you do this, then expect X, Y or Z," but you can imply it. And when the time comes, you can still work together to see what you can do to get through it. Solve the daily Crossword
