Synthetic hair marketed toward Black women contains carcinogens and lead, report finds
Lead, which can cause serious health and developmental problems, was also found in nine of the 10 packs of synthetic hair surveyed, including one package of braiding hair that exceeded the maximum allowed dose of lead by more than 600%, according to the study. Consumer Reports used California's maximum allowable dosage level, describing it as the 'most protective available in the U.S.,' because there are no federal limits on lead in synthetic braiding hair.
Synthetic hair has long been a staple in protective hairstyles for Black women — like braids, locs and twists. These styles can be worn for weeks at a time, protecting the hair from breakage, exposure to the elements or day-to-day heat styling. This translates to longer exposure to the chemicals, Consumer Reports said.
Synthetic hair is commonly found at neighborhood beauty supply stores and online. Consumer Reports researchers assessed braiding hair from 10 companies, many of which use synthetic hair made from Kanekalon, a material produced by the Kaneka brand, according to Consumer Reports.
Kaneka did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment, but told Consumer Reports, 'Kaneka only manufactures the Kanekalon fibers that are used in various hair products, such as synthetic hair braids and wigs, and does not produce any of the final products.' The braiding hair companies themselves dye and style the Kanekalon, Kaneka added. The company also told Consumer Reports it would need more information to properly analyze the complaint.
Sensationnel, Magic Fingers and other products contain benzene, known to be a cancer-causing ingredient, according to the study. The chemical likely causes acute myeloid leukemia, according to the American Cancer Society.
Consumer Reports also found methylene chloride, which the EPA says can lead to liver and lung cancer after chronic exposure. No level of methylene chloride is permitted in cosmetics by the Food and Drug Administration.
'There is no safe level of exposure to lead or benzene,' Alexa Friedman, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy health organization, said. 'When possible, exposure to either chemical should be avoided as they are associated with serious health effects.'
Nine of the 10 products tested also contained lead, the report found. Lead can cause a number of developmental disabilities in children, as well as reproductive issues in adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
'There are no federal limits on the amount of lead in synthetic braiding products,' Friedman said. 'Lead is not permitted to be intentionally added to cosmetic products in the US but may be present as a contamination of certain ingredients.'
Magic Fingers, Sensationnel and Shake-n-Go did not immediately respond to NBC News' requests for comment.
Magic Fingers told Consumer Reports that its customers 'can count on us for braids and extensions that meet their highest expectations for fashion and performance.'
Sensationnel told Consumer Reports, 'We unequivocally stand by the safety of Sensationnel products.'
'While most of these products are below the FDA standard for lead contamination in cosmetics, when possible exposure to lead should be avoided,' Friedman said.
Both Magic Fingers and Sensationnel did not agree with the methodology used to test the products, saying it was not representative of consumers' use of the products. Consumer Reports tested 10 artificial braiding hair products and a total of 20 samples, blind-coding them and sending them to a laboratory for heavy metal analysis. Shake-n-Go did not respond to Consumer Reports' request for comment.
In 2022, companies that make chemical hair relaxers, which straighten hair, were sued in a class-action lawsuit by hundreds of Black people who said the products led to uterine cancer. Several wide-scale studies have been published in recent years showing heightened rates of cancer, infertility and other illnesses among women who use chemical hair relaxers, which are generally marketed to Black women.
Friedman said the Consumer Reports study highlights an 'alarming trend' of toxic products being marketed toward Black women, which the organization tracks.
'On average, women use 12 personal care products a day, which can expose people to mixtures of harmful chemicals,' Friedman said in a statement, 'And studies show that repeated exposure to mixtures of chemicals can pose far greater health risks than exposure to a single ingredient.'
EWG tested more than 4,000 products marketed toward Black women and found that most of them were at least moderately, if not highly, hazardous to human health. EWG has developed a database, Skin Deep, where consumers can look up beauty products and see whether they're classified as low, moderately or highly hazardous by the group.
'Everyone deserves access to safe products,' Friedman said. 'Manufacturers should prioritize safety for consumers.'
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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Hamilton Spectator
14 hours ago
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PHOTO ESSAY: Many Californians lack safe tap water and don't trust cleanup efforts
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Residents here are mostly low-income Latino and Indigenous farmworkers whose only affordable housing options are mobile home parks served by small, outdated systems more likely to violate drinking water rules . Luz Gallegos, executive director of Training Occupational Development Educating Communities, or TODEC, an immigrant and farmworker justice group, said people live in places with contaminated water because they have no other choice. 'Our community right now is not thinking of prevention. Our community is thinking of survival,' Gallegos said. More than a decade after California legislatively recognized that all residents have the right to clean water, more than 878,000 people were connected to failing water systems, many of which can increase their risk of cancer or other serious health issues, according to 2024 state data, the last year available. The Environmental Protection Agency has been working with a local nonprofit to restore safe drinking water to some Eastern Coachella residents. Last year, the agency announced that more than 900 people could safely drink and cook with tap water again. Distrust of tap water is widespread Many still fear the tap — an issue not unique to the area. Flint, Michigan's water crisis that began in 2014 eroded public trust of government and tap water. Even after high levels of lead were reduced to well below a state threshold, many residents still won't drink or cook with it . It's a distrust most common among non-white populations, research shows. A recent study on drinking water behaviors and perceptions in Evanston, Illinois, a suburban city north of Chicago, found, in part, that people who drank mostly bottled water were more likely to be Black, Indigenous or other people of color. Compared with white respondents, they were more than three times more likely to distrust tap water. The finding that minority groups in Evanston were more likely to distrust tap water was 'remarkably consistent' with research elsewhere, said Sera Young, a study co-author and co-director at the Center for Water Research at Northwestern University. 'It's a global phenomenon,' Young said. Respondents' main concern was contamination. A lack of trust in government and negative experiences with water were among other reasons. 'People who thought that they had been harmed by their water in the past were more likely to think they would be harmed by the water in future,' Young said. That's true for Martha. For 18 years, she and her husband lived in the Eastern Coachella Valley's Oasis Mobile Home Park, where the EPA found high levels of naturally occurring arsenic in the tap water in 2019. Martha, who is in the country illegally and spoke under the condition that only her middle name be used, said the water sometimes smelled like rotten eggs. An itchy rash would sometimes break out over her body when she showered, and her hair would fall off in clumps. She thinks the water was to blame. Martha and her family now live in a new place and have been told the tap water is safe to consume. 'We don't trust it,' Martha said. They buy water at stores or pick up bottled water at one of TODEC's offices, where plastic-wrapped packs cram a closet. The group provides free water to many of the area's residents and organizes know-your-rights workshops in farm fields, among other things. Perceptions can cause cascading effects Anisha Patel, a pediatrics professor at Stanford University who has studied drinking water access and tap water perceptions for years, said immigrants from countries with unsafe tap water can also bring those perceptions here and low-income families are more likely to distrust the tap because they may live in older homes. These perceptions can have significant negative impacts. 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Chicago Tribune
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If there is a Peace Runners sighting, the group asks spectators to throw up a peace sign. 'Or better yet, JOIN US!' as their website states. 'The Peace Runners is the best place in the world, not just Chicago,' Hoffman said. 'To be inspired and loved, that's what we're about, so tell them to pull up to Peace Runners.'
Axios
18 hours ago
- Axios
Where it costs the most to give birth
The average total in-network cost of giving birth in the U.S. is about $15,200 for vaginal deliveries and $19,300 for C-sections, per data from FAIR Health, a national independent nonprofit. By the numbers: For vaginal deliveries, Alaska has the highest average cost (about $29,200), followed by New York and New Jersey (both about $21,800). Alaska also has the highest average cost for C-sections ($39,500), followed by Maine ($28,800) and Vermont ($28,700). How it works: The amounts in FAIR's Cost of Giving Birth Tracker include delivery, ultrasounds, lab work and more. They reflect total costs paid by patients and their insurance companies, as applicable. Insured patients' financial responsibilities are typically well below the total amount paid, with average out-of-pocket costs of just under $3,000 in 2018-2020, per a 2022 Peterson-KFF analysis. What they're saying: Many factors drive the differences between states, FAIR Health's Rachel Kent tells Axios, including provider training levels, local salaries and costs of living, malpractice insurance costs and insurers' bargaining power. Between the lines: Black and Hispanic people paid more out-of-pocket for maternal care than Asian and white patients with the same insurance, per a study published earlier this year in JAMA Health Forum.
