WASHINGTON — A study by the National Institutes of Health found that using chemical hair straightening products was associated with a higher risk of uterine cancer.
The study, released Monday, focused on a group of 33,497 women ages 35-74 who were part of the Sister Study, which is a larger study that aims to identify risks for breast cancer and other health conditions.
Over the course of nearly 11 years, there were 378 cases of uterine cancer in the group. Researchers said the women who used hair straightening products frequently — as defined by more than four times in a year — were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with uterine cancer as those who did not use straightening products.
“We estimated that 1.64% of women who never used hair straighteners would go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70; but for frequent users, that risk goes up to 4.05%,” said Alexandra White, the lead author of the new study.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 59,450 new cases of uterine cancer were diagnosed in 2019. Of those cases, 7,495 women were Black. For every 100,000 women, 28 new cases were reported, and five women died of the cancer.
“Because Black women use hair straightening or relaxer products more frequently and tend to initiate use at earlier ages than other races and ethnicities, these findings may be even more relevant for them,” said Che-Jung Chang, one of the study’s authors.
The new study follows a similar study published in 2019, which found that women who used permanent hair dye and chemical straighteners had a higher risk of breast cancer than women who didn’t use them, according to the American Cancer Society.
Researchers who conducted the study did not collect any information on the brands or ingredients used, but noted that several chemicals that are found in straighteners, including parabens, bisphenol A, metals and formaldehyde, could be contributing to an increased cancer risk.
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