Toxic chemicals beauty products Black women — nearly 80% of personal care products marketed to Black women contain at least one hazardous ingredient, and between 84% and 95% of Black women have used hair relaxers. The research links these products to uterine cancer, fibroids, breast cancer, early puberty, and hormonal disruption at rates that hit Black women hardest.

The beauty industry has always known who its best customers are. Black women spend significantly more on personal care products per capita than any other demographic in the United States — and for generations, the industry has marketed products specifically to Black women that contain higher concentrations of hazardous ingredients than comparable products marketed to white women.

This is not speculation. It is documented in the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database, in peer-reviewed research from Harvard, Boston University, NIH, and multiple institutions, and increasingly in federal regulatory proceedings. The research connects these products — hair relaxers and straighteners, skin lighteners, scented personal care products — to uterine cancer, fibroids, breast and ovarian cancer, early puberty, gestational high blood pressure, and hormonal disruption.

This post covers what the research actually says, which chemicals are doing the most damage, and what you can do to protect yourself.

Toxic Chemicals Beauty Products Black Women: The Scale of the Problem

A 2018 study of 18 hair products used primarily by Black women and children found between 4 and 30 hormone-disrupting chemicals in each single product. Not in a lifetime of use — in a single product. The cumulative effect of using multiple products simultaneously, which is standard practice in personal care routines, compounds this dramatically.

Hormone-related cancers kill more Black women than white women per capita. Researchers studying these disparities increasingly point to lifelong chemical relaxer use as a contributing factor — not the only factor, but one that has been measurably present, measurably higher in Black women, and measurably linked to the cancers that kill Black women at disproportionate rates.

Hair Relaxers and Cancer: What Two Major Studies Found

Two large studies in recent years have put the hair relaxer-cancer connection on firm scientific ground.

The NIEHS Sister Study — a National Institutes of Health cohort of 33,497 women followed for over 11 years — found that women who used hair straighteners more than four times in the past year had approximately 2.5 times the projected uterine cancer risk of women who never used them. By age 70, frequent users had a projected uterine cancer rate of about 4.05%, compared to 1.64% for non-users. The study’s authors noted specifically that Black women are more likely to report using straighteners, tend to start at earlier ages, and develop uterine cancer at higher rates than women of other races.

The Boston University Black Women’s Health Study — nearly 45,000 women followed for up to 22 years — found that postmenopausal Black women who used chemical hair relaxers more than twice a year or for more than five years had a uterine cancer risk more than 50% higher than those who never or rarely used them. The risk held after adjusting for other known risk factors.

Epidemiological research has also associated hair relaxer use with doubled ovarian cancer risk and 31% higher breast cancer risk, though these associations are still being studied in larger cohorts.

The Chemicals Doing the Damage

Why These Products Are More Dangerous for Black Women Specifically

The disparity is not just about which products are used — it is about how they are used, how they are formulated, and how the regulatory system has treated products marketed to Black consumers.

Black women typically begin using hair relaxers at earlier ages than other groups, use them more frequently, and use them over more years of their lives — creating a longer and heavier cumulative exposure window. Products specifically marketed to Black women have consistently been found to contain higher concentrations of hazardous ingredients than comparable products marketed to the general or white market. This has been documented repeatedly across EWG analyses spanning nearly a decade.

The FDA has significantly less regulatory authority over cosmetics than it does over food or drugs. It cannot require pre-market safety testing for personal care products. It cannot require companies to report adverse events. It acts primarily after harm is documented — and in communities where product-linked health complaints have historically been dismissed or attributed to other causes, that documentation takes longer to accumulate.

Harvard researcher Tamarra James-Todd, who has conducted or co-authored nearly 70 studies over 20 years on links between personal care product chemicals and health problems in Black women, has said publicly that the evidence is strong enough to begin making recommendations to reduce or stop use of these products. “At some point,” she has stated, “you have evidence enough to start making recommendations.”

What You Can Do Now

The Regulatory Picture — and Why It Is Changing

For the first time in decades, the regulatory environment for personal care products is shifting. California’s Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act banned 24 chemicals — including formaldehyde — from personal care products starting January 1, 2025. Maryland passed a similar law in 2021. Oregon and Washington enacted bans on PFAS, mercury, and formaldehyde releasers, taking effect in 2026 and 2027. The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 gave the FDA new authority over cosmetic safety reporting — the first major update to cosmetic regulation since 1938.

These are meaningful steps. They are also incomplete. Federal protection still lags behind state-level action, and the products that have been harming Black women for decades remain on shelves in most of the country while regulatory proceedings move slowly.

Organizations like the Environmental Working Group, BLK + GRN (a marketplace for non-toxic products made by Black-owned brands), and the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners are actively working on product safety policy, consumer education, and building safer alternatives in the marketplace. Your purchasing choices — and your voice in regulatory comment periods — matter to all three.

You deserve products that are as safe as they are effective. That has never been the standard applied to Black women’s personal care market. It should be.