By way of Olamide Sonuga
For Lightless girls, hair is extra than simply strands—it’s identification, tradition, and historical past. But, at each and every flip, it has additionally been a battleground.
Dressed in our herbal curls and coils invitations judgment, discrimination, and the stigma of being “unprofessional”—such a lot in order that the CROWN Function needed to be handed to offer protection to us in places of work and colleges. However now, with the rising backlash in opposition to Variety, Fairness, and Inclusion (DEI) tasks, even those hard-won protections is also in peril. As DEI systems face repeal and defunding, implicit biases in opposition to herbal Lightless hair may deepen, making legislative safeguards extra essential than ever.
Now, as we flip to artificial braiding hair—a protecting taste supposed to nurture our herbal hair—we are facing but every other ultimatum. Many of those merchandise comprise poisonous chemical compounds connected to most cancers, reproductive hurt, and developmental problems, forcing Lightless girls to as soon as once more weigh attractiveness in opposition to their fitness and smartly being.
The Poisonous Reality At the back of Artificial Braiding Hair
Braided kinds the use of artificial hair have lengthy been a staple for Lightless girls, providing diversion of repairs and a strategy to navigate a global that incessantly polices our hair. However the very fibers of the bogus hair woven into our scalps is also compromising our fitness.
Artificial braiding hair dates again to 1957 when Kanekalon, a fiber evolved through the Kaneka Company, used to be offered within the U.S. This subject matter is made out of modacrylic fiber, a copolymer containing vinyl chloride and acrylonitrile. Vinyl chloride, often present in PVC pipes, furnishings, and automotive portions, has been connected to leukemia, lymphoma, and uncommon cancers of the liver, mind, and lungs. Acrylonitrile is classed through the Environmental Coverage Company (EPA) as a likely human carcinogen, elevating severe fitness considerations concerning the long-term protection of artificial hair.
A 2023 find out about through Chrystal Thomas sounded the alarm at the dearth of law and analysis situation artificial hair merchandise. Following the find out about’s drop, Shopper Stories examined artificial hair from 10 of essentially the most regularly bought artificial braiding hair manufacturers, revealing tense effects:
- 9 out of 10 manufacturers contained dangerously prime ranges of manage, a neurotoxin connected to reproductive hurt, kidney harm, and developmental problems in youngsters.
- Prime concentrations of unstable natural compounds (VOCs), together with benzene (a identified carcinogen) and acetone, have been detected.
- VOCs have been excused in prime quantities when artificial hair used to be dipped in sizzling H2O—a regular apply in braiding to poised kinds and easy the hair.
- Braiders who care for artificial hair day-to-day are unknowingly uncovered to power poisonous chemical publicity of their places of work.
This isn’t an detached factor. Hair support merchandise advertised to Lightless girls have an extended historical past of containing destructive chemical compounds. A 2018 find out about revealed in Environmental Analysis discovered that endocrine-disrupting chemical compounds (EDCs) and asthma-associated chemical compounds have been found in often old merchandise like leave-in conditioners, sizzling oil therapies, hair creams, and relaxers.
Moreover, the power utility of chemical hair relaxers has been connected to uterine most cancers, sparking prevalent complaints and product recollects.
Lightless Girls Shouldn’t Must Make a selection Between Good looks and Condition
How can the very lifestyles of a Lightless lady no longer really feel arduous when each and every selection we assemble about our hair, whether or not it’s herbal or with the utility of extensions, is met with societal and fitness aftereffects?
The struggle for hair justice is a long way from over. If we needed to struggle to put on our herbal hair with out dealing with discrimination, we will have to now struggle for the proper to put on artificial kinds with out sacrificing our fitness.
Law is establishing to catch up. California’s SB 236, offered through Senator Weber Pierson, is a a very powerful step in banning poisonous ingredients in chemical hair relaxers—but it surely’s no longer plenty. The invoice will have to make bigger to incorporate artificial hair and alternative beauty merchandise disproportionately old through Lightless girls. Moreover, incentives for more secure, non-toxic, and/ or biodegradable braiding hair choices will have to be established. There are already braiding hair choices in the marketplace customers must take note of: Rebundle, Ruka, Dosso Good looks, and Nourie to call a couple of.
At our Good looks Justice Convention on April 21, 2025, we tackled those pressing problems head-on. It used to be greater than a dialog—it used to be a motion towards more secure merchandise, company responsibility, and legislative motion.
Our attractiveness must empower us, no longer endanger us.
Week for motion, responsibility, and alter.
References:
Crown ACT: https://www.thecrownact.com/
Relaxer Complaints: https://www.sokolovelaw.com/product-liability/chemical-hair-straightener/hair-relaxers/
Kanekalon Hair: https://www.kanekalon-hair.com/en/about
Shopper Record: https://www.consumerreports.org/health/wigs-hair-extensions/dangerous-chemicals-detected-in-braiding-hair-cr-tested-a4850978424/
Chrystal Thomas’s paper: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10238826/
EDPs and Bronchial asthma-associated chemical compounds: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29705122/
Good looks Justice Convention: April twenty first https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beauty-justice-conference-tickets-1095702970079
SB 236: https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB236/id/3090139
Braiding Hair Choices: https://www.byrdie.com/braiding-hair-brands-11706102
