New research into the link between cancer and uterine fibroids and chemical hair relaxers has been particularly troubling for Black women — who are more likely to use and be marketed these products than our counterparts. In Georgia, a group of four Black women are suing major manufacturers of these products, arguing that they lead to major health problems for them.
The case centers around damages these women allegedly suffered as a result of using hair relaxer products marketed and sold by L’Oréal, USA, and Strength of Nature. According to the Ledger-Enquirer, the women are suing for around $1.7 to $2 million each.
Kiara Burroughs was the first to file her lawsuit, arguing that her uterine fibroids resulted from chemical hair relaxer products sold and marketed by the aforementioned defendants.
According to the Leger-Enquirer, the lawsuits argue that the companies “fraudulently misrepresented” that their products were safe and used images of young women who didn’t use hair relaxers on the box.
“Many of them have said to me that the money is not what they’re after,” their attorney Danielle Ward Mason, told the local outlet. “Accountability is always first on the list. And then second on the list is if you can’t make these products any safer, then they need to be removed.”
The manufacturers obviously have a different perspective, arguing that their products are safe and that the lawsuits have no merit.
However, research has continued to come out indicating worrying links between these products and cancer and fibroids.
As these lawsuits play out in Georgia, over on Capitol Hill, lawmakers have increasingly been pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to take these concerns seriously. Late last year, the FDA proposed a new rule to ban certain chemicals in relaxers.
It’s possible that in light of these lawsuits and pressure from the FDA, companies begin to take steps on their own to change their products. Although, no one should hold their breath over that.