Overview:
A durable hairstyle that doesn’t need daily styling, braids using snthetic hair are more popular than ever. The market brought in $2.7 billion last year and is only expected to grow.
The braided hairstyles many Black women and children wear are popular for their beauty and ease of maintenance. But a consumer watchdog’s laboratory analysis has found that the synthetic hair frequently used for box braids and faux locs may carry a price beyond the stylist’s fee.
A study from Consumer Reports found that each of the 10 most popular synthetic hair braiding products sold in the $2.7 billion market contained chemicals linked to cancer. Several of the test samples also tested positive for lead as well as harmful substances like acetone, which is used to strip paint.
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Black women are the primary users of these products, and people of African descent are the largest group of consumers of hair wigs and extensions. The brands tested included Magic Fingers, Sassy Collection, Sensationnel, Shake-N-Go, and many others.
Commonly called “protective styles,” braids are an attractive style option for Black women because they can be worn for weeks at a time and the wearer can have a durable hairstyle that doesn’t need styling every day. One of the brands, Kaneka, became so popular that its Kanekalon product was name-checked in a song that went viral on TikTok.
All of the samples had chemicals linked to cancer.
Two years ago, Chrystal Thomas, a student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the City University of New York, began to wonder if the Kanekalon product, and synthetic hair in general, was actually good for her hair.
“I couldn’t sleep well, my throat felt irritated, and I had trouble focusing on any type of work I was doing because of the smell,” she told Consumer Reports. “The smell wouldn’t go away even after washing my hair multiple times.”
Although women typically wear braids for around six weeks, Thomas removed her braids after roughly 10 days. A public health student, she decided to research possible health issues tied to braiding hair. Her findings were published in a commentary article about the risks of carcinogenic materials in hair products for Black women.
“What is unique about braid extensions is the length of exposure users have to them,” Thomas says. “Synthetic braids are typically worn for about four to six weeks. Black women and other individuals who use synthetic hair are, therefore, exposed to those ingredients consistently during that time.”
In a statement, the Kaneka Co., said it “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 company told Consumer Reports that other companies then take the Kanekalon fibers and process, dye, customize, and distribute the actual final products that consumers then purchase.
James E. Rogers, head of CR’s product safety testing, led a team that tested the synthetic hair using samples from 10 of the most popular products. The team tested the samples for heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, with disturbing results.
All of the samples had chemicals linked to cancer, and nine out of 10 samples contained lead, a known neurotoxin that can cause brain damage. The team also found chemicals with suspected links to cancer, as well as chemicals whose toxicity levels are still being studied.
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Even more problematic: all 10 samples also contained high levels of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which are typically used to make paints, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerants. If they are heated — a common part of the braiding process — the artificial hair releases VOCs into the air.
The American Lung Association reports that breathing VOCs can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, cause nausea, and damage the central nervous system, as well as cause cancer in some instances.
Three products contained a VOC called benzene, a known carcinogen that causes leukemia.
“It is strictly regulated and discouraged to use in laboratories because of its potential to cause cancer,” Rogers said. Two products contained an animal carcinogen, and all the samples contained a probable carcinogen, methylene chloride.
CR also tested the braiding hair samples for heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, and lead. None of the products had detectable arsenic but nine of the 10 products tested contained lead.
Rogers, the lead scientist, said that those nine products “could expose a regular user of any of these products to a level of lead that could be concerning over time.”
The EPA and other healthcare agencies advise that exposure to any amount of lead is unsafe for children and adults. With prolonged exposure, lead can cause significant health issues. Lead can damage the brain and nervous system and has been linked to immune system suppression, reproductive issues, kidney damage, and hypertension.
This is especially crucial for children who can suffer developmental delay and impaired brain development when exposed to lead.
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