US study raises fear over synthetic hair braids

DW (English)

How safe are braids and synthetic hair extensions? A recent study from the United States is the latest to raise concerns, claiming to have detected cancer-causing agents in 100% of the products tested.

Transcript

00:00Imagine having natural hair that is constantly judged.

00:03As a black woman myself, I know a thing or two about the struggles that black women face.

00:08Maintaining an afro is a difficult task, and so many women resort to going for braids.

00:14But synthetic hair is generally woven into braids to make them longer, fuller and more stable.

00:20And that, as it turns out, could pose a problem.

00:22Consumer Reports is a US-based non-profit that works to inform consumers

00:27about the quality and authenticity of goods and services sold in the country,

00:31and it recently uncovered a potential danger to black women in America.

00:35The organization tested 10 popular brands of synthetic hair products

00:39and found they contained heavy metals and volatile organic compounds.

00:43We found a number of the samples had cadmium, but at low levels.

00:47But 9 out of the 10 products had lead, and the lead was at a concentration that concerned us.

00:54Consumer Reports also found benzene, an aggressive chemical that is regulated in the United States

01:00because it's been closely linked to cancer.

01:03But how exactly do these chemicals enter the body?

01:06One is oral, so between you're handling it, it's brittle, it's on your hand,

01:13you touch your mouth, you eat your meals, etc. That's one.

01:17Another one is called dermal or transdermal, where the hair is laying on the skin,

01:24and heat, humidity, etc. can cause, for instance, lead to migrate from that product into your skin.

01:33And then there's inhalation.

01:35The testing was built on a commentary by Crystal Thomas,

01:38a student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

01:42She went to a stylist to have her braids done using a popular brand of synthetic hair.

01:46Then, things grew very unpleasant.

01:49I had trouble breathing, I realized my throat was tightening up,

01:53and it got so bad that I would get up in the middle of the night and wash my hair multiple times.

02:01Experiencing constant discomfort, she removed the braids and set out to research possible health issues

02:07tied to braiding hair as part of her public health coursework.

02:10After learning what ingredients are in braids, I thought,

02:14OK, I don't want to just keep this as coursework, I want to take this to the next level

02:18and publish it in a commentary to have more research into this area.

02:22Because I want a conversation about this now.

02:24The study has had an impact across the country.

02:28With all this stuff coming out, I feel like I need to embrace my natural hair more

02:32so that I can just stray away from all of this chemical stuff.

02:37Do you think that this, at one point in time, will impact black women, even in the workplace,

02:42or black women who have no time to do their hair?

02:45I think it already is. It's already happening.

02:48It's why the study probably was done in the first place,

02:51because somebody noticed that something was wrong.

02:54Maybe they noticed that their hair was itchy whenever they got braids,

02:58or they started to break out whenever their hair touched their face or their body.

03:03We definitely need to do more research.

03:05I feel like we're a group that's been overlooked, or maybe not as researched or studied,

03:11because we're not as valued in the same way in some spaces,

03:14and so I don't know that we know all there is to know.

03:16But at the same time, I have synthetic hair, and it's easier for me to maintain my hair this way,

03:20so I don't know that I'm going to stop tomorrow.

03:22In the wake of the study, many black women in America are now embracing plant-based alternatives.

03:28For our material, the very first step in the process is a plant.

03:35It could be sugarcane, cassava, sugar beets, corn.

03:41That is the very first step of the process. You harvest that.

03:46With the synthetic hair that we have been using for decades on the market,

03:52the very first step is drilling a hole into the ground to extract oil.

03:59For many black women, braids made from synthetic hair have been a popular choice.

04:04However, the new research raises doubts about whether they will continue using it in the future.

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