Cancer-causing chemicals are in many beauty products women use: Study (2025)

More than half of Black and Latina women who participated in a study reported using personal care products that contained a known carcinogen.

The research, published in the journalEnvironmental Science & Technology Letters, focused on Black and Latina women after previous studies showed they are more often exposed to formaldehyde in nail and hair products than white women.

The research team partnered with community groups to recruit 70 Black women and Latinas living in the Los Angeles area and asked them to track their use of personal care products over a period of five to seven days.

Each time participants used a product, they logged the information using a smartphone app developed for the study. The app also prompted the participants to take a photo of each ingredient label.

Cancer-causing chemicals are in many products women use

The study found that cancer-causing chemicals like formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives were listed as ingredients in everyday personal care products like lotions, cleansers, and some hair products and cosmetics.

By the numbers:

Over half of the study participants (53%) reported using products such as soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner and eyeliner with formaldehyde-releasing preservatives.

DMDM hydantoin was the most common formaldehyde-releasing preservative found, showing up in roughly 47% of skincare products and 58% of hair products that contained formaldehyde releasers.

What they're saying:

"Despite these chemicals being listed as ingredients in only 4% of personal care products used by study participants, over half of study participants are using products with these chemicals," Robin Dodson, a lead researcher of the study, told FOX Local. "Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are used in popular products that are used frequently, sometimes multiple times per day. Approximately, 20% of lotions, which are frequently used, list these chemicals as ingredients."

Health risks from formaldehyde

Dig deeper:

In recent years, there have been growing concerns about exposure to formaldehyde in personal care products, especially in hair relaxers.

Chemical hair straighteners or "relaxers" are treatments applied to hair to make it less frizzy or straighter, breaking the protein bonds in hair.

During this process, a stylist usually applies a hair straightening or smoothing solution to hair and follows it with a heat processing step – typically performed with a flat iron that seals the solution into the strands of the hair, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But most hair smoothing or straightening products release formaldehyde gas into the air when heated, the agency said.

Breathing in formaldehyde gas can lead to short-term and long-term health issues, ranging from irritation of the eyes and throat to coughing, wheezing, or chest pain to chronic problems such as frequent headaches, asthma, and certain cancers.

Studies have suggested that women who regularly use chemical hair straightening productsmay have a higher risk of developing uterine cancer, as well asa harder time conceiving a baby.

Will FDA ban formaldehyde in products?

What you can do:

Dodson said one way to reduce exposures would be to require that companies add warning labels to formaldehyde-releasing products like they do in Europe.

She agrees that it can be hard for the average consumer to identify a formaldehyde-releasing preservative on a label.

"Folks may not be aware of this because formaldehyde-releasing preservatives have long, complicated names," she continued. "For now, we suggest that consumers read the ingredient lists on their products to avoid chemicals like DMDM hydantoin. Some product scanning apps like Clearya can help consumers choose products without these chemicals. However, to protect consumers we need shifts in the market, more transparent labeling on products, and policies to limit use of these chemicals in personal care products."

The backstory:

In 2023, a dozen years after the FDA classified formaldehyde as a human carcinogen, the agency tentatively scheduled to unveila proposal to consider banning the chemical in hair straighteners. However, the government has not acted on this.

House Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio,published a letter in 2023 calling for the FDA to investigate the health risks posed by chemical hair straighteners. They noted how Black women have attempted to adhere to certain American standards of beauty, which include straight hair – using a variety of products to achieve this.

"As a result of anti-Black hair sentiment, Black women have been unfairly subjected to scrutiny and forced to navigate the extreme politicization of hair," the lawmakers wrote. "Manufacturers of chemical straighteners have gained enormous profits, but recent findings unveil potentially significant negative health consequences associated with these products."

EARLIER: FDA pushes back deadline again to ban formaldehyde in hair products

Currently, the FDAencourages consumers to read the labels of hair products before buying and using those that contain formaldehyde or related ingredients, including formalin or methylene glycol.

"If you are buying a hair smoothing product at a store or online, the product is required by law to have a list of the ingredients," FDA guidance states. "If a product doesn’t include a list of ingredients, the FDA recommends that you do not buy the product."

The agency also advises asking the salon professional if the product has formaldehyde and reporting any bad reactions to the FDA.

The Source: The information for this story was provided by a study titled Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde Releasing Preservatives in Personal Care Products Used by Black Women and Latinas published on May 7, 2025. This story was reported from Los Angeles.