What’s in Our Hair Products—and Why It Matters for Our Health

Hair care is a routine part of daily life. For many women, especially Black women, it begins early, happens often, and involves products that are applied directly to the scalp, sometimes with heat. Yet most of us are rarely told what’s actually in these products, or how those ingredients may affect our health over time.

This is where endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, enter the conversation.

What are endocrine-disrupting chemicals?

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are substances that can interfere with the body’s hormone systems. Hormones regulate essential processes like growth, metabolism, reproduction, and development. When those systems are disrupted—even at low levels, and especially with repeated exposure—the effects can accumulate over time.

Scientific research has linked EDC exposure to a range of health concerns, including:

• Earlier onset of puberty

• Uterine fibroids

• Fertility challenges

• Hormone-related cancers, such as breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer

EDCs are not rare or exotic chemicals. They are found in many everyday consumer products, including plastics, fragrances, cleaning supplies, cosmetics, and hair care products.

Why hair products deserve special attention

Hair products are different from many other personal care items because of how and how often they are used.

Many products are designed to be:

• Applied directly to the scalp

• Left on for hours or days

• Used repeatedly, sometimes daily

• Heated during styling, which can change how chemicals behave

The scalp is highly absorbent, and chemicals applied there can be absorbed through the skin. Some ingredients can also become airborne during heat styling and be inhaled. Over time, these repeated exposures can add up.

This makes hair products a public health issue, not just a personal preference or beauty concern.

Exposure is not evenly distributed

While EDCs affect many people, exposure is not equal across populations.

Black women, in particular, tend to:

• Use a greater number of hair products

• Begin using certain products, such as relaxers and straighteners, at younger ages

• Rely more heavily on leave-on products, which stay in contact with the scalp longer

Social and workplace pressures around hair texture and appearance also play a role, shaping product use patterns in ways that increase exposure. These realities mean that some communities face higher cumulative chemical burdens, often without being informed or given safer options.

Why this conversation matters now

Health disparities do not appear out of nowhere. They are shaped by systems, environments, and everyday exposures that accumulate across a lifetime.

When certain communities are consistently exposed to higher levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals—and also experience higher rates of hormone-related health conditions—that connection deserves attention.

This is not about blaming individuals for the products they use. It is about asking harder questions:

• Why are potentially harmful chemicals allowed in products used so frequently?

• Why is labeling often unclear or misleading?

• Why are safer alternatives less accessible or more expensive?

These are policy, industry, and public health questions—not personal failures.

What this series will explore

This post is the first in Our Hair, Our Health, a series examining:

• How chemicals in hair products enter the body

• What scientific studies reveal about exposure levels

• Why Black women face disproportionate risks

• What changes are needed to protect health and advance equity

Understanding the issue is the first step toward change.

Our hair should never come at the cost of our health.

Sign the Petition - Protect Black women’s health: demand safer hair products and honest labeling petition.