UPDATE (January 5, 2026): The way forward for the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA)‘s proposed ban on hair-straightening merchandise containing formaldehyde is now unsure, because the group simply missed its self-imposed deadline of December 2025 to behave.
The proposal, which was launched in 2023 and has been paused a number of occasions since, would basically ban using formaldehyde (FA) and different chemical compounds that launch formaldehyde, equivalent to methylene glycol, in hair-smoothing and straightening merchandise equivalent to chemical relaxers and keratin remedies.
Beneath the Trump administration, the FDA has launched an up to date danger evaluation relating to using formaldehyde and the way a lot publicity is protected; the Environmental Working Group acknowledged in a press launch that these up to date tips may “practically double the quantity of formaldehyde it [currently] says is ‘protected’ to inhale,” regardless of a wealth of scientific proof linking formaldehyde to most cancers.
A consultant for the FDA instructed CNN by way of electronic mail that the ban continues to be thought-about a piece in progress. “FDA’s proposed rule, ‘Use of Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde-Releasing Chemical compounds as an Ingredient in Hair Smoothing Merchandise or Hair Straightening Merchandise’ continues to stay a precedence for the Company,” an company spokesperson instructed the information outlet. “FDA might regulate the anticipated publication date of this and different proposed guidelines when acceptable.”
The Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) simply proposed a ban on hair-straightening merchandise containing formaldehyde after years of dialogue in regards to the security of the chemical.
The proposal would basically ban using formaldehyde (FA) and different chemical compounds that launch formaldehyde, equivalent to methylene glycol, in hair-smoothing and straightening merchandise equivalent to relaxers and keratin remedies. In response to the FDA’s proposal, “Use of hair-smoothing merchandise containing FA and FA-releasing chemical compounds is linked to short-term hostile well being results, equivalent to sensitization reactions and respiration issues, and long-term hostile well being results, together with an elevated danger of sure cancers.”
Relaxers and smoothing or straightening merchandise are primarily utilized by Black girls, placing them at larger danger for potential well being points. In October 2022, a research by the Nationwide Institutes of Well being discovered that “girls who used chemical hair-straightening merchandise have been at larger danger for uterine most cancers in comparison with girls who didn’t report utilizing these merchandise.”
For a lot of specialists, these findings don’t come as an enormous shock. “Hair merchandise, equivalent to dye and chemical straighteners, include quite a lot of completely different chemical compounds that will act as carcinogens or endocrine disruptors [molecules that mimic or mess with hormonal function], and thus could also be vital for most cancers danger,” Dr. Alexandra White, an epidemiologist on the US Nationwide Institute of Environmental Well being Security, instructed Attract in 2022. “Straighteners, particularly, have been discovered to incorporate chemical compounds equivalent to phthalates, parabens, cyclosiloxanes [a type of silicone, used as a solvent, which have also been classified as endocrine disruptors], and metals [like nickel and cobalt, which can at certain levels and in some compounds likely become carcinogenic] and will launch formaldehyde when heated.”
Formaldehyde has lengthy been a sizzling subject within the magnificence world. When Brazilian Blowout smoothing remedies grew to become well-liked within the late 2000s, they have been flagged for his or her use of formaldehyde and the state of California required hazard warnings be printed on packaging. In response to a New York Occasions report from 2020, the FDA wished to ban the Brazilian Blowout and its fellow smoothing remedies because of the presence of formaldehyde or methylene glycol, contemplating them “unsafe,” and started engaged on a proposed ban in 2016, although nothing got here of it on the time.
