Toxic formaldehyde in hair-straightening products to be banned — but experts say it's 'not enough'

Later this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to ban the use of formaldehyde in hair-straightening and hair-smoothing products in response to mounting concerns about the ingredient's harmful health effects. The same ban would also bar chemicals known to release formaldehyde upon being heated.

Formaldehyde — also called formalin or methylene glycol, in its liquid forms — is a known human carcinogen tied to various cancers, such as leukemia and nasopharyngeal cancers, which affect the upper part of the throat. It's thought to be cancer-causing when inhaled in large amounts or for prolonged periods. Formaldehyde has also been linked to breathing problems, including the onset and exacerbation of asthma in children and adults. In people who regularly work with formaldehyde, the chemical is thought to potentially increase the risk of fertility issues and miscarriage. 

Formaldehyde has already been banned as an active ingredient in hair-straightening products in other regions, such as Brazil, Canada and the European Union. However, it is still widely used in these types of hair products in the U.S. Currently, more than 150 hair-straightening products on the market contain formaldehyde, according to the New York State Department of Health. These products are more frequently used by Black people than people of other races.

The expected FDA ban on formaldehyde is "absolutely critical" to protect Americans, Sarah Evans, an assistant professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, told Live Science in an email. 

However, truly making such hair products safe for consumers and salon workers will take a lot more work than a policy change regarding a single chemical, Evans and other experts told Live Science. 

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The formaldehyde ban

The new FDA ban would apply to hair-straightening and -smoothing products, which temporarily straighten hair. Those products aren't to be confused with hair relaxers, which are creamy chemicals used to permanently straighten hair, Jasmine McDonald, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, told Live Science. Hair relaxers typically do not contain formaldehyde, she noted.