President Trump signed an executive order on Monday that paused all government regulations, putting a proposal to prohibit formaldehyde in hair straightening products in limbo.
The Food and Drug Administration declared that it would make a decision by April 2024 about the prohibition of formaldehyde or substances that can release formaldehyde when heated in chemical hair straightening products sold in the United States.
The FDA stated in 2024 that while formaldehyde is not present in all chemical hair relaxers, several of them have components that can release the toxin when heated. More and more research over the years has connected formaldehyde to cancers that are particularly common in Black women.
According to a document published in the United Agenda, a government website that offers information on rules being developed by federal agencies, the agency had originally selected April 2024 as the goal date for the proposed prohibition. First scheduled for July 2024, then September 2024, the date was rescheduled.
According to the agency, the target dates listed in the Unified Agenda are merely projections and not absolute due dates. A request for comment on the new presidential order was not answered by the FDA.
According to its website, the FDA is not required by U.S. law to approve cosmetic items and ingredients before they are put on the market, with the exception of food additives.
Since 2008, the FDA has been considering a ban on formaldehyde in hair products, according to Monica Benesh, vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy organization that focuses on harmful chemicals.
“Near the end of 2016, the FDA was prepared to ban it, there were scientists on the record saying, ‘let’s just ban the ingredient,'” Benesh remembered. However, starting in 2017, the progress made to outlaw formaldehyde slowed under Trump’s first administration.
Formaldehyde in hair products has been outlawed in Maryland, California, and Washington, but Benesh stated that more states would follow suit if there is no federal regulation. However, she noted that Trump’s choice to head the Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has expressed some interest in this matter.
Chemical hair straighteners have been linked to negative outcomes in a number of large studies. For example, data from over 30,000 Black women aged 35 to 74 years indicates that uterine cancer is more common in those who used hair relaxers more than twice a year for more than five years.
In a federal class action complaint, thousands of women have accused the manufacturers of chemical hair relaxers of causing breast cancer, uterine cancer, and other negative health effects. Later this year, a federal court set deadlines to advance the lawsuit.