Is There a Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawsuit?

Yes, women throughout the United States are pursuing a hair relaxer lawsuit after discovering that toxic chemicals in the perm kits cause cancer and other life-changing side effects.

The product liability lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. provide free consultations and claim evaluations for women diagnosed with uterine cancer, endometrial cancer or ovarian cancer after regular or prolonged exposure to hair relaxer or perm products, which have been found to contain several well-documented carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting chemicals associated with the diagnosis of certain cancers and conditions.

A growing body of medical research has been published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and peer reviewed medical journals, raising concerns about the side effects of hair relaxer products.

The studies have identified several toxic chemicals frequently used in hair relaxers that may cause cancer, reproductive complications and developmental issues.

Potential lawsuits for hair relaxer users are being investigated against the manufacturers of several popular products widely marketed throughout the United States, including:

As a result of manufacturers misrepresentation and failure to warn about the link between hair relaxers and cancer, settlement benefits may now be available for you and your family.

Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Criteria

Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. is reviewing hair relaxer cases for individuals who routinely used chemical hair relaxers and straighteners and have been diagnosed or experienced any of the following cancers or conditions;

• Uterine Cancer (including Uterine Sarcoma)
• Endometrial Cancer
• Ovarian Cancer

To help determine the hair relaxer settlement amount that you or a loved one may be eligible to receive, request a no-obligation case evaluation today.

Hair Relaxer Lawsuit: Everything you should know (Video Guide)

2025 Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Updates

February 4, 2025 Update: The U.S. District Judge managing federal hair relaxer lawsuits has instructed the parties to select 40 bellwether cases related to reproductive cancers, such as uterine, ovarian, and endometrial cancers. Although the focus is on reproductive cancer claims, other injuries may be included if a plaintiff is diagnosed with at least one of these cancers, according to the judge’s ruling. As the litigation prepares to move into the bellwether trial stage, lawyers are still filing new claims each month for individuals diagnosed with new cancer injuries.

January 1, 2025 Update: Before the January 9 status conference, the parties submitted a report detailing disputes over choosing 16 bellwether claims and setting the briefing schedule. Plaintiffs claim delays are due to defendants’ reviews of Plaintiff Fact Sheets, whereas defendants argue they need more time to select trial cases. On December 13, Judge Rowland directed the parties to submit briefings by January 3, 2025, on the bellwether selection and discovery completion schedule. The court aims to establish a detailed bellwether protocol to steer the litigation.

Hair Relaxer Settlement Amounts

As the hair relaxer cancer litigation progresses, many of our clients are curious about potential settlement amounts. To date, manufacturers have not issued any payouts for hair relaxer lawsuits.

The likelihood and size of potential hair relaxer lawsuit settlements will hinge on various factors, including the outcomes of the upcoming bellwether trials and case-specific details such as the duration of product use, specific products involved, and the nature and severity of any diagnosed injuries or cancers.

For example, Just for Me hair relaxer lawsuits will involve claims for women who started using the hair straighteners as young children. Evidence of using hair relaxers as a child and throughout their adult life may provide compelling evidence of long-term exposure, potentially leading to substantial settlements for cancers such as uterine, ovarian, and endometrial.

It’s important to recognize that not all injuries will have the same implications for settlements. For example, cases involving uterine fibroids that did not require surgical intervention might see different settlement evaluations compared to those involving more severe medical interventions. This distinction arises because settlements often reflect the degree of injury and the impact on an individual’s quality of life.

The true measure of potential hair relaxer cancer lawsuit settlement amounts will be more accurately gauged during the bellwether trials, as their outcomes will provide crucial benchmarks for assessing the value of similar claims across the litigation.

Hair Relaxer Bellwether Trials Could Promote Global Settlements

Shortly after all hair relaxer lawsuits filed in federal courts were centralized before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Rowland ordered the parties to establish a bellwether trial process to gauge how juries would react to certain evidence and testimony that would be repeated throughout thousands of hair relaxer cancer claims pending in the litigation.

In January 2025, Judge Rowland instructed lawyers representing plaintiffs and defendants to select a total of 40 hair relaxer lawsuits involving women who were diagnosed with uterine cancer, ovarian cancer or endometrial cancer to serve as bellwether claims, which will go through case-specific discovery before trial.

The outcomes of the early bellwether trials will play an important role in shaping negotiation strategies for the thousands of hair relaxer cancer lawsuits still pending. These initial results will provide vital insights into jury reactions, helping to establish compensation benchmarks that will influence future settlement negotiations. If these trials result favorably for plaintiffs, they could compel manufacturers to pursue more generous global settlements to mitigate the risks and costs of continued litigation.

Jury awards in these bellwether trials could help shape a tiered compensation system in any global settlement offer, where the severity of harm and strength of evidence will dictate the settlement tiers.

While it is too early to determine exact settlement amounts or timelines, based on similar cancer lawsuit payouts in other claims, our lawyers believe that the average hair relaxer cancer settlement will be substantial. It is also important to understand, that if a global settlement is offered, each individual plaintiff will still have the option to decide whether to participate in the program, or continue to pursue an individual lawsuit payout award from a jury.

Can Hair Relaxer Cause Cancer?

In recent years multiple studies have been published that suggest a possible link between hair relaxers and cancer, including uterine cancer, ovarian cancer and hormone disorders.

Researchers have warned many hair relaxer products contain as many as 5,000 chemicals, many of which are classified as toxic, including, but not limited to;

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sets forth laws under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act that expressly prohibits the marketing or sale of cosmetic products from containing poisonous or harmful substances that could cause injury to a consumer. However, many cosmetic manufacturers mislabel their hair relaxer or omit these toxins from the ingredients labels, withholding important safety information from consumers.

2023 Study: Uterine Cancer Risk from Hair Relaxer for Black Women

In a study published in the medical journal Environmental Research on December 15, 2023, researchers indicated that long-term use of chemical hair relaxers can increase the risk of uterine cancer among postmenopausal Black women by over 70%.

Analyzing data from nearly 45,000 Black women, including 347 diagnosed with uterine cancer, the study found a strong correlation between hair relaxer usage and uterine cancer risk, including;

• Moderate use of hair relaxer increases uterine cancer risk by 60%.
• Heavy use of hair relaxer increases uterine cancer risks by 64%.
• Using hair relaxers for 20 years or more increases uterine cancer risk by over 70%.

The findings suggests a dose-response relationship, indicating that the frequency and duration of hair straightener use significantly impacts uterine cancer risks among Black women.

2022 Study: Hair Relaxers Increase Uterine Cancer Risks

A study performed by researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) that was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in October 2022, established one of the first links between hair relaxer and uterine cancer.

NIEHS researchers reviewed data on nearly 34,000 women in the United States between the ages of 35 and 74 who completed questionnaires on their use of multiple hair products, including hair dyes, straighteners, relaxers, or pressing products.

A 10 year follow-up on the incident rate of uterine cancer diagnosis was performed, finding participants who used straightening products at least once had the highest rate of uterine cancer diagnosis compared to any other hair products involved in the study.

The study revealed women who routinely used hair relaxer chemical products were nearly 3x more likely to have developed uterine cancer by the age of 70 when compared to women who never used chemical relaxer products.

African American women frequently using hair relaxer products had the highest rate of developing uterine cancer, making up only 7.4% of study participants, but accounted for 59.9% of those reporting use of the chemical relaxers.

2021 Study: Hair Relaxers Increase Ovarian Cancer Risks

In a 2021 study published in the medical journal Carcinogenesis, researchers uncovered a link between using hair relaxer and ovarian cancer. The study found that among a pool of 40,000 women enrolled in the NIH’s Sister Study, women who used hair relaxer four times per year were twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer when compared to those who never used the products.

Data collected from the study indicated women using hair relaxer were most at risk for developing non-serous ovarian tumors, which form on the tissue covering the ovaries.

The authors noted that these findings present a significant risk of ovarian tumors for African American women, who predominantly use hair relaxing products.

2012 Study: Hair Relaxers and Uterine Fibroid Risks

A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology presented the first findings that suggested hair relaxer use increases uterine fibroid risks among black women.

Authors of the Black Women’s Health Study collected data on 23,580 premenopausal African American women from 1997 through 2009. Throughout the study’s timeframe, authors tracked details on the women’s hair relaxer use and diagnosis of uterine leiomyomata, and found that women reporting any hair relaxer use had a 1.17x risk of developing uterine fibroids when compared to never users.

Researchers found the rate of uterine fibroid diagnosis among women using relaxers increased based on their;

• Number of annual hair relaxer treatments
• Number of years using hair relaxer
• Number of scalp burns from hair relaxers

“Frequency and duration of use showed evidence of a dose-response relation. Positive associations were observed between frequency of hair relaxer use and risk of uterine leiomyomata among the long-term users (i.e., duration of use ≥ 10 years).”

2019 Study: Hair Relaxers Increase Breast Cancer Risk by 30%

Another study performed by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) was published in the International Journal of Cancer (IJC) in 2019, indicating women using straightening products for their hair face a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer.

Researchers collected data from the Sister Study, which is a long-term research project pioneered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which involves over 50,000 participants to study how the environment and genes affect women’s chances of getting breast cancer.

Over an eight year period, researchers reported that women who used hair relaxers at least every five to eight weeks, had a 30% increased risk of developing breast cancer.

African American women who reported using permanent hair dyes regularly were associated with a 60% increase of breast cancer diagnosis, compared to an 8% increased risk for Caucasian women.

Based on the currently available evidence, the lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. are not currently pursuing hair relaxer breast cancer lawsuits. However, we are continuing to monitor the evolving studies and will post any updated information on our page about hair relaxers and breast cancer side effects.

Is There a Hair Relaxer Recall Over Cancer Risks?

Following a growing body of medical research linking hair relaxer chemicals to uterine cancer, ovarian cancer and uterine fibroids, the FDA issued a proposed rule in October 2023, that would ban certain chemicals used in the cosmetic products by April 2024, which could lead to a series of hair relaxer recalls.

In the proposed rulemaking, officials stated that certain hair relaxer products have been found to contain formaldehyde (FA) and other FA-releasing chemicals such as methylene glycol. Despite the well documented cariogenic effects of formaldehyde, officials stated these chemicals are commonly integrated into hair relaxers to boost their hair straightening and smoothing performance.

Regulators are now taking the first steps towards prohibiting the sale of hair relaxers containing formaldehyde and chemicals that release formaldehyde, noting that the application of these products can result in a range of immediate and prolonged health concerns, such as allergic reactions, respiratory issues, and an increased risk of specific cancers.

An official ban by the FDA would not only place significant pressure on manufacturers to recall or reformulate their products containing formaldehyde, but would also strengthen the claims being made by thousands of individuals.

Are there any costs to hire a lawyer for my hair relaxer lawsuit case?

There are absolutely no out-of-pocket costs to review your case or hire our attorneys. Potential claims are evaluated for individuals throughout the United States, and all cases are handled on a contingency fee basis.

Through the use of contingency attorney fees, individuals have access to the experience and resources of our national law firm for their hair relaxer lawsuit settlement — regardless of their individual financial resources.

FIND OUT IF YOU QUALIFY FOR A HAIR RELAXER SETTLEMENT