The FDA Missed Its Self-Imposed Deadline to Ban Formaldehyde in Hair Straighteners

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 instances since, would primarily ban using formaldehyde (FA) and different chemical compounds that launch formaldehyde, corresponding to methylene glycol, in hair-smoothing and straightening merchandise corresponding to chemical relaxers and keratin therapies.

Underneath the Trump administration, the FDA has launched an up to date threat evaluation relating to using formaldehyde and the way a lot publicity is secure; the Environmental Working Group said in a press launch that these up to date pointers might “almost double the quantity of formaldehyde it [currently] says is ‘secure’ to inhale,” regardless of a wealth of scientific proof linking formaldehyde to most cancers.

A consultant for the FDA advised CNN through e mail that the ban remains to be thought of 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 advised the information outlet. “FDA might modify 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 debate concerning the security of the chemical.

The proposal would primarily ban using formaldehyde (FA) and different chemical compounds that launch formaldehyde, corresponding to methylene glycol, in hair-smoothing and straightening merchandise corresponding to relaxers and keratin therapies. Based on 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, corresponding to sensitization reactions and respiratory issues, and long-term hostile well being results, together with an elevated threat of sure cancers.”

Relaxers and smoothing or straightening merchandise are primarily utilized by Black girls, placing them at greater threat 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 greater threat 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, corresponding to dye and chemical straighteners, comprise quite a lot of completely different chemical compounds which will act as carcinogens or endocrine disruptors [molecules that mimic or mess with hormonal function], and thus could also be essential for most cancers threat,” Dr. Alexandra White, an epidemiologist on the US Nationwide Institute of Environmental Well being Security, advised Attract in 2022. “Straighteners, specifically, have been discovered to incorporate chemical compounds corresponding 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 matter within the magnificence world. When Brazilian Blowout smoothing therapies 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. Based on a New York Occasions report from 2020, the FDA wished to ban the Brazilian Blowout and its fellow smoothing therapies as a result of 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.