Legislation Bans Chemicals Linked to Cancer and Reproductive Harm in Hair Products, Causing Disparate Impact on Black Women’s Health

Pressley, Brown Have Led Congressional Efforts to Ban Formaldehyde

Bill Text (PDF)

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), alongside Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), introduced the Health Hair Act, legislation to effectively ban formaldehyde from hair products.

The Health Hair Act would designate hair straightening or hair smoothing products containing formaldehyde as adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, prohibiting their sale or distribution in the United States. Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke (NY-09) is an original cosponsor of the bill, which is cosponsored by 13 members of the House of Representatives. 

Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, has been linked to increased cancer incidence, respiratory illness, and reproductive harm, including fibroids. Formaldehyde is a common element in hair relaxers and straighteners that are largely marketed to Black women. Black women are also more likely to develop uterine cancer, and twice as likely to die from it, which has also been linked to exposure to hair products. 

“Whether in schools, in the workplace, or in our everyday lives, Black women have been overlooked, punished, and criminalized for our hair. Not only does that come at an emotional cost, but a physical one too,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “The beauty products marketed to Black women and girls and found in our salons contain toxic, unregulated chemicals—leaving us to disproportionately suffer from adverse health impacts like cancer. Black women, girls, and salon workers should be able to show up without putting our health at risk. That’s why I’m proud to introduce the Healthy Hair Act with Reps. Brown and Velazquez to regulate these hazardous products and affirm our right to safer alternatives.” 

“It is time to get hair products that are making us sick off the shelves, out of stores, and out of salons. The evidence builds every day that chemical hair relaxers and straighteners are killing Black women, and this is a public health and consumer safety crisis that must be addressed. Since the FDA continues to delay, Congress must move first. I am proud to introduce the Health Hair Act with Congresswoman Velazquez and Congresswoman Pressley because women, hairdressers, and their families deserve better,” said Congresswoman Shontel Brown.

“The FDA had every opportunity to ban formaldehyde in hair products, and their failure to act has put the health of millions of women at risk. No one should have to choose between straightening their hair and their health, especially Black women and salon workers who face the greatest risks. This bill will finally ban these dangerous chemicals and make clear that Congress will not stand by while consumers are exposed to a known carcinogen. If the FDA won’t act, we will,” said Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez. 

“The link between chemical hair straighteners and extreme harms like cancer is not a matter of debate, nor has it been for years. This is the reality for countless Black women across America who, whether due to their workplaces’ demands, society’s pressures, or simply their personal preferences, turned to these carcinogenic products to alter their hair texture. Products we know to be dangerous have no place on the shelves of our stores and salons, and no business being anywhere close to our bodies. I am proud to fight alongside my colleagues to protect consumers and salon workers from the proven unsafe side effects of hair straightening products and bridge the health inequities that too often leave Black women and girls behind,” said Chairwoman Yvette D. Clarke.

Text of the bill can be accessed here.

The Healthy Hair Act is cosponsored by: Rep. Joyce Beatty, Rep. Shontel Brown, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Rep. Jahanna Hayes, Rep. Summer Lee, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Rep. Robin Kelly, Rep. LaMonica McIver, Rep. Terri Sewell, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman. 

The bill is also endorsed by the Clean Beauty Coalition.

Congresswoman Pressley, alongside Congresswomen Brown and Velázquez, have led congressional efforts to ban formaldehyde in hair products. Last year, they sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting an update on delays in implementation of a rule to ban formaldehyde and other formaldehyde-releasing chemicals in hair products. In October 2023, the FDA proposed the ban of formaldehyde in hair products following a letter led by Reps. Pressley and Brown, which called on the agency to investigate the health risks associated with the chemical. However, the implementation of the ban has continuously been delayed.

Congresswoman Pressley has been steadfast in her advocacy for Black women’s health, ending race-based hair discrimination, and introducing policies that affirm the right of Black women to show up in the world as their full, authentic selves.

• Rep. Pressley is a lead co-sponsor of the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, legislation with Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Barbara Lee (CA-13) and Ilhan Omar (MN-05) that would ban discrimination based on hair textures and hairstyles that are commonly associated with a particular race or national origin.
• In February 2026, Rep. Pressley, alongside Rep. Jim McGovern (MA-02) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), led their colleagues in re-introducing the Wigs as Durable Medical Equipment Act, legislation to help individuals affected by Alopecia Areata and patients with cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy by allowing medical wigs and other head coverings to be covered under the Medicare program.
• Rep. Pressley, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) lead the Recognition of Traction Alopecia in Service Women Act of 2023 to support servicemembers with traction alopecia.
• Rep. Pressley leads the Anti-Racism in Public Health Act, a bicameral bill to declare structural racism a public health crisis and confront its public health impacts through two bold new programs within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Rep. Pressley originally introduced the bill in September 2020.
• In 2020, the House passed an amendment introduced by Congresswoman Pressley to provide $5 million dollars for the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to fund research on the causes, impacts, and possible treatments of Alopecia areata.
• In December 2019, Rep. Pressley and her colleagues sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky seeking information on the targeted marketing and sale of the company’s talc-based baby powder and its potential to cause harm, particularly to women, teenage girls, and people of color, due to asbestos contamination. 

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