Hi! I am Dr Zakiya Antoine, board certified family medicine physician and the Natural Hair Doctor. I transform women’s lives by encouraging them to grow healthier, longer hair. So… I’m getting ready to catch a flight to New Orleans and go spend some quality time with my family before I head out to my new locums assignment in California. I thought this would be a great time to blog about my thought on a recent news clip that I saw on CNN concerning ingredient in Black hair products. Several of my followers and doctor pals have actually been hitting me up about this news clip all week. I’ve been so busy that I hadn’t even had a chance to respond. This news clip aired on CNN, on the Michaela Pereira show. She had a young lady as her guest, and they were talking about the dangers of chemicals in black hair products that have bought to the forefront by a research study that has tested the levels of dangerous chemical in products marketed to black women.
Basically, I guess Michaela felt this issue spoke to her as being an Afro-Latina with a naturally curly hair, and she wanted to get this information out for people who may not have heard about it. The commentary of the research study was kind of vague because Michaela and her guest kept referring to non-specific terms like endocrine disruptors and didn’t really name specific ingredients that were in these products. Also, they didn’t really specifically name any products that were tested in this study on the show.
So it kind of left me kind of wondering, well, what were the actual products that were tested? I started doing some digging and found some interesting facts. So I actually found the published research study and read it in its entirety. Then.. I got a list of the products that were actually tested during the course of this research study. In the process of looking further into this matter, I have found much older research that dates back to 2005. So this news report was not releasing new information. I also discovered that a lot of these chemicals that they’re talking about were considered endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, and also a drug that caused asthma flare ups.
Another interesting take home point was the black hair products that were used in this specific research study are mostly products that can be used to straighten curly or coily hair by chemical process (relaxers). I also found it interesting that the research study was able to determine that there was a 20 percent decline in people who are buying relaxers over the last 10 years. I am assuming it is because more women are going natural, and I guess it’s because of some of the hair disorders and scalp disorders you can get from constant straightening of the hair, use of heavy oils, and use of flat irons causing excessive burning of the scalp. An excess of these habits can cause scarring and inflammation of the scalp then lead to a very specific form of alopecia.
Other important topics included 5 ingredients to avoid. This list includes parabens, pthalates, sulfates, synthetic fragrance and propylene glycol. It was interesting to note that propylene glycol is not toxic but can cause severe allergic reactions in some individuals. It is important to acknowledge ingredients that are considered things that should be avoided. So… if you can look on a product label that you’re using right now and it actually says we don’t use sulfates, pthalates, or synthetic fragrance in our product, then you can be sure that they’re safe for you and the rest of your family. Those of you who have little ones or are expecting may be worried about the effects that these hair products may have on your unborn child or your living children because they’re still developing. I’m glad that the news clip brought this information to forefront and I’m able to come here and talk about it for you guys.
How do you guys feel about potentially dangerous chemicals being used to create products to chemically straighten the hair of black women? I mean, doesn’t it make you feel some type of way? And so this is causing issues all over the country because people are buying these products to straighten their hair and they’re not even safe to be used on humans. One good thing I’ve noticed is that companies that are putting black hair products out in the market right now hear our frustration, and they do not want to market dangerous or unsafe products to its consumers. These companies want to provide good products that your entire family can use.
The most important thing to remember is to make sure that are not using any products with parabens and phthalates. These chemicals are used as preservatives in hair products that can give your product an increased shelf life or used as emulsifiers that hold the oil and water based ingredients together in a cream form. As always, I am definitely trying to save your time and your money. I would hate to see any of you waste your money on unsafe products that can harm you or your loved ones.
It’s Dr Zakiya Antoine, board certified family medicine physician and the Natural Hair Doctor signing off. I transform women’s lives by encouraging them to grow healthier, longer hair. You can follow me on all social media @ DrZakiyaAntoine
