FDA move to ban formaldehyde in hair straighteners called too little, too late

Rep. Shontel Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, is calling on the FDA to do further investigations into hair straightening products that contain chemicals flagged for health risks. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In April, a dozen years after a federal agency classified formaldehyde a human carcinogen, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is tentatively scheduled to unveil a proposal to consider banning the chemical in hair-straightening products.

The move comes at a time of rising alarm among researchers over the health effects of hair straighteners, products widely used by and heavily marketed to Black women. But advocates and scientists say the proposed new regulation would do far too little, in addition to being far too late.