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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tom Perkins

Over 3,000 beauty products targeting Black women contain health hazards, study shows

person applying blush to cheek with blue brush
‘The cosmetics industry continues to fail consumers by not ensuring safer products,’ said the study co-author Alexa Friedman. Photograph: JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images/Tetra images RF

A new analysis finds 80% of more than 4,000 beauty products marketed toward Black women contain at least one moderately hazardous ingredient – and most contain multiple.

The analysis follows a 2016 study with similar findings, and the authors suspect the chemical load in products like hair straighteners and skin lightening creams probably contributes to elevated rates of some diseases in Black women, including uterine and breast cancers.

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