Jenny Mitchell started using chemicals for the first time Straighten hair The product dates back to 2000 when she was in third grade, and nearly 20 years later, the 32-year-old claims it was the cause of her development of uterine cancer.
Mitchell had to have a total hysterectomy to remove her uterus, despite having no family history of the disease, according to the report. Good Morning America.
She said now, she has been robbed of her chance to be a mother.
The ‘dream’ of motherhood shattered for young woman who needed a hysterectomy due to chemicals in hair relaxers, lawsuit
She told GMA: “Not being able to hold my own baby was the hardest thing I’ve ever faced. “This is a dream of mine that I’ve always wanted.”
Mitchell is currently represented by a group of lawyers, including Ben Crump, who are suing five hair straightening companies, one of which is L’Oreal USA, alleging that their products caused cancer. uterine letter for her. Shade room reported last month.
The lawsuit, filed in Illinois, comes a week after the recent lawsuit research published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and sponsored by the National Institutes of Health shows that people who regularly use chemical hair straightening products may be more susceptible to cancer than those who do not. use those products.
Jenny Mitchell says she first started using chemical straighteners in 2000 when she was in third grade.
Nearly two decades later, Mitchell, now 32, was diagnosed with uterine cancer, despite having no family history of the disease. https://t.co/A6zNtL7Jd9
– Good Morning America (@GMA) October 25, 2022
So far, research has only hinted at a possible link, with about 60% of the women in the study reporting using such hair relaxers as self-identifying black women. are women.
Mitchell said she was “shocked” to learn about the study.
“But at the same time, I also thought this could be the answer to my diagnosis,” she said.
The problem is common among women of color, who use such products in studies of larger numbers showing
Mitchell, a Black woman, said many women like herself face societal pressure to use relaxing hair products, which she says means using it every four weeks. to meet American beauty standards, she said.
“As an African-American woman, the social norm is to have your hair look a certain way,” she said. “’Don’t leave your hair natural because it doesn’t look professional.’ Lots of women deal with that in all kinds of environments. “
She added: “I hope to be a voice for millions of other African-American women because we started so young to use these chemical relaxants in the hair.”
The other unnamed companies mentioned did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The institute found that uterine rates and mortality have been increasing nationally in recent years, with mortality rates still highest among non-Hispanic black women, after tracking data data from 34,000 women in the Sisters Study over a decade.
The Sisters Research Project has tracked the overall health of about 50,000 women across the country since 2003.
Research results Hair relaxers have endocrine disruptors, affecting hormone-sensitive cancers
The study specifically notes that chemical hair straighteners often contain products called endocrine disruptors, which can affect hormone-sensitive cancers.
Those products include parabens, bisphenol A, metals and formaldehyde, according to the researchers in the NIH study.
Dermatologist Madeliene Gainers says such relaxing medications can even cause burns and damage on the scalp, making them easier to absorb into the body.
And black women are twice as likely to die from uterine cancer than white women, the study found.
However, the researchers involved with the new student said “further research is needed” to determine whether hair straightening chemicals are directly linked to an increased risk of uterine cancer.
A black woman in Missouri is suing L’Oreal, saying its hair straightening products cause uterine cancer.
Black women are more likely to use such straighteners, which studies have linked to a higher risk of uterine cancer. Black women are twice as likely to die from uterine cancer than white women. pic.twitter.com/4IJ6mxolLQ
– AJ + (@ajplus) October 25, 2022
Crump lawyers’ lawsuit hopes to bring greater awareness to the problem of dangerous chemicals in hair relaxers
The study notes that the link between the products and uterine cancer is directly related to each other – something Mitchell will need to prove in court.
Meanwhile, Crump says it hopes the lawsuit will spread awareness about the harmful chemicals found in hair relaxers, allowing women to make more informed decisions about their health.
“Now that we have this knowledge, we have this information, we have a duty to carry it with us,” he said. “We have to make this a public health crisis.”
