Study Links Hair Products To Increased Breast Cancer Risk

A recent study suggests that hair dye and other women's hair care products could be linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

The analysis, conducted by researchers at Rutgers University and other health care institutions, included 4,285 African-American and Caucasian women — both with breast cancer and without — who participated in the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey's Women’s Circle of Health Study.

The findings showed that the use of darker hair dyes was associated with a 51 percent increased risk of developing breast cancer among African-American women, as well as a 72 percent increased risk of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer among those women.

The use of chemical hair relaxers or straighteners, meanwhile, was associated with a 74 percent higher risk among Caucasian women.

The study appeared in the journal Carcinogenesis.

Lead author Adana Llanos said that although previous studies showed that compounds in hair products could be risk factors for cancer, those studies were conducted in limited populations, focused mostly on hair dyes alone and "yielded mixed findings."

"Our findings highlight the need for further examinations of the link between the use of hair products as important exposures that may contribute to the development of breast cancer, as well as ways to reduce the associated risks," Llanos said.