Four women sue L’Oréal and others alleging hair products caused cancer: ‘Painful, painful condition’

L’Oréal maintains the lawsuits have no merit and its products are rigorously tested.

For Rugieyatu Bhonopha and Jenny Mitchell, two young American women, hopes to have children were shattered when they were diagnosed with uterine cancer. They had to undergo hysterectomies -- partial or complete removal of the uterus, NBC News reported.

Bhonopha and Mitchell are among the four women who sued L’Oréal and others after a study emerged last month linking hair-straightening products to increased risk of uterine cancer.

Both used products to straighten their hair, feeling pressured to do so because of professional and societal expectations.

The plaintiffs say the products did not come with any warnings, leaving them in the dark about their hazards.

Also read: Hair-straightening products linked with uterine cancer risk: Study

"You had no inkling that these products were dangerous, you didn’t know that any of these harmful products were in it," Bhonopha told NBC.  "Obviously, you wouldn’t have used them if you knew.”

Mitchell, only 28, is concerned about her cancer returning. “Once you have uterine cancer, you can be more susceptible to colon cancer or to breast cancer," she told NBC. "A lot of people don’t know that.”

Bernadette Gordon, 49, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 and uterine cancer in 2021.

She told NBC she used chemical relaxers from 1983 to 2015.

“It’s been devastating for me,” she said, having endured aggressive cancer treatments.

The fourth plaintiff, 55-year-old Rhonda Terrell, has uterine carcinoma. After a short period of remission, it returned on her liver and abdomen.

“Cancer is such a painful, painful, painful condition," she said. “If I had known all those years ago, if they had a warning on the box to say this could cause cancer, I wouldn’t have used it."

But L’Oréal said the lawsuits had no merit.

“Our products are subject to a rigorous scientific evaluation of their safety by experts who also ensure that we follow strictly all regulations in every market in which we operate," the company stated.

Uterine cancer is a relatively rare in the US but cases among Black women are rising.

The study that came out in October presented for the first time epidemiologic evidence the link between straightening products and uterine cancer

"We estimated that 1.64% of women who never used hair straighteners would go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70, but for frequent users, that risk goes up to 4.05%,"  the National Institute of Environmental Health Safety (NIEHS) had said.