Arizona sues L'Oréal over cancer risk from hair straightening products

The American state of Arizona has filed a lawsuit against the French cosmetics company L'Oréal for possibly concealing data on the development of ovarian and uterine cancer in women because of its chemical hair straightening product, Reuters reports.

The lawsuit was filed in state court late Thursday, making Arizona the first state to sue the company over the hair straightener's cancer risk, the agency said. We are talking about chemical straightening products with the names Dark, Lovely, Optimum.

"The lawsuit accuses L'Oréal of violating state consumer protection laws by selling these products - used predominantly by African-American women - without warning consumers about the possible risks of ovarian and uterine cancer," the agency said in a statement.

According to the agency, Arizona authorities are seeking fines and damages and an injunction requiring the company to stop selling the products unless they carry a cancer warning.

"The state's lawsuit alleges that L'Oréal and others associated with it 'exploited centuries-old... discriminatory beauty standards affecting people of African descent, putting profit before consumer safety,'" Reuters noted.

The agency recalls that more than 12 thousand similar claims from women have already been brought against the company. The cases were consolidated in federal court in Chicago under a "multi-district litigation" process.

As Reuters points out, the first lawsuits were filed after the publication in 2022 of a National Institutes of Health study that found that women who used these products several times a year more than doubled their risk of developing uterine cancer.