WASHINGTON – Despite more than a decade of warnings and mounting evidence about the health risks posed by formaldehyde in hair-straightening products, the Food and Drug Administration is once again delaying a proposed ban on the ingredient, putting salon workers and consumers at risk.
According to the federal government’s latest Unified Agenda of upcoming rules, the FDA’s long-awaited rule has now slipped to March 2025. That’s yet another setback for the ban, since the agency has already missed a series of self-imposed deadlines for releasing the proposal this year, most recently a September goal it failed to meet.
That’s despite the FDA knowing since at least 2015 about the health risks of cancer-causing formaldehyde in hair straighteners. The chemical is a known carcinogen, with short-term exposure linked to throat, nose and eye irritation, as well as shortness of breath and wheezing. Prolonged use can trigger allergic reactions and increase the risk of asthma.
“The FDA’s continued delays in banning formaldehyde in hair-straightening products are a disgrace. After nearly a decade of empty promises, the agency has failed once again to protect salon workers and consumers from exposure to this well-documented carcinogen,” said Melanie Benesh, EWG’s vice president of government affairs.
Internal FDA emails from 2016 capture the frustration of its own scientists about the delay, with one calling for urgent action: “Let’s just ban the damn ingredient.”
But years later, the FDA remains mired in bureaucracy, leaving communities – especially women – at risk. This is not just regulatory negligence – it is a moral failure.
“We demand the FDA immediately issue this long-overdue ban and end the unnecessary harm inflicted on vulnerable communities, especially women of color,” Benesh said.
Mounting pressure for ban
In August, three House lawmakers – Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) and Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) – pressed the FDA to end its prolonged inaction. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, they cited growing evidence of harm from formaldehyde in hair-smoothing products and demanded immediate safeguards.
The FDA also continues to drag its feet on responding to EWG’s 2021 petition highlighting the health risks of this chemical in these hair treatments. The delay further underscores the agency’s failure to protect salon workers and customers.
Some states are stepping up to establish safeguards, with bold measures such as California’s Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act, which bans formaldehyde in personal care products starting in January 2025. Yet the FDA continues to lag behind.
Concerns about formaldehyde in aerosolized products, including hair straighteners, date back to at least 1984, when the industry-funded Cosmetics Ingredient Review first raised alarms. By 2011, the group had declared formaldehyde “unsafe for use in hair smoothing products.”
The FDA has been aware of these risks since at least 2008, when the issue was flagged by Allure magazine, yet the agency continues to delay action.
FDA inaction
The FDA’s continued failure to move forward casts serious doubt about the agency’s ability to aggressively implement and enforce the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act.
That law, passed by Congress and enacted in 2022, provides a much-needed step foward in reforming federal cosmetics safety law to better protect consumers. It requires cosmetics makers to register with the FDA and disclose what’s in their products. But even as companies move toward fully implementing the law, its fate under the Trump administration is uncertain.
If the next administration and Congress don’t address ongoing budget and staffing shortfalls at the FDA, it could create even more delays in needed regulatory actions.
The agency has already fallen behind on critical deadlines to propose required methods used to detect asbestos in talc-containing cosmetics and to propose new fragrance allergen labeling requirements.
Every day the FDA puts off its proposed ban of formaldehyde in hair-straightening treatments is another day salon workers and consumers are unjustly exposed to this cancer-causing chemical.
The agency has had more than a decade to act. Enough is enough.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
