Scientists have found a link between the use of hair straighteners and infertility

A new and first-of-its-kind study from the Boston University School of Public Health suggests that the use of chemical hair straighteners, also known as “relaxers,” may affect a person’s ability to get pregnant. The decrease in the ability to conceive is small, but still there. Current and past use of hair relaxers, greater frequency and duration of use, and scalp burns resulting from the use of these products are associated with lower chances of pregnancy.

The study builds on a growing body of scientific papers linking reproductive health issues to exposure to toxic, endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in cosmetic products. Hair relaxers may contain endocrine-disrupting compounds that can harm fertility. Phthalates, phenols, and parabens are just some of the chemicals found in relaxants that can contribute to reduced fertility. The researchers caution that the full set of ingredients is rarely listed on a product label, and more data is needed to better understand the specific mechanisms of how relaxers affect fertility.

Social pressure to comply with the accepted canons of beauty creates conditions for good profits for manufacturers of such products. “Our work highlights the importance of research into the reproductive health implications of cosmetics for environmental and health equity,” said study lead author Dr Lauren Wise, professor of epidemiology at BUSPH.

To conduct the study, Dr. Wise and her colleagues analyzed data from a survey on several aspects of hair relaxer use among women planning pregnancy, participating in the online Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), which has been conducted since 2013 in the United States and Canada among women who are about to become mothers ( they are followed up from conception to six months postpartum). PRESTO participants provide background information on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and medical history. As part of the study, over 11,274 participants provided information on some aspects of using hair relaxers between 2014 and 2022.

Compared to those who never used relaxers, participants who reported ever using relaxers were more likely to be older, have lower levels of education and annual income, higher body mass index, smokers, were unmarried, lived in the southern United States and had a longer period of trying to conceive at the time of inclusion in the study.

The use of hair relaxers was most common among black participants, followed by Hispanic participants. More than half of black participants reported using a relaxer for the first time before the age of 10, compared to 1-17% among other racial and ethnic groups. Fertility rates were lowest among participants who used relaxers for at least 10 years or at least five times a year, but the results of the study did not reveal a clear dose relationship for any of these associations.

More data are needed to better understand the specific mechanisms of the effect of relaxers on fertility, the authors emphasize.

“Of course,“ chemistry ”is pulled up first of all to cancer. Everything seems to be simple here, say, if there is formaldehyde in the composition, then this is the 1st group according to the classification of the IARC (International Association for Cancer Research), no options, ”says a well-known therapist, military doctor Alexei Vodovozov on his social network. Further, the question of the size of the effect traditionally arises, again traditionally this is more difficult. There are, say, large case-control studies where the incidence of breast cancer in white women who use hair straightening chemicals is 1.7 times higher than in non-users. Interestingly, no such connection was found for black women, although it would seem that everything should be even brighter here, they use it more often. An no. However, when a nationwide cohort study of black women was conducted in the United States, the connection was immediately discovered. Now let’s get down to fertility. Because if not cancer, then infertility, how else. And, again, there are no reliable studies (and I suspect there won’t be). However, the authors traditionally point out that this is not a causal relationship, plus the data is quite heterogeneous, and the survey is the most unreliable source of initial data, the participants could lie not out of malice, but simply because of memory gaps. Plus, for example, they didn’t ask how much time had passed since the start of this business, that is, past consumers of the product included those who last straightened 10 years ago, and those who last had a year ago. Plus, another chemistry used simultaneously with relaxants may also be to blame.

However, in Russia, relaxants are not a very common thing, and yet, “just in case,” representatives of the authorities planning to put abortions on stream and demanding a ban on complex oral contraceptives can also take up hair straighteners.

Where does infertility begin?

Of course, hair straighteners are not the most obvious cause of infertility today. There are much more prosaic motives for his attack. According to the well-known reproductive specialist Margarita Anshina, one of the most popular causes of infertility today has become … the lack of frequent sexual intercourse. And sometimes – and a sexual partner. Yes, yes, this is not a joke! People are now businesslike, do not get out of business trips, often meet only on vacation – and then, very tired. By the age of 30, they forget what a close relationship is and demand to be treated for infertility.

Often the reason for the lack of relationships is male impotence. And there are patients who for several years did not live a sexual life only because of the fear of a second ectopic pregnancy, although they were treated for infertility. In any case, doctors note that at the first appointment, couples have to calm down for a long time: they are afraid of hormones, pain, harm from treatment …

In what cases is childlessness due to serious problems?

The ability to naturally conceive decreases with age – for example, at 35 years old it is 20 times lower than at 20 years old. And at 40 – 40 times lower. It is proved that men are to blame for infertility to the same extent as women. And in 30% of cases, alas, both are infertile. Therefore, if there is reason for serious concern, doctors check the quality of sperm, the patency of the fallopian tubes and seminal ducts, the presence of ovulation and the immunological compatibility of the couple (sometimes a woman’s body produces antibodies against her husband’s sperm).

In addition, today the psychogenic factor of infertility is isolated – when the main cause is an unconscious obstacle to the onset of pregnancy. That is, subconsciously people simply do not want to have children.

In 20 cases out of 100, both partners may have ideal indicators of childbearing function, but pregnancy does not occur. These are precisely the cases when, after a divorce, children are born in new marriages, since the cause of infertility was the biological incompatibility of people.

Contrary to myths, the causes of infertility cannot be: an extended menstrual cycle; incompatibility of blood types of husband and wife; “bad” heredity (there are barren in the genus); masturbation in childhood; long-term use of oral contraceptives.

It is not at all difficult to recover from endocrine infertility today: 90% of patients become pregnant during treatment. The level of prolactin in the blood, both in women and in men, is successfully corrected with the help of the so-called. dopamine antagonists.

If, for example, obstruction of the fallopian tubes or obstruction of the seminal ducts in a man is to blame for infertility, an operation is prescribed. In addition, endocrine infertility in 30% of cases is combined with other forms of infertility. And then IVF, ICSI (when the sperm is “injected into the egg”), surrogate motherhood help. There is also egg donation (for example, if the woman does not have ovaries). In general, today almost any problem can be solved – the main thing is to want it.