The Food and Drug Administration has missed its latest deadline to propose a ban on formaldehyde and certain formaldehyde-releasing chemicals in hair-straightening products often used by black women.
According to experts, the proposed rule’s action date is the last day of December 2025, which the agency lists as “12/00/25.”
But the FDA said the rule is still being developed.
“FDA’s proposed rule, ‘The use of formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals as ingredients in hair smoothing products or hair straightening products,’ remains a priority for the FDA,” an agency spokesperson said in an email. “FDA may adjust the expected publication date for this and other proposed rules when appropriate.”
The agency added that it will provide deadlines or other expected “periodic updates” through the FDA’s unified agenda, which is typically updated biannually in the spring and fall.
The FDA’s first deadline for the proposed rule is October 2023.
“That timeline was later pushed back to April 2024, then November 2024, March 2025, July 2025, and now December 31, 2025,” David Andrews, acting chief scientific officer of the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health advocacy group, said in an email.
“Formaldehyde is a recognized carcinogen and can also cause respiratory irritation, skin irritation and other adverse health effects, such as an increased risk of asthma,” he said. “Each delay directly jeopardizes the health of salon workers and consumers, especially Black women, who are disproportionately exposed to harmful chemicals in personal care products.”
In 2021, salon workers joined forces with the Environmental Working Group and the nonprofit Women’s Voices for the Planet to urge the FDA to take action. In a citizen petition, they asked the agency to take regulatory action to ban the use of formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals, such as methylene glycol, in hair smoothing and straightening products.
Amid concerns that the chemicals could increase cancer risks, the FDA under the Biden administration has said it is considering banning the ingredients in certain cosmetics, including chemical hair relaxers and perm care products. The products, which are primarily marketed to black women, have also raised concerns about their disproportionate health effects.
But the FDA repeatedly pushed back its action date throughout the remainder of the Biden administration and into the second Trump administration. Official action was never taken.
“Every day these products remain on the market further erodes public confidence in the FDA’s ability to safeguard health,” Andrews said. “Because this is not a legally mandated deadline, there are no formal consequences if it is missed,” he added, but it was unclear when or if the proposed rule would be released.
an unresolved rule
There are no formal consequences or penalties for FDA missing deadlines.
But to move forward, the regulatory process will involve the agency formally publishing the proposed rule in the Federal Register. The rule will then be subject to public comment. After the comment period closes, the agency will review and analyze all comments received and decide whether to finalize or withdraw the rule. If the agency moves forward with the rulemaking process, it will prepare a final version of the rule and publish it in the Federal Register.
The Trump administration has put toxins and “hazardous chemical exposures” – including chemicals released from consumer products – on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ priority list.
Scientists have long warned of a troubling link between the use of chemical hair-straightening products and an increased risk of certain hormone-related cancers, including uterine, ovarian and breast cancer, particularly among black women.
“Several epidemiological studies, including those conducted by my colleagues and I, have raised concerns about an association between frequent use of chemical hair straighteners and an increased risk of uterine fibroids, infertility, and hormone-related cancers, including uterine, ovarian, and breast cancer,” Lauren Wise, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health who studies the potential dangers of hair straightening products, said in an email.
Fibroids are tissue growths that develop in the uterus. Although they are usually noncancerous and not usually dangerous, they can cause heavy bleeding, anemia, and pelvic pain, and may cause complications as they grow. Some fibroids may cause infertility or miscarriage. Black women are three times more likely than white women to be diagnosed with fibroids.
Wise led a study published Wednesday in the American Journal of Epidemiology that linked hair relaxer use to the development and growth of uterine fibroids.
“In this 2025 paper, recent use of temporary hair relaxers showed a stronger positive association with fibroid incidence and growth than use of permanent hair relaxers,” Wise said.
“This is valuable because temporary hair relaxers are suspected of containing more formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals than permanent hair relaxers,” she added. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to look separately at these two types of hair straighteners in relation to the development of fibroids.”
Black women are disproportionately affected, Wise said.
“These concerns are particularly important in the context of exposed racial disparities: Hair relaxer use is more common among women of color, particularly Black women, who often begin using these products at a younger age and continue to use them for years,” she said.
“This pattern results in greater cumulative exposure during critical developmental periods, including childhood, adolescence and reproductive years,” she said. “There are no safe exposure levels from consumer products that are heated and inhaled, particularly in occupational settings such as hair salons.”
Andrews said finalizing the proposed rule to ban formaldehyde as an ingredient in hair straightening products would “reduce ongoing harm, ensure fair protections for consumers and workers, and make it clear that harmful ingredients are not allowed in cosmetics.” “The FDA must act immediately to ban the use of formaldehyde in hair straightening products. After more than a decade of warnings, commitments, and scientific consensus, the risk to public health is simply too great to wait any longer.”
Some lawmakers have repeatedly called on the FDA to take action on the issue.
U.S. Reps. Shontel Brown of Ohio, Nydia Velázquez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts support the proposed rule and continue to encourage the FDA to propose a ban.
“This is really simple to me. Do we care about black women getting cancer or do we not? Every action or inaction on this issue stems from this question – and we can see how people respond,” Brown said in an email.
“I’m so frustrated because we wrote letters, we spoke out, we submitted legislation. There’s overwhelming evidence that the hair care products being sold to us every day are harmful – so let’s do the right thing and get them off the shelves,” she said. “The FDA owes the American people an explanation for these continued delays.”
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