Key Takeaways

• Testing Results: Recent tests revealed dangerous chemicals in both synthetic and human hair products.
• Health Risks: Many hair extensions contain lead, VOCs, and carcinogens, posing health risks to consumers.
• Lack of Regulation: Manufacturers of hair products are not required to disclose chemical data or adhere to safety regulations.
• Expert Insights: Dr. James Roberts emphasizes that processed human hair may also be unsafe due to chemical exposure.

Last year, Consumer Reports reportedly discovered dangerous chemicals in popular synthetic braiding hair — everything from lead, carcinogens, and toxic chemicals. Now, new testing is diving in further, and taking a look at products marketed as 100% human or plant-based.

What’s really in these braiding hair products? Are they regulated? And is anything being done to keep consumers safe?

The Shade Room’s Justin Carter is sharing answers on ‘TSR Investigates.’

900 Chemicals Found in Hair Extensions From Top Brands

According to Carter, the results of testing human hair have been even more shocking than what was revealed by testing synthetic hair. Dr. James Roberts, the Director of Product Safety and Research at Consumer Reports, told Carter that human hair contained the highest amount of lead by far.

“One hundred percent of the products also contained VOCs, including acetone, a respiratory irritant, and low levels of carcinogens (toxins that can be linked to cancer),” the “top findings” page of the study asserts.

To make matters worse, per Carter, the manufacturers aren’t under regulation and also aren’t required to share their data.

“One may think that human hair is safer. But it too is processed… once the women sell their hair to a broker then that hair can be exposed to all different types of chemicals to give it its characteristics of color or texture,” Dr. Roberts explained to Carter.

What’s Being Done To Keep Consumers Safe?

Scroll above to watch as Carter shares which brand of human hair tested for the highest amount of lead. Additionally, Carter shares the brand of hair that Dr. James Roberts says he would trust his closest loved ones, his daughters, to use. Lastly, Carter shares his discussion with Dr. Elissia Franklin. Franklin, a research student at the Silent Spring Institution, broke down her new study. And how it was able to find over 900 chemicals in the hair products it tested.

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