New Lawsuits Emerge Claiming Hair Dye Products Cause Bladder Cancer
Editors carefully fact-check all Consumer Notice, LLC content for accuracy and quality.
Consumer Notice, LLC has a stringent fact-checking process. It starts with our strict sourcing guidelines.
We only gather information from credible sources. This includes peer-reviewed medical journals, reputable media outlets, government reports, court records and interviews with qualified experts.
Newly filed lawsuits claim that hair dye products made by popular brands like L’Oréal and Clairol may cause bladder cancer. Those who regularly work in salons or around hair dyes may be most at risk.
One case filed last month by plaintiff and cosmetologist Debra Matarazzo says that she developed bladder cancer after applying hair dye to her customers dozens of times a week for more than a decade, frequently being exposed to chemicals that may be carcinogenic.
“Ms. Matarazzo estimates that she performed anywhere from 75 to 100 hair coloring applications a week over the course of her 11-year professional career, causing her to be exposed to Defendants’ toxic hair dye products on a near-daily basis,” the lawsuit states.
According to NBC News, hairstylist Hector Corvera recently filed a similar lawsuit claiming he developed bladder cancer after working in the industry for decades. Corvera said that his doctor asked him what he did for a living following his diagnosis. “That explains it, ” the doctor replied after Corvera said that he was a hairdresser.
Lawyers may soon file more similar lawsuits, as they’re currently investigating and accepting new cases from people who may have been impacted.
Lawsuits Claim Hair Dyes Contain Cancer-Causing Ingredients
Potential links between some hair dyes and cancer have existed for decades, especially regarding oxidative (permanent) hair dyes.
Permanent hair dyes are the most popular type due in part to their long-lasting color that results from the dye penetrating and changing the color of each hair cuticle.
According to the American Cancer Society, researchers first discovered that some hair dye ingredients caused cancer in lab animals in the 1970s. The ingredients in question were called aromatic amines and helped create the new hair color.
Following that discovery, some manufacturers altered the makeup of their products. However, newly filed lawsuits claim that some modern hair dyes still include aromatic amines.
These could include 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP), which the International Agency for Research on Cancer has determined is carcinogenic. Lawsuits claim that some major brands — including L’Oréal — still use 4-ABP in their hair dye products. NBC News reported that multiple researchers and doctors have confirmed that 4-ABP remains present in modern hair dyes.
Attorneys have previously filed similar lawsuits involving chemical hair relaxers made by some of the same companies. As of this week, nearly 10,000 hair relaxer lawsuits were pending in federal court over claims that they cause several types of cancer in users.