“I have never had any problems with these products,” says Vanessa Ea, who undergoes Brazilian straightening in her hairdressing salon without being aware of the health alert launched on Wednesday about straightening products containing carboxylic acid, potentially dangerous for the kidneys.
This manager of a small Parisian salon in the 10th aggrandisement of Paris uses two keratin straightening products, one of which she says is “very popular among hairdressers” contains this chemical, and the other does not, for this service requested by women and men pay from 150 to 240 euros.
Like most Parisian hairdressers interviewed by AFP on Wednesday, she is unaware that health authorities have just advised against the use of Brazilian straightening products containing this cosmetic ingredient, deemed “potentially toxic” because it can lead to acute kidney failure. Glyoxylic acid gives hair a smooth, shiny appearance that can last for several months.
At the origin of this alert, “four cases of acute renal failure” among people aged between 28 and 42, “linked to the use of different hair products containing glyoxylic acid”, were identified in France by the National Agency for food, environment and work Health safety (ANSES).
Hospitalized, these four people, poisoned between January and August 2024, “recovered following treatment”, specifies the agency, which has started an evaluation of the renal toxicity, in the application of this chemical substance on the hair. Glyoxylic acid has replaced formaldehyde, classified as carcinogenic since 2013.
– “Under the radar” –
The cases occurred after applying straightening products in a hair salon.
When glyoxylic acid “passes into the bloodstream through the scalp”, it can “turn into calcium oxalate crystals”, which will cause kidney damage, Dr Juliette Bloch, director of alert and vigilance, told AFP ANSES healthcare system.
“It’s very likely that other cases have gone unnoticed: sometimes the person will go and drink and the crystals will disappear, so it will go unnoticed. And even if in the hours that kidney failure has been diagnosed, the person may not be able to cope.” the connection,” he continued.
As a precaution, the Directorate General of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) and the Directorate General of Health (DGS) advise hairdressers and private individuals against using these products and cosmetic product companies to sell them, awaiting the conclusions of the ANSES Expertise at the end of 2024.
«Certain hairdressers, especially chains, will be very unhappy: they only do it like this from morning to night», exclaims Patrick Medjkane, an independent hairdresser who claims to do little ironing, with a «top product, with cocoa: price where it is, they are sure it doesn’t contain glyoxylic acid.”
Checked and to his amazement is the second ingredient, “written in tiny, small” on the bottle.
– Cases in Israel and Switzerland –
On Wednesday, the professional union of cosmetic product manufacturers, Fébéa, sought to reassure. Despite these “suspicions about the toxicity” of glyoxylic acid, “the current elements do not allow us to draw definitive conclusions and lead us to remember to follow the instructions for use and precautions for use”, he underlined.
If you have signs of kidney failure – abdominal or low back pain, nausea and/or vomiting – a few hours after applying a hair product containing glyoxylic acid, you should “immediately consult a doctor or call a poison control center” mentioning this use , warns ANSES.
According to Sandrine Charles, head of the cosmetic products project, “in recent years around twenty cases have been reported in Israel” and “one in Switzerland”.
“Many curly women straighten their hair every day because they have experienced racism, discrimination or simply teasing,” reports Wendy Balestrucci, director of a salon dedicated to “textured hair, from wavy to frizzy” – one of four opened by the entrepreneur Lauren Schein, driven by the success of her advice on social networks.
“But during the lockdown they were teleworking and no longer needed to straighten their hair… they started taking the time to care for their hair naturally,” she says.
In June, faced with scientific articles on “a health risk that could be underestimated, because it is unknown”, linked to hair products containing glyoxolic acid, the Academy of Medicine had already recommended a warning on the subject.