The first state lawsuit against cosmetics company L'Oréal has been filed in the United States over a possible link between hair straighteners and cancer. Arizona brought the case, according to infohub.kz.
The suit was filed by state Attorney General Kris Mayes. The defendants are French-based L'Oréal and its U.S. subsidiary.
According to the attorney general's office, the manufacturer sold permanent hair straighteners for many years without warning buyers about an alleged risk of developing uterine and ovarian cancer. Authorities say the company violated Arizona's consumer protection laws.
The state is seeking fines and damages from L'Oréal. Authorities also want to ban sales of the products in question unless they carry a warning about possible cancer risks.
Arizona became the first U.S. state to file such claims in court. At the same time, more than 12,000 lawsuits have been filed against L'Oréal and other manufacturers by women and their relatives. The cases were consolidated into a single multidistrict proceeding before a federal court in Chicago. The first trials could begin in 2027.
The lawsuits mention products sold under the Dark and Lovely, Optimum and other brands. Such products are designed for chemical straightening of textured hair and are especially popular among African American women.
The wave of litigation began after the U.S. National Institutes of Health published a study in 2022. Scientists found that women who regularly used chemical hair straighteners were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with uterine cancer. The study showed a statistical association but did not prove that the products themselves caused the disease.
L'Oréal USA rejected the allegations.
"We are confident in the safety of our products and believe the allegations are unfounded from both a legal and scientific standpoint," the company said.
A L'Oréal representative also stressed that the study did not establish a direct causal link between use of the products and the development of cancer.