L'Oreal faces multiple lawsuits claiming its hair relaxer products cause cancer

L’Oréal’s hair relaxer products are at the centre of 57 lawsuits in the U.S., for allegedly having cancer-causing properties.

In a federal court in Chicago, the lawsuits, which were initially filed across the country, will be consolidated, accusing the beauty giant of knowing their products contained dangerous chemicals but marketed and sold them anyway, according to Reuters.

In an online response to the allegations L’Oréal said it is “confident in the safety of our products and believe the recent lawsuits filed against us have no legal merit”.

Chemicals in hair straightening products are long thought to have ingredients of concern.

In January, America’s National Institute of Health Record (NIH) said women who used chemical hair-straightening products were at higher risk for uterine cancer compared to women who did not report using these products, according to a new study.

The researchers found no associations with uterine cancer for other hair products that the women reported using, including hair dyes, bleach, highlights or perms.