ArticleJournal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology2023
Relation of circulating estrogens with hair relaxer and skin lightener use among postmenopausal women in Ghana.
Article in Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 8 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Use of chemical hair straighteners in relation to incidence and growth of uterine leiomyomata: a prospective ultrasound study.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Cosmetic Habits Associated With Breast Cancer in Benin: A Multicenter Case-Control Study.Journal of cosmetic dermatology · 2026Article
- Hair Straightener Use in Relation to Prevalent and Incident Fibroids in the Sister Study with a Focus on Black Women.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- Chemicals of concern in select packaged hair relaxers available on the Kenyan market: an examination of ingredient labels and measurement of pH.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Hair product use and urinary biomarker concentrations of non-persistent endocrine disrupting chemicals among reproductive-aged Black women.Chemosphere · 2024Article
- Associations of Circulating Estrogens and Estrogen Metabolites with Fecal and Oral Microbiome in Postmenopausal Women in the Ghana Breast Health Study.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Use of Chemical Hair Straighteners and Fecundability in a North American Preconception Cohort.American journal of epidemiology · 2023Article
- Use of Straighteners and Other Hair Products and Incident Uterine Cancer.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
24 authors at 9 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHair relaxers and skin lighteners have been commonly used by African women, with suggestions that they may have hormonal activity.
objectivesTo investigate the relationship of hair relaxer and skin lightener use to serum estrogen/estrogen metabolite levels.
methodsWe utilized the postmenopausal population-based controls of the Ghana Breast Health Study to estimate adjusted geometric means (GM) and 95% confidence intervals of individual circulating estrogen levels by hair relaxer/skin lightener exposure categories.
resultsOf the 585 postmenopausal women included in our analysis, 80.2% reported hair relaxer use and 29.4% skin lightener use. Ever hair relaxer use was positively associated with estriol (adjusted GM 95.4 pmol/L vs. never 74.5, p value = 0.02) and 16-epiestriol (20.4 vs. 16.8, p value = 0.05) particularly among users of lye-based hair relaxers. Positive associations between scalp burns and unconjugated estrogens were observed (e.g., unconjugated estrone: 5+ scalp burns 76.9 [59.6-99.2] vs. no burns 64.0 [53.7-76.3], p-trend = 0.03). No association was observed between use of skin lighteners and circulating estrogens. SIGNIFICANCE: This study presents evidence that circulating 16-pathway estrogens (i.e., estriol and 16-epiestriol) may be increased in users of lye-based hair relaxer products. Among hair relaxer users, unconjugated estrogen levels were elevated in women with a greater number of scalp burns. IMPACT STATEMENT: In this population-based study of hair relaxer and skin lightener use among postmenopausal women in Ghana, altered estrogen metabolism was observed with hair relaxer use, particularly among women using lye-based products or with a greater number of scalp burns. In contrast, skin lightener use was not associated with differences in estrogen metabolism in this population. Continued investigation of the potential biological impact on breast cancer risk of hair relaxer use is warranted.
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