BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – When Consumer Reports first tested synthetic braiding hair last year, scientists found potentially dangerous heavy metals and volatile organic compounds in the vast majority of samples. James Rogers, Consumer Reports’ director of product safety, was concerned, both as a scientist and as a parent. James says, “Both of my daughters do use braids, and they do use synthetic hair for their braids… I’m very concerned about their exposure to these chemicals when they choose to wear braids.”
In a new investigation, Consumer Reports tested thirty additional braiding hair products, including human hair, plant-based hair, and other synthetic braiding hair products.
All thirty products also contained VOCs, including acetone and small amounts of known carcinogens. Almost every product tested contained heavy metals. Lead was detected in twenty-nine of thirty products, and all nine human hair products CR tested contained lead concentrations far above CR’s level of concern…