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. 2021 May;31(3):476-486.
doi: 10.1038/s41370-021-00335-3. Epub 2021 May 6.

Hormonal activity in commonly used Black hair care products: evaluating hormone disruption as a plausible contribution to health disparities

Tamarra James-Todd #  1   2   3 , Lisa Connolly #  4 , Emma V Preston  5 , Marlee R Quinn  5 , Monika Plotan  4 , Yuling Xie  4 , Bharathi Gandi  5 , Shruthi Mahalingaiah  5   6
Affiliations

Hormonal activity in commonly used Black hair care products: evaluating hormone disruption as a plausible contribution to health disparities

Tamarra James-Todd et al. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2021 May.

Abstract

Background: Certain types of hair products are more commonly used by Black women. Studies show hair products contain several endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are associated with adverse health outcomes. As chemical mixtures of endocrine disruptors, hair products may be hormonally active, but this remains unclear.

Objective: To assess the hormonal activity of commonly used Black hair products.

Methods: We identified six commonly used hair products (used by >10% of the population) from the Greater New York Hair Products Study. We used reporter gene assays (RGAs) incorporating natural steroid receptors to evaluate estrogenic, androgenic, progestogenic, and glucocorticoid hormonal bioactivity employing an extraction method using bond elution prior to RGA assessment at dilutions from 50 to 500.

Results: All products displayed hormonal activity, varying in the amount and effect. Three samples showed estrogen agonist properties at levels from 12.5 to 20 ng/g estradiol equivalent concentrations All but one sample showed androgen antagonist properties at levels from 20 to 25 ng/g androgen equivalent concentrations. Four samples showed antagonistic and agonistic properties to progesterone and glucocorticoid.

Significance: Hair products commonly used by Black women showed hormonal activity. Given their frequent use, exposure to hormonally active products could have implications for health outcomes and contribute to reproductive and metabolic health disparities.

Keywords: Androgen receptor; Estrogen receptor; Glucocorticoid receptor; Hair preparations; Personal care products; Progesterone receptor.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Response of the A) sample 1 (hair lotion), 2 (leave-in conditioner), 3 (leave-in conditioner), and B) sample 4 (hair oil), 5 (root stimulator), 6 (hair oil) as assessed by the estrogen responsive MMV-Luc reporter gene cell line and compared with the negative control. NC, negative control; PC, positive control (0.5 ng/mL E2); a, spiked with positive control before extraction; b, spiked with positive control after extraction.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Response of the A) sample 1 (hair lotion), 2 (leave-in conditioner), 3 (leave-in conditioner), and B) sample 4 (hair oil), 5 (root stimulator), 6 (hair oil) as assessed by the androgen responsive TARM-Luc reporter gene cell line and compared with the negative control. NC, negative control; PC, positive control (2.9 ng/mL testosterone); a, spiked with positive control before extraction; b, spiked with positive control after extraction.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Response of the A) sample 1 (hair lotion), 2 (leave-in conditioner), 3 (leave-in conditioner), and B) sample 4 (hair oil), 5 (root stimulator), 6 (hair oil) as assessed by the androgen responsive TM-Luc reporter gene cell line and compared with the negative control. NC, negative control; PC, positive control (5 ng/mL progesterone); a, spiked with positive control before extraction; b, spiked with positive control after extraction.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Response of the A) sample 1 (hair lotion), 2 (leave-in conditioner), 3 (leave-in conditioner), and B) sample 4 (hair oil), 5 (root stimulator), 6 (hair oil) as assessed by the androgen responsive TM-Luc reporter gene cell line and compared with the negative control. NC, negative control; PC, positive control (100 ng/mL cortisol); a, spiked with positive control before extraction; b, spiked with positive control after extraction.
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References

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