Color of Change is looking on retailers to drag and audit their Black hair product assortments following an October study by The National Institutes of Health that found using chemical hair straighteners — or relaxers, which is most prevalent amongst Black women — is related to an increased risk of uterine cancer.

The study, which included data from 33,497 U.S. women ages 34 to 74, found that ladies who reported frequent use of hair-straightening products (defined as over 4 times within the previous yr), were greater than twice as prone to develop uterine cancer than their counterparts.

The study notes that while uterine cancer only accounts for roughly 3 percent of all cancer cases and is thus considered “relatively rare,” its incidence rate has been rising within the U.S., particularly amongst Black women.

Color of Change, which has previously launched campaigns for the protection of abortion rights and urged corporations to deal with discriminatory hair policies, has launched a petition calling on major retailers including Goal, Giant, Food Lion and ShopRite to remove and audit any potentially toxic hair products of their assortment.

“We’re going to the retailers because they’ve a responsibility for the products they’re selling to people,” said Jade Magnus Ogunnaike. ““Especially corporations like Goal, who do huge Black History Month and HBCU activations — this can be a space where they’ll really put their money where their mouth is. It’s not about marketing to Black people, it’s about selling products which can be secure to Black people.”

Ogunnaike also cited a 2019 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences study that used data from 47,000 women and located those that usually used chemical hair straighteners and everlasting hair dyes were 9 percent more prone to develop breast cancer than participants who didn’t.

“For those who’re working in a spot where you’re unable to wear your hair the best way it grows out of your head, and use relaxers as an economical technique to keep your hair ‘presentable’ so that you simply don’t get fired, you’re putting yourself at an increased risk of developing uterine cancer,” said Ogunnaike. “That’s one other complicated intersection on this conversation, is that Black women aren’t capable of win either way.”

In 2022, Missouri resident Jennifer Mitchell filed a lawsuit against beauty giant L’Oréal and a number of other other corporations, claiming her uterine cancer was “directly and proximately” attributable to her regular use of their hair care products.

At a news conference, Mitchell, who’s Black, said: “As most young African American girls, chemical relaxers, chemical straighteners were introduced to us at a young age. Society has made it a norm to look a certain way, with the intention to feel a certain way. And I’m the primary voice of many voices to return that can arise to those corporations, and say, ‘No more.’”