Beauty giant L’Oréal could also be heading to court over its hair straightening product Hair Relaxer.

Jennifer Mitchell, a Missouri resident, has filed a lawsuit against L’Oréal and a slew of other firms, claiming that her uterine cancer was “directly and proximately” attributable to her regular and prolonged exposure to phthalates and other endocrine disrupting chemicals present in their hair care products.

Along with L’Oréal, Strength of Nature Global, Soft Sheen/Carson Inc., Dabur International Ltd., Dabur USA Inc. and NamasteLaboratories have also been named as defendants within the suit that alleges they were engaged within the research, development, manufacture, design, testing, sale and marketing of the products.

In response to the suit, Mitchell was first exposed to EDCs and/or phthalate-based products around 2000, at across the age of 10, when she began using the defendants’ product and she or he used them until 2022, following the instructions. The suit claims there was never any indication on the products packaging or otherwise that standard use could and would cause her to develop uterine cancer.

Mitchell was diagnosed with uterine cancer on Aug. 10, 2018, on the age of 28 and underwent a full hysterectomy. The suit claims that, consequently of the defendants’ acts and/or omissions, Mitchell lost her ability to have children, suffered extreme pain and suffering and extreme emotional distress.

She is searching for compensatory damages in excess of $75,000, including, but not limited to, “pain, suffering, emotional distress, lack of enjoyment of life and other non-economic damages in an amount to be determined at trial of this motion.” She can also be searching for economic damages in the shape of medical expenses, out of pocket expenses, lost earnings, amongst others, in addition to punitive damages.

A spokesman for L’Oréal didn’t immediately reply to request for comment.

The suit follows the discharge of a study from the U.S. National Institute of Environment Health Safety, which found that ladies who used chemical hair straightening products were at higher risk for uterine cancer in comparison with women who didn’t report using these products.

Roughly 60 percent of the participants who reported using straighteners within the previous yr identified as Black women, in line with the study published within the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Although, the study didn’t find that the connection between straightener use and uterine cancer incidence was different by race, the hostile health effects could also be greater for Black women as a result of higher prevalence of use, said the U.S. National Institute of Environment Health Safety.

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, in an effort to feel a certain way. And I’m the primary voice of many voices to come back that may rise up to those firms, and say, ‘No more.’”