Using hair straightening chemicals more than 4 times a year can double the risk of uterine cancer

What happened: On October 17, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute released a study which discovered a link between using hair straightening chemicals and an elevated risk of uterine cancer. The study: The Sister Study, a ten-year study that examined risk factors for breast cancer and other health issues among women aged 35 to 74, provided the data for the new study, which was led by the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. It included information from nearly 34,000 American women. According to the study, women who used hair straightening chemicals more than four times a year had a greater than doubled risk of developing uterine cancer compared to women who never used them.  The stats: The Sister Study’s 378 women who were diagnosed with uterine cancer at that time were found to have particular hair-care routines in common, the researchers determined. The risk: Researchers discovered that although there was a low overall risk of uterine cancer, it seemed to rise with more exposure to the chemicals.