7月6日VOA聽力：非洲女性護發用品抗癌身分堪憂
This may look like a typical hair salon in Abuja. Butit’s not. We specialize in maintaining and taking careof the natural hair. What the everyday people call thevirgin hair, the hair that hasn’t been relaxed, like thehair you were born with. At the Lumo Hair Salon,hairdressers use natural-based ingredients andavoid using heat on the hair of their clients. Heatcan dry or damage hair. One of the reasons why this salon came up is because people had a lotof issues taking care of their natural hair. Hair is big business in Nigeria. Beauty stores displaya wide range of hair products mainly imported from the United States. But some of theingredients in these kinds of products are coming under scrutiny. In a new report, BlackWomen for Wellness, an NGO based in Los Angeles, compiled five years of research and saysthat chemicals used in some hair products are linked to uterine fibroids in black women andgirls. Products including relaxers, shampoos and hair dyes are mentioned in the study ascontaining toxic ingredients. The World Health Organization has warned that hairdressers maybe routinely exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. But the American Cancer Association saysstudies have not found a strong link between cancer and hair products and recommends moreresearch. In 2011, a health agency of the U.S. Department of Labor found that some “hairsmoothing” products may release unsafe levels of formaldehyde, which is toxic. Dr. OluwakemiOsunderu has been doing her own research, conducting a poll asking Nigerian women aboutthe experiences with synthetic hair products. She says common complaints are hair loss andburns on the scalp. She says black women are more at risk because they tend to use hairproducts frequently over a longer period of time and therefore have higher exposure levels tothe chemicals. You find some harmful products in them like the thalates and the parabens.These have been linked to cancer, especially breast cancer. Enter the natural hair movement.Natural hair activists gathered together at the first African Hair Summit in Abuja. It’s healthfirst, then beauty or fashion. Locally manufactured products made with natural ingredients likepure shea butter and coconut oil were on display. And while interest may be growing, theseproducts are still far from mainstream in Nigeria.
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