Are Braiding Hair Products Safe? Consumer Reports Findings Raise Questions

This article was originally published on Consumer Reports titled “We Found Heavy Metals and VOCs in CR’s Follow-Up Braiding Hair Investigation.“

When Consumer Reports published findings from tests conducted on several synthetic braiding hair products in 2025, we detected heavy metals like lead in 90 percent and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), potentially dangerous chemicals, in 100 percent of the samples.

On social media, Black women—the primary users of these products—expressed a mix of anger, disbelief, indifference, and, mostly, frustration with the results. For so many who switched to wearing braids after learning that chemicals in relaxers may be linked to cancer, this news was like a gut punch.

“You try to leave the chemicals of the creamy crack [relaxers] only to be exposed to something more sinister,” one Instagram user wrote on a repost. Another shared on Consumer Reports’ TikTok, “This hair needs to be taken off the shelves immediately,” while another commented on The Shade Room’s TikTok, “If they are this bad how are they allowed to be sold?”

These comments were among a litany of horror stories from Black women about rashes, sores, excessive itching, swelling, burning, and even suspected hair loss from wearing braids done with braiding hair. Another striking response was consumer-to-consumer recommendations to switch to human hair (and, in some cases, vegan or plant-based braiding hair). That’s what Kay W., a commercial leasing consultant in North Carolina, did.

“I noticed every time that my hair was braided with Kanekalon hair, by day one the itch was so bad,” she says. “Most times I would experience red bumps . . . it would be more like a chemical burn. I used to blame the [hair care] product, but once I reverted back to just grease the problem was still there.” She went on to say that once she switched to human hair, her scalp had “no reaction at all.”

Hairstylist Sinurae Trippett took down her “cute braids” after seeing the test results on social media, and, “though tempted,” has not gone back since. “Now I just twist and plait my own hair and put it up or do twistouts,” she tells CR.

In early 2025 readers asked CR to test human hair and braiding hair brands that claim to be safer, such as Gyal and Rebundle. 

And that’s just what CR did. In late 2025, CR tested 30 products, including human hair, popular plant-based hair, and additional synthetic braiding hair products that we hadn’t tested previously.

Top Findings

All but one sample contained heavy metals. Lead was detected in 29 of the 30 products we tested, and human hair was by far the worst offender.

One hundred percent of the products also contained VOCs, including acetone, a respiratory irritant, and low levels of carcinogens (toxins that may be linked to cancer).

Brands that make claims about safety or quality of ingredients contained contaminants, too, although at sometimes lower levels than many other products tested.

It all highlights the question that several consumers posted: Is there a braiding hair product on the market that doesn’t include potentially harmful chemicals? 

“During this testing effort, we identified products that had smaller amounts down to undetectable amounts of the heavy metals. This suggests that in the production of synthetic braiding hair, these products can be made without being contaminated with these potentially harmful chemicals,” says James E. Rogers, PhD, director and head of product safety testing at CR, who also highlighted that in the 2025 report, seven out of 10 products came back negative for benzene, a known carcinogen that can cause acute myeloid leukemia. 

Rogers also has a personal interest in testing braiding hair: His two adult daughters have worn braids for years, and finding safer products is a priority for him.

How CR Tested Braiding Hair

So, how did CR come to choose this topic in the first place? We went straight to the source: Black women. We spoke with multiple Black-led organizations to understand which products are cause for concern in their everyday lives. Braiding hair was high on the list for many women, and CR has continued partnering with these organizations from the first investigation and now this one.

To help identify products to test for both investigations, we held listening sessions with several Black-led organizations and their members. For this second investigation, CR also reviewed thousands of social media comments requesting testing for specific products after the first investigation was published.

After collecting product names from organizations and social media, CR identified other products that came with claims, either on the label or on the website, that they were safer or less irritating. We chose 30 braiding hair products, representing a cross-section of popular, nationally available brands that were in stock at the time of purchase, including human, plant-based, and synthetic hair. (For the purpose of this story, any hair type that is not human hair will be referred to as artificial or synthetic.)

Rogers and his team of scientists tested three samples each of the 30 braiding hair products from 29 brands (90 samples total). All of the products, which were purchased across several popular online retailers, were shades of black or dark brown. The team analyzed the samples for heavy metals—arsenic, cadmium, and lead—VOCs, and microbiological contamination. The reported results are the average of all three samples. 

“The response from consumers included questions as to whether or not alternative products had the same issues with heavy metals or VOCs as the first study,” says Rogers, explaining why his team decided to test human hair and plant-based braiding hair options. “Also, we included some products that made claims on their label, such as being organic, in order to determine if that made a difference.”

The test assessed whether the chemicals were present and how much of each was present—many of the products didn’t meet their label claims of being nontoxic or chemical-free. Similar to the earlier investigation, Rogers’ team used a hand-to-mouth transfer route/exposure model evaluation (rather than inhalation or absorption) for several reasons: 

One of the reasons for choosing this pathway lies in the hair braiding salons. If you’ve ever gotten your hair braided, you may also be aware of how often braiders go from handling braiding hair to touching their face, wiping their mouth, or, as my stylists in the past have done, putting “something in their stomachs,” aka eating a snack, between clients or while one is under the dryer. Although it’s unhygienic, some braiders sometimes also put the clients’ braids in their mouths to help hold up longer braids, enabling them to complete the braid more easily.

Also, babies and infants, who put pretty much anything they can grab into their mouths at some point, love to grab hair—say, while being held—to give it a taste, too. Further, as more toddlers and younger children are getting their hair braided with these products, the likelihood that a segment of the consumer population is putting the hair directly in their mouths increases. Because the toxins in these products—such as lead and arsenic—are especially harmful to children, it’s of utmost importance to ensure cleaner ingredients. 

Let’s not forget the people who braid their own hair. Again, the longer the braids, the more challenging it becomes to complete the braid down to the ends of the hair. To mitigate this, people sometimes hold their hair in their mouths while braiding the bottom portion.

Finally, for continuity from the first investigation to this one, we repeated the same model evaluation.

See the full breakdown of our methodology (PDF).