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- Title
Use of Chemical Hair Straighteners and Fecundability in a North American Preconception Cohort.
- Authors
Wise, Lauren A; Wang, Tanran R; Ncube, Collette N; Lovett, Sharonda M; Abrams, Jasmine; Boynton-Jarrett, Renée; Koenig, Martha R; Geller, Ruth J; Wesselink, Amelia K; Coleman, Chad M; Hatch, Elizabeth E; James-Todd, Tamarra
- Abstract
Chemical hair straighteners ("relaxers") are used by millions of North Americans, particularly women of color. Hair relaxers may contain endocrine-disrupting compounds, which can harm fertility. We evaluated the association between hair relaxer use and fecundability among 11,274 participants from Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), a North American preconception cohort study. During 2014–2022, participants completed a baseline questionnaire in which they reported their history of relaxer use and completed follow-up questionnaires every 8 weeks for 12 months or until pregnancy, whichever came first. We used multivariable-adjusted proportional probabilities regression models to estimate fecundability ratios (FRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Relative to never use, fecundability was lower among current (FR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.64, 1.03) and former (FR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81, 0.98) users of hair relaxers. FRs for first use of hair relaxers at ages <10, 10–19, and ≥20 years were 0.73 (95% CI: 0.55, 0.96), 0.93 (95% CI: 0.83, 1.04), and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.98), respectively. Fecundability was lowest among those with longer durations of use (≥10 years vs. never: FR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.54, 0.91) and more frequent use (≥5 times/year vs. never: FR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.60, 1.11), but associations were nonmonotonic. In this preconception cohort study, use of chemical hair straighteners was associated with slightly reduced fecundability.
- Subjects
NORTH America; CONFIDENCE intervals; BLACK people; TIME; MULTIVARIATE analysis; HAIR care products; REGRESSION analysis; INFERTILITY; FERTILITY; QUESTIONNAIRES; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; DATA analysis software; NORTH Americans; PRECONCEPTION care; LONGITUDINAL method; ENDOCRINE disruptors
- Publication
American Journal of Epidemiology, 2023, Vol 192, Issue 7, p1066
- ISSN
0002-9262
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/aje/kwad079