Nearly 12,000 women allege L'Oréal hair relaxers caused uterine and ovarian cancer

Case

Defendant

L'Oréal USA / SoftSheen-Carson; Revlon; Strength of Nature; Namaste, et al.

Plaintiff

≈11,900 individual plaintiffs (In re: Hair Relaxer Litigation)

Court

U.S. District Court, N.D. Ill. (MDL No. 3060, Judge Mary M. Rowland)

Filed

Oct 21, 2022

Status

Ongoing

Outcome

pending — no settlements; general-causation Daubert briefed, first bellwether trials expected 2027

Industry

Personal care

The Allegation

Following a 2022 NIH Sister Study linking chemical hair relaxers to more than double the uterine cancer risk, nearly 12,000 actions against L'Oréal and other relaxer makers are consolidated in MDL 3060 (N.D. Ill.), alleging phthalates and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals cause uterine, endometrial, and ovarian cancer. Core claims survived dismissal in 2023; general-causation expert challenges were fully briefed in spring 2026, ten bellwether trial cases were selected in April 2026, and the first trials are expected in 2027. No settlements exist.

Scout Impact

L'Oréal's largest carcinogen litigation — not benzene, but the same pattern Scout exists to surface: endocrine-disrupting chemicals in everyday personal-care products marketed as safe, with the science now being tested in court.