Kenya’s Senate has opened an inquiry into the alleged sale of “harmful” L’Oréal beauty products.
The move follows a petition by Senator Mohamed Chute to the Senate Committee of Health calling for investigations into the sale of “harmful hair relaxers and bleaching substances” by the company.
Chute, who represents Marsabit, a county in the north of the country, called for the Senate to investigate whether ingredients used by L’Oréal to manufacture and preserve hair relaxers and bleaching substances contain carcinogens, such as formaldehyde.
He added: “The committee should clarify whether the company exercises consumer protection and risk assessment by labelling the chemicals used in the products and if they perform risk assessment to minimise the risk of human contact allergic reactions.”
Chute also asked the committee, chaired by Senator Jackson Mandago, to “establish all complaints of [those] experiencing side effects after the use of L’Oréal beauty products and give data on those who’ve been compensated, if any”.
Finally, he pushed for an investigation into whether such products are on the market legally and whether they’re “disproportionately skewed against the black African population”.
The country’s Senate Committee of Health now has 60 days to investigate the claims and report back to the House for consideration.
In the US, L’Oréal and other major beauty companies, including Revlon and Godrej, have faced legal action over claims their hair relaxer products contain “harmful, toxic and carcinogenic ingredients”.
The companies’ lawyers have called the claims “vague” and based on “unsupported conclusions”.