Could Your Braids Be Poisoning You? Inside The Toxic Synthetic Hair Investigation | TSR Investigates
Written by 96motero on October 30, 2025
Could the style that’s protecting our hair be putting us in danger? Mega companies selling synthetic hair found at beauty supply stores are now under scrutiny — with customers reporting “burning” scalps and skin lesions. From benzene to lead to acetone and other harmful chemicals, what’s really in the synthetic hair that we’re putting on our heads?
Now, The Shade Room’s Justin Carter is going undercover to get some answers on ‘TSR Investigates.’
Are The Braids Poisoning Us?
This special episode of ‘TSRI’ kicks off with host Justin Carter at Nadine’s Braiding Shop in Bowie, Maryland: a major purchaser and 24/7 installer of synthetic braiding hair. But is the braiding hair making consumers sick? Some seem to think so.
According to a study conducted by Consumer Reports, all of the synthetic braiding hair tested by the organization contained multiple carcinogens. Three brands tested positive for benzene, which is connected to acute myeloid leukemia. Meanwhile, nine of them tested positive for lead.
Per Carter, the amount of lead found in these products was “astronomically higher” than the “maximum allowable dose level.”
“There’s no safe level of lead,” Dr. James Rogers, the CR’s director of product testing and research, told Carter. “So if we detect lead in food. We want it out of food… we think we should consider there should be no lead in artificial braiding hair.”
More On The Toxic Synthetic Hair Investigation
As the episode unfolds, Carter touches down in Atlanta to stop by Zoet Beauty Supply and speak with its co-owners about the matter. One of the ladies informs Carter about an at-home remedy some consumers have used to “strip” the synthetic hair of chemicals and irritants. But is it actually a solution?
Scroll above to watch as Carter gets answers and even asks his sources the tough questions about their study. Are these findings enough to rule out the use of synthetic hair? Or is there more investigating to be done? Lastly, Carter also catches up with one of the heads of a major synthetic braiding hair company, Sensational, for more answers.
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