Occupational exposures among hairdressers and the occurrence of hormone-related conditions
Menée à partir de données de "the Sister Study" portant sur 50 800 femmes, cette étude analyse le risque de maladies liées aux hormones (fibrome, endométriose, cancers du sein, de l’utérus et de l’ovaire) chez les femmes ayant déjà exercé le métier de coiffeuse
Objective: To investigate the association between hairdresser exposures and hormone-related conditions.
Methods: Using data from 50 800 eligible Sister Study participants (enrolled 2003–2009, aged 35–74 years), we estimated ORs and 95% CIs for associations between ever working as a hairdresser (n=1803) and prevalent fibroids, endometriosis, hysterectomy and oophorectomy. We estimated HRs and 95% CI for incident fibroids, endometriosis, breast, uterine and ovarian cancers among ever hairdressers versus never hairdressers. We also examined associations of hormone-related diseases and professional use of products such as bleach, perms, chemical straighteners, permanent hair colour, hairspray, barbicide, formaldehyde and alcohol, comparing data from 985 long-term hairdressers who worked ≥2 years to non-long-term hairdressers (never workers and those working <2 years).
Results: Ever-hairdressers were more likely than never-hairdressers to have had a prebaseline hysterectomy (OR=1.23: 95% CI 1.11 to 1.36). Hysterectomies were more common among long-term hairdressers with more frequent applications of perms, chemical straighteners and permanent hair colour compared with less frequent applicators or never hairdressers. Ever-hairdressers had higher rates of incident endometriosis (477 cases, HR=1.61: 95% CI 1.08 to 2.38) compared with never-hairdressers, but there were no notable associations between working as a hairdresser and fibroids (1805 cases, HR=1.04: 95% CI 0.80 to 1.34), breast cancer (4628 cases, HR=0.98: 95% CI 0.83 to 1.16), ovarian cancer (300 cases, HR=1.33: 95% CI 0.77 to 2.29) or uterine cancer (447 cases, HR=1.04: 95% CI 0.60 to 1.77). In race-stratified analyses, Black hairdressers were more likely to be diagnosed with fibroids than Black never-hairdressers (201 cases, HR=1.56: 95% CI 0.93 to 2.62).
Conclusions: Hairdresser occupation was associated with increased odds of hysterectomy and increased rates of incident endometriosis and possibly fibroids among Black women.
Occupational and Environmental Medicine , article en libre accès, 2026