One day, Ronit (not his real name) developed stomach pains, shortness of breath and fatigue, and went to the doctor for blood tests. However, she did not expect that within a day she would be sent to the hospital for dialysis due to severe kidney failure.
       Of course, she did not expect that all this was due to the fact that she straightened her hair the day before.
       Like Ronit, 26 women in Israel, averaging one woman per month, were hospitalized with severe kidney failure after hair straightening treatments.
        Some of these women appear to be able to recover on their own. Others, however, require dialysis treatment.
       Some would say that of the thousands of women in Israel who straighten their hair every year, “only” 26 suffer from kidney failure.
       To this I point out that kidney failure requiring dialysis is very serious and life-threatening.
        Patients will tell you that they don’t want anyone to experience medical trauma. This is a price no one should pay for a simple cosmetic procedure.
        In the 2000s, symptoms were first reported from hair straighteners containing formalin. This is mainly due to the fumes inhaled by the stylist during the straightening process.
       These symptoms include eye irritation, breathing problems, facial rashes, shortness of breath, and pulmonary edema.
       But while modern hair straightening treatments do not contain formalin, they do contain something else: glyoxylic acid.
        This acid is absorbed through the highly vascularized scalp. Once in the bloodstream, glyoxylate is broken down into oxalic acid and calcium oxalate, which re-enter the bloodstream and eventually leave the body through the kidneys in urine.
        It’s not abnormal in itself, all people go through it to some degree, and it’s usually harmless. But when exposed to extremely high doses of glyoxylic acid, oxalic acid poisoning can occur, leading to kidney failure.
       Calcium oxalate deposits have been found in kidney cells during kidney biopsies of women who developed kidney failure after straightening their hair.
        In 2021, a three-year-old girl tried to drink hair straightener. She just tasted it and didn’t actually swallow it because it tasted bitter, but it made the girl swallow a very small amount in her mouth. The result was severe kidney failure requiring dialysis, not death.
       Following this incident, the Ministry of Health banned the issuance of licenses for all direct hair care products containing glyoxylic acid with a pH below 4.
        But another problem is that the information on the labels of straight hair products is not always reliable or completely honest. Back in 2010, an Ohio product was labeled formalin-free, but it actually contained 8.5% formalin. In 2022, Israel claimed the product was formalin-free and only contained 2% glyoxylic acid, but it actually contained 3,082 ppm formalin and 26.8% glyoxylic acid.
       Interestingly, with the exception of two cases of oxalic acidosis in Egypt, all global cases of oxalic acidosis come from Israel.
        Is the metabolism of the liver in women in “Israel” different from the rest of the world? Is the glyoxylic acid gene a little “lazy” in Israeli women? Is there an association between calcium oxalate deposits and the prevalence of hyperoxaluria? Can these patients be given the same treatment as those with type 3 hyperoxaluria?
        These questions are still being researched and we won’t know the answers for many years to come. Until then, we must not allow any woman in Israel to risk her health.
       Also, if you want to straighten your hair, there are other safer products on the market that are free of glyoxylic acid and have a valid license from the Department of Health.