Coping with Hair Loss

When I moved into my dorm, I brought most of my possessions–clothes, blankets, pillows, chargers, bluetooth speakers, a computer, a trash can, towels–everything I needed. But there was one thing I forgot: Shampoo. And so, during the first week of class, I set out to solve this problem by going to Target to buy a bottle of shampoo. However, when I got there, I looked through the aisles and aisles of shampoo options and couldn’t find the Dove Men and Care that I had been using for years. Nor could I find any other brands that I recognized, except for this blue bottle of Johnson and Johnson OGX shampoo, which I knew I had seen before, but I couldn’t remember where, and so I bought it. About a week later, while in the shower washing my hair and noticing a larger-than-normal amount of it falling out, it hit me–I recognized the shampoo because it was part of a huge lawsuit a couple of years ago for making your hair fall out. Yikes! 

The day before my shopping trip, I had my first day of classes. In my STS class, I participated in an enlightening discussion about Linsey Mar proving the CDC wrong and changing the treatment plan for COVID-19. This discussion left me with a general distrustful feeling towards governmental regulatory agencies, so when I began worrying about whether or not I was about to go bald, it didn’t give me much satisfaction knowing that the shampoo was FDA approved. 

This motivated me to do some of my own research. According to the class action lawsuit filed against Johnson and Johnson, one specific ingredient, intended to be a preservative and antimicrobial agent, was responsible for the problems. This ingredient, DMDM hydantoin, has been linked to allergies, rashes, and hair loss. However, as I continued researching, the story only got worse. Not only did DMDM hydantoin cause these problems, but it also released formaldehyde, a chemical that is widely known to cause cancer. How could so many people blindly rub these terrible chemicals into their scalp each day? How is this legal? 

Finally, I found a statement from September of 2021 stating that Johnson and Johnson claimed to have removed DMDM hydantoin from all of their hair products. This made me feel a little better, but the fact still remained that my hair was definitely falling out at an alarming rate. This could have been due to a variety of different factors as well–the incredibly soft city water, the lack of nutrition I was getting from Fountain Dining Hall–but the fact of the matter is, I have since switched back to my Dove Men and Care and the hair loss problems seem to be gone. 

Through this shampoo charade, I have learned that it’s important to do research on everything you buy, especially things that will go directly on your skin. The engineers at Johnson and Johnson were tasked with making a product that wouldn’t become moldy if left in the shower for months on end. They succeeded in this task by using DMDM hydantoin, however, they neglected to consider this chemical’s effect on the consumer. As future engineers, we must consider the full effects of our work. As everyday civilians, we must become informed buyers so that we don’t accidentally wake up one morning with a bald head.