内容摘要：Casey Means has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency program, saying she became disillusioned with traditional medicine. She founded a health tech company, Levels, that helps users track blood sugar and other metrics. She also makes money from dietary supplements, creams, teas and other products sponsored on her social media accounts.

Casey Means has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency program, saying she became disillusioned with traditional medicine. She founded a health tech company, Levels, that helps users track blood sugar and other metrics. She also makes money from dietary supplements, creams, teas and other products sponsored on her social media accounts.

Javon Ford, a cosmetic chemist who talks about his work on social media, questioned the report’s findings, saying “the data set is so limited.” Consumer Reports only sampled two of each product, despite thousands on the market.James Rogers, the head of product safety at Consumer Reports who led the study, said his hope was to get the information out there because of the lack of research. He noted that it was a pilot project, but that “we thought the results were important enough to start the conversation.”

Research published in 2020 in the journal Environmental Health Insights showed synthetic hair let off volatile organic compounds — chemicals that can easily evaporate into the air — when heated. Synthetic hair is sealed when braided, either by burning it or dipping it in hot water. That study detected many of the same chemicals named in the Consumer Reports study, like the known carcinogen benzene.Experts can’t answer whether the products are truly safe — but that’s because there’s so little research out there.There’s also little government oversight on the products, which leaves manufacturers to ensure that they’re safe. Consumer Reports is petitioning the Food and Drug Administration to begin regulating synthetic braiding hair.

Jasmine McDonald, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University who has studied the health impacts of chemical hair straighteners, said the Consumer Reports study shouldn’t invoke fear but awareness about the potential harms of braiding hair, the lack of federal regulations and the minimal research.“I think that in our culture, we sometimes normalize things to the point where we don’t see the harm ... the more that we can raise awareness that some of these cultural routines could potentially provide harm is us having the potential to stop that harm,” McDonald said.

If you’re concerned about using synthetic braiding hair or straightening chemicals, there are other hairstyles to try.

You can use Brazilian wool hair instead of synthetic hair, said Gloria Okpurukre, who owns Anointed Fingers braiding salon in Fayetteville, Georgia. You can also braid your real hair, but don’t expect the same results.Melissa Rivers recalled how swiftly the

spread, forcing the county’s Ready, Set, Go evacuation plan to essentially skip straight to “Set.” That left her with little time to gather her most valued possessions before fleeing her home.When the final warning arrived, Rivers said Tuesday, “The fire was still a canyon away, but you could clearly see the flames.”

In the rush to evacuate, she quickly gathered her pets and a few sentimental items, including her late mother’ Emmy Award. “I grabbed both my parents’ watches and my dad’s dress watch,” which she had given to her son Cooper for his 18th birthday.