Renal complications of hair-straightening products; a public awareness

Systemic absorption of glycolic acid derivatives and formaldehyde causes acute renal failure after hair-straightening products. Oxalate is an end product of glyoxylic acid, which is a metabolite of glycolic acid. The dominant finding on kidney biopsy in the reported cases was acute oxalate nephropathy, which is caused by strengthened levels of oxalate that progress calcium oxalate precipitation in various tissues, comprising the renal tissue, developing toxic damage to the renal tubules and interstitium.