Brazilian Blowout Gets Hazard Alert By OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a Hazard Alert for anyone using or working with Brazilian Blowout hair straightening products. According to a release on OSHA's website:

Federal OSHA and State OSHA programs are investigating complaints from stylists and hair salon owners about exposure to formaldehyde while using GIB LLC dba (doing business as) Brazilian Blowout products and other hair smoothing products. OSHA has found formaldehyde in the air when stylists use hair smoothing products. Some had "formaldehyde-free" on the label or did not list formaldehyde on the product label or in the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).

Under the "What is formaldehyde and how can it affect my health?" heading, OSHA explains:

Formaldehyde is a colorless, strong-smelling gas that presents a health hazard if workers are exposed. You can be exposed to formaldehyde if you breathe it into your lungs, if it gets into your eyes, or if it is contained in a product that gets onto your skin. You can also be exposed accidentally if you touch your face, eat food, or drink after using a product containing formaldehyde without first washing your hands. It can irritate the eyes and nose, and cause coughing and wheezing. Formaldehyde is a "sensitizer," which means that it can cause allergic reactions of the skin, eyes, and lungs such as asthma-like breathing problems and skin rashes and itching. When formaldehyde is in a product that gets sprayed into the eyes, it can damage the eyes and cause blindness. It is also a cancer hazard that is linked to nose and lung cancer.

Back in October, stylists at an Oregon hair salon reported difficulty breathing, nosebleeds and eye irritation after coming into contact with the formula. And most recently, the state of California "filed a proposed preliminary injunction," Women's Wear Daily writes, after Brazilian Blowout's Smoothing Solution was found to contain more than eight times the amount of permissible formaldehyde.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit organization that aims to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment, points out that six other countries, including (possibly) Canada (editor's note: we're checking on that), have pulled hair-straightening chemicals from shelves and salons due to excessive levels of formaldehyde.

EWG senior scientist David Andrews remarked, "Chemicals known to cause cancer shouldn't be hidden ingredients in any products that people inhale or apply to their skin....While not as common as a haircut, these straightening procedures happen in salons across the country each day."

OSHA says it will continue to partner with the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to assess the exact gravity of the situation.

Comments

[style-delights]

11:31 PM on 04/18/2011

I have had my hair go so very dry and danged after long term blow-drying and using falt iron. I never used Formaldehyde but still the hair were getting very rough and dry. I still blow-dry and use flatiron (I have frizzy hair), but now I have started to massage my scalp with olive oil (sometimes Vitamin E oil - from any pharmacy) and leave it in my hair for 30 minutes before washing them. I smother the ends also in the oil and then wrap a hot towel (squeezed in hot water) while I wait for the 3 minutes to be over:-). It has worked so well to smooth out the rough texture of my hair. Just posting my experience here, if anybody wants a home-remedy without any chemicals..
http://style-delights.blogspot.com/

[exPatPatti]

10:35 PM on 04/17/2011

People are defending this practice, and saying "well we use air extractors" and such... *smdh*

[LisaCACO]

04:10 PM on 04/17/2011

just get locks and enjoy your hair.

[libluv235]

12:51 PM on 04/17/2011

What about the customers who walk out of the salons with formaldehyde on their hair and scalps? Continuous ongoing exposure to formaldehyde is going to show up as illness in a few years. This product should be banned immediately.

[Jordana Lorraine Kotlus]

02:33 PM on 04/17/2011

Try doing some research. The product is not applied to the skin or scalp, if done properly, and is removed from the hair before the client leaves the salon. Unlike other smoothing treatments, which are left in the hair for 1-4 days but for some reason are not being attacked like Brazilian Blowout is...

[ZenCrusader]

08:31 PM on 04/14/2011

Does this sound familiar ? Suzette gets a haircut from a stylist that demands using a blowdryer to maintain, the blowdryer damages her hair bcuz of the extreme high heat, the stylist then suggests which expensive but advanced products she should buy for damaged hair and keep using, unless she wants her hair to turn to straw. I think it's the dirty secret of the beauty salon " business ". Am I cynical or is this true of many salons ? I know it's not true of all.

[AJW1976]

08:23 PM on 04/14/2011

"Canada (editor's note: we're checking on that), have pulled hair-straightening chemicals from shelves and salons due to excessive levels of formaldehyde."

Health Canada has, in fact, issued a recall and did so as early as October 2010. See:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/_2010/2010_182-eng.php

and:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/_2010/2010_222-eng.php

[Vatican Assassin Warlock]

07:20 PM on 04/14/2011

My first thought: "New, improved Joker products! With a new secret ingredient: Smilex. That luscious tan, those ruby lips, and hair color so natural, only your undertaker knows for sure."

[traceymarie]

05:58 PM on 04/14/2011

I have long curly(ish) hair and never felt the need to straighten it to conform to fashion. Love my hair!

[LaurieAnn]

05:22 PM on 04/14/2011

I'm finding it difficult to keep up with the times.  I thought when a woman got a 'Brazilian' there wasn't any hair left to blow out.  ;)   ;)

[jozie]

06:24 PM on 04/14/2011

And I was trying to imagine a blow dryer down there. Ouch!

[MsCanuck]

07:51 PM on 04/14/2011

All I could think of was an accident with the wax - ouch.

[Chyna Doll]

03:29 PM on 04/14/2011

I read somewhere that is takes less enbalming fluid for a dead body today compared to 50 years ago becuase we are using so much of it in out products. Its in nail polish ,perfume,etc.

[eva07]

11:01 PM on 04/14/2011

nice..

[libluv235]

01:07 PM on 04/17/2011

Likely. And those who have already started embalming themselves with this Brazilian junk will get a huge discount.

[gemini68]

01:54 PM on 04/14/2011

First the nasty brazilian bikini wax and now this...I don't know about the rest of you women but I will not be taking ANY beauty advice from Brazil!

[Royann Anderson]

01:45 PM on 04/14/2011

Just make peace with your natural curls and you don't have to be exposed to these toxic chemicals.

[nermz345]

02:55 PM on 04/14/2011

fav!

[Kelly Cloud]

04:29 PM on 04/14/2011

fanned and fav'd!!! Amen!!!!

[boymom]

01:10 PM on 04/14/2011

This is old news and more about the people who apply this treatment all day long, every day... without the proper filtration system (which my stylists has - a giant vacuum hose is sucking air the whole time).

As for the BB: Best thing I EVER did. Only wish it existed years ago. Has made my "hair life" ten times easier.

And the Brazilian Blowout Zero has ZERO formaldehyde!

All hair dyes and treatments are "bad" on some level

[Kelly Cloud]

04:32 PM on 04/14/2011

I think they lied about the formaldehyde.

[Jordana Lorraine Kotlus]

02:27 PM on 04/15/2011

@Kelly BB Zero is a new product with accredited test results showing it is 100% formaldehyde-free. The original is still under debate but the loophole seems to be that a product can be labeled "formaldehyde-free" if it has less than a designated, small amount. Just like a "fat-free" snack may have up to a half gram per serving. BB's research shows they are below that level, other tests have challenged that, and the investigation is ongoing.

[Jordana Lorraine Kotlus]

02:24 PM on 04/15/2011

Thank you for this informed, intelligent comment! I also do BB using an air filtration system and my clients and I are all pleased with the environment it provides!

[libluv235]

12:53 PM on 04/17/2011

No filtration system will prevent toxic exposure to customers who walk out with formaldehyde on their hair and skin

[smalkan]

12:58 PM on 04/14/2011

Also see the new Environmental Working Group report which reveals that FDA has known for YEARS about the problems with Brazilian Blowout. Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act uncovered many consumer complaints about hair loss, blistering, rashes and other harmful effects experienced by people who used formaldehyde hair straighteners like Brazilian Blowout. The report also surveys top salons and found that many salons are misinformed (and misinforming their customers) about the true risks of these products. Check it out http://www.ewg.org/hair-straighteners/ -- and thanks to EWG for another invaluable analysis!

[inthelandoftheblind]

11:23 PM on 04/15/2011

Thanks again for this link too.Seems the FDA has lots of 'splainin to do!

[libluv235]

01:05 PM on 04/17/2011

The FDA is late to this charade. Brazilian hair straighteners are toxic. Formaldehyde should not be applied directly to living things. The Japanese straightner is the same. Listen to the people whose job it is to attempt to protect the public. Is your health worth six months of straight hair? By the way, your hair won't look so great after a couple of years of applying that toxin to it. And you health insurance premiums will take a hit due to all the crazy health problems that appear our of nowhere. Like tanning beds, Brazilian hair treatments will cause cancer.

[SworldPeas]

11:46 AM on 04/14/2011

The shampoo Jennifer Aniston uses Alterna's TEN shampoo has formaldehyde in it.

[IsabelRingin]

11:51 AM on 04/14/2011

What would be the benefit of formaldehyde in shampoo? What does it do?

[SworldPeas]

11:55 AM on 04/14/2011

it is a preservative, an embalming agent. it is listed as DMDM Hydantoin in the ingredients

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient/702500/FORMALDEHYDE/