Beauty buzz: Hair straightening products on the chopping block

The reason: Concern over health and safety issues surrounding one of the key ingredients, a form of the chemical formaldehyde. Exposure issues have included not just an increased risk of hair loss, but also nose bleeds, difficulty breathing, and an increased risk of cancer, affecting both workers who apply the treatment, and customers who receive it. 

 

Although the US has legislation in place to protect consumers against unsafe beauty products - it’s called the Safe Cosmetics Act – many experts believe it’s not tight enough when it comes to keeping hazardous chemicals out of the mainstream.   

 

Indeed, 10 members of congress including Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and 7 others   are urging the FDA to take immediate action to remove formaldehyde-containing hair straighteners, including the popular “Brazilian Blowout” treatment. 

 

 “American consumers and workers should not be blown over by a Brazilian blowout’s toxic fumes. High levels of formaldehyde in hair straighteners pose a serious hazard to the health and safety of hair salon patrons and workers. The Food and Drug Administration must immediately call for a voluntary recall of these potentially carcinogenic hair straightening products and continue to evaluate whether to ban formaldehyde from hair straighteners altogether,’ said Representative Markey. 

 

"We urgently need to close the gaping holes in the outdated federal law that allows hazardous chemicals in cosmetics products," added Jan Schakowsky, Illinois Congress representative, who also signed the letter. 

 

Interestingly, it should be noted that on the website BrazilianBlowout.com,  the ingredients in this product do not contain the specific chemical formaldehyde, and in fact, the salons who offer the treatment, frequently state on their websites that their Brazilian Blowout treatments are "Formaldehyde Free".  

 

However, in a civil lawsuit filed last month by Calfornia Atty. General Jerry Brown against GIB, the makers of Brazilian Blowout, he contends the company is virtually hiding behind false claims - and hiding the formaldehyde in their products. 

 

GIB responded by saying that the levels of formaldehyde contained in Brazilian Blowout  are low enough to warrant the "Formaldehyde -free" label.  They contend that when used correctly their product is safe. 

 

While the products in question fall under the heading of keratin-based straighteners, keratin in and of itself is not harmful. Found naturally in healthy hair and nails it poses no dangers.  

 

However, what reportedly  gives the treatment its straightening power is not the keratin, but the formaldehyde, and the more it contains the more powerful and effective the treatment will be. Although most companies, like GIB, say their products contain less than the 2% level of formaldehyde considered safe to use, that margin of safety is now in question.

 

Complicating matters further: The report that  many salons are now mixing their own versions, or pumping up the premixed formulas with additional formaldehyde – and this, say experts is where the real problems may lie.

 

"Our investigation into the misleading claims and horror stories of this industry shows that this federal action cannot come soon enough,” Jane Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group recently told CosmeticsDesign.com, the leading cosmetic industry publication. 

 

Last month the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) took a stand to protect workers by issuing a “hazard alert” letter, warning of the dangers of formaldehyde exposure.  

 

This comes on the heels of another made by National Academy of Sciences whose findings upheld those of the Environmental Protection Agency, who determined quite some ago the health dangers linked to formaldehyde exposure, including an increased risk of several cancers. 

 

Hair products not the only risk 

While formaldehyde in hair products is the current issue on tap, this is not the first time this hazardous chemical has come under fire.  Indeed in 2006 nail polish manufacturers buckled to environmental concerns about hazardous chemicals –including formaldehyde -   by voluntarily agreeing to remove them. 

 

Beginning today – and running through May 19th – the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative has organized Health Salons Week of Action in Washington, DC.  This will include a Tri-Caucus congressional briefing on salon worker health and safety, a roundtable hosted by the EPA and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Lobby Days and Hill visits conducted by advocates and salon workers who regularly face chemical challenges from the potentially harmful chemicals – including formaldehyde derivatives –still found in many products.  

 

The “fake wood” furniture industry has also been blamed for the “off gassing” of formaldehyde fumes that result from  resins used to make some products – fumes that have been linked in  some studies to an increase in childhood asthma, as well as other breathing problems. 

 

What’s interesting to note however, is that while formaldehyde itself is being blamed for these health concerns, in reality, this chemical is really a gas that can’t be blended with liquids.   So the real issue may not be the formaldehyde itself, but rather that of the chemical combinations which result from formaldehyde derivatives. 

 

Currently, six other nations have recalled or banned the use of formaldehyde-based hair straighteners.  Under the current law the FDA may issue a voluntary recall for these products here in the United States,  but that has yet to happen.