Contact:
Sian Wu, sian@resource-media.org, 206-701-4734, @sian_i_am
Cassidy Randall, cassidyr@womensvoices.org, 406-543-3747, @women4earth
LOS ANGELES-- Health advocates and salon workers are ramping up pressure on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to remove the keratin hair-straightening products Brazilian Blowout from the marketplace in light of a legal settlement announced today in a California court against the company that makes the product.
The manufacturers of Brazilian Blowout and Acai Professional Smoothing Solution must stop false advertising and put warning labels on their products, telling users that the product releases formaldehyde gas. The settlement with California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office is the first enforcement by U.S. government authorities to address formaldehyde in these products. Labeling is an important step in getting salon workers and owners the information they deserve, but formaldehyde is still legally allowed in products. Formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen, according to the U.S. National Toxicology Program, and it can cause both acute and long-term health effects in sensitive persons, including breathing difficulties, bloody noses and nausea.
The National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance is encouraging stylists and salon owners who have experienced health symptoms after being exposed to Brazilian Blowout-style hair straighteners to write letters to the FDA sharing their experience through this website: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2708/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9308.
Some stylists have already written letters to FDA, which can be viewed here: http://nailsalonalliance.org/stylist-stories
“Every day, salon workers across the U.S. are being exposed to dangerous levels of formaldehyde from hair smoothing products that have been banned for over a year in Canada and other countries,” said Alexandra Scranton of the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance. “It’s time for the FDA to take a stand against this company that has a history of deception and consumer disregard.”
Stylists who regularly perform Brazilian Blowout treatments are exposed to formaldehyde gas at levels well in excess of the state’s Proposition 65 warning threshold, according to the California AG’s lawsuit. The lawsuit accused Brazilian Blowout of violating several state laws by falsely marketing the products as “salon safe” and “formaldehyde free,” failing to provide accurate Material Safety Data Sheets, and selling products with volatile organic compounds in excess of allowable limits under state regulations.
“The Brazilian Blowout scandal is the perfect case study to showcase our broken regulatory system,” said Jennifer Goeres-Arce, a hair stylist in the San Diego area who contributed evidence for the state’s lawsuit against the company. “A year after other countries banned Brazilian Blowout, countless salon workers in the U.S. have been unnecessarily exposed to formaldehyde, and we are just now getting around to requiring the company to be honest about the risks of their products. It’s time to give the FDA the power and resources to protect the American public from toxic chemicals in cosmetics.”
The Alliance is asking FDA to remove Brazilian Blowout products from the marketplace and to ban formaldehyde from all hair products.
More info: http://www.womensvoices.org/making-products-safe/safe-cosmetics-salons/safe-cosmetics-act
News coverage:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57368707/brazilian-blowout-case-raises-safety-concerns/
http://notjustaprettyface.org/blog/brazilian-blowout-perfect-case-study-for-our-broken-system
Twitter:
Brazilian Blowout finally admits their product can cause cancer bit.ly/A2y62q
Are you a salon worker who’s gotten sick from Brazilian Blowout? Tell @US_FDA at www.womensvoices.org.
Warning labels aren't enough for Brazilian Blowout, tell @US_FDA that it needs to recall, as other countries have! www.womensvoices.org
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