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Hair-Straightening Formulas Under Scrutiny in Oregon More than five years ago, a revolutionary hair care treatment was developed in Brazil. Today, the name-brand Brazilian Blowout and similar keratin-straightening treatments are avail- able at many neighborhood salons. Marketed as a process for taming unmanageable hair into “wash and wear” styling, Brazilian Blowout costs between $250 and $350 per session. Oregon OSHA began investigating Brazilian Blowout late last summer after learning of complaints from salon personnel and consumers suffering from eye irritation, breathing problems, and headaches, as well as symptoms such as rashes and faint-
ing. The agency’s testing revealed that the original Brazilian
Blowout formula contained levels of formaldehyde ranging
from 6. 4 to 10. 8 percent. Testing of a secondary “formalde-
hyde-free” formula, labeled Brazilian Blowout “Acai,” found
levels of formaldehyde averaging 8. 5 percent. Federal OSHA re-
quires workplaces to take measures to protect workers from
products that contain more than 0.1 percent formaldehyde. Ma-
terial safety data sheets (MSDS) for the formulas did not indi-
cate formaldehyde as a component.
According to Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA,
the agency began an enforcement initiative, which included the
sample testing on various keratin-straightening treatments. In
addition, Oregon OSHA conducted salon air monitoring during
product application. Although air monitoring did not identify
exposures above OSHA’s permissible exposure limit (PEL) of
0.75 ppm, analysts did find levels above exposure levels recom-
mended by NIOSH and ACGIH®. In addition, Oregon OSHA
noted that it was not difficult to imagine situations where even
the regulatory levels could be exceeded. Wood states, “It is clear
that the levels are high enough to cause concern.”
In the report “‘Keratin-Based’ Hair Smoothing Products And
the Presence of Formaldehyde,” released on Oct. 29, 2010, Ore-
gon OSHA advises salons and stylists that hair-straightening
treatments—specifically, those labeled “keratin-based treat-
ments”—should be treated as formaldehyde-containing prod-
ucts. Additionally, employers should comply with the
requirements of the OSHA Formaldehyde Standard. Any
straightening treatment product that contains “methylene gly-
col” should be treated as a formaldehyde-containing product,
as formaldehyde is released into the air after the product is ap-
plied to the hair and heated.
A lawsuit filed by Brazilian Blowout against Oregon OSHA
alleged that the agency utilized improper testing methodologies. Brazilian Blowout dropped the lawsuit in February 2011.
The company did not respond to requests for comment.
Additional information regarding workplace exposure to
formaldehyde is available on OSHA’s website at
www.osha.gov/SLTC/formaldehyde/index.html. NIOSH also has
published resources on formaldehyde at www.cdc.gov/niosh/
topics/formaldehyde/.
State Report
