FDA: Issue a Voluntary Recall of Brazilian Blowout

Smooth hair: not worth the risk! The Brazilian Blowout blowup continues!

Product tests have revealed extremely high levels of formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical, in some Brazilian Blowout products (even those labeled “formaldehyde-free”), but the company still insists its products are safe. (All the salon workers and clients who've reported nose bleeds, dizziness, rashes and hair loss might beg to differ.)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finally told Brazilian Blowout it needs to clean up its act. In a letter to Brazilian Blowout dated August 22, 2011, the FDA noted that the products are “adulterated” and "misbranded." Yet salons continue to use the products and unsuspecting hair stylists and customers continue to be exposed to the formaldehyde in them.

We clearly need more protection than a warning letter can offer!

Please join us in asking the FDA to protect salon workers and customers from this unnecessary toxic exposure by issuing a voluntary recall! (Unfortunately, FDA doesn’t have the power to order a mandatory recall due to our outdated cosmetics laws.) Just personalize the message below; we'll deliver it to Dr. Linda Katz, Director for the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors.

Subject:

Your Letter:

Dear Dr. Linda Katz,

I was glad to see that the FDA sent a letter to Brazilian Blowout of California, asking the company to address the “adulteration” and “misbranding” of its popular hair-straightening treatments, which were found by your agency to contain between 8.7% and 10.4% formaldehyde in the form of methylene glycol.

As you know, in April 2011, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a "hazard alert" to salon workers and owners, urging them to stop using formaldehyde-based hair straighteners, and several environmental health organizations have been urging the FDA to do more to product consumer and workers from this unnecessary toxic exposure.

It is clear that in order to truly protect consumers and salon workers from exposure to this harmful chemical, the FDA needs to issue a voluntary recall for these two products immediately, and to urge all companies to refrain from using formaldehyde or formaldehyde-releasers in their products.

According to the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, the cosmetics industry’s own self-policing panel, formaldehyde levels in cosmetics should not exceed 0.2%. The EPA has classified formaldehyde as a possible carcinogen and the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Academy of Sciences have identified it as a human carcinogen.

Six countries, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France, Germany and Cyprus, have already taken steps to stop distribution of this product. I understand that due to outdated and inadequate laws, the U.S. FDA cannot issue a mandatory recall, but it is unacceptable that the agency has not taken any voluntary steps to remove this hazardous product from the market.

Products like the Brazilian Blowout Solution shouldn’t contain any dangerous ingredients, let alone 10% of a known carcinogen. I urge the FDA to warn consumers and salons of the dangers of using such treatments and ask Brazilian Blowout to issue a voluntary recall of these products in the U.S.

Sincerely,

Linda M. Katz, M.D., M.P.H.

U.S. FDA Office of Cosmetics and Colors