Calls for FDA to regulate hair straighteners
Wall Street Journal
Anjali Athavaley
May 17, 2011
Members of Congress are asking the Food and Drug Administration to issue a voluntary recall of two hair-straightening treatments sold in salons under the brand name Brazilian Blowout, citing concerns about unacceptably high levels of formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen.
Congressional representatives including Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.) and Ed Markey (D., Mass.) earlier this month wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg calling for a voluntary recall of the Brazilian Blowout treatments. The letter cites a 2010 study by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division that found formaldehyde—considered a probable human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency—in the Brazilian Blowout Solution and Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Solution.
