Federal safe cosmetics legislation aids salon worker health.
National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance
June 24, 2011
WASHINGTON—Today, Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., will introduce the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 (HR 2359), which gives the Food and Drug Administration authority to ensure that personal care products are free of harmful ingredients. Last month, 10 members of Congress sent a letter to the FDA urging action on highly toxic “Brazilian” hair straightening products, and salon workers testified before a Congressional briefing, urging stronger federal regulation of salon products. Now, this legislation comes to the aid of thousands of nail and hair salon workers who are exposed to highly toxic chemicals in their daily workplace.
“The case of Brazilian Blowout makes it clear that the current law regulating the safety of cosmetics and personal care products is broken,” said Erin Switalski, of the National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance. “A large dose of formaldehyde in hair salon products simply shouldn’t be legal and it is. This greatly jeopardizes the health of salon workers.”
