The FDA ignored its own scientists’ advice to ban ‘toxic’ Brazilian blowdries, according to a report

• Since 2011, hairdressers have increasingly complained that Brazilian blowouts, salon hair-straightening treatments that use heat and contain the chemical formaldehyde, were giving them headaches, nausea, and throat irritation.
• FDA scientists looked into these treatments and concluded there should be a ban on formaldehyde in cosmetic treatments like the Brazilian blowout.
• But emails obtained by the New York Times reportedly show the FDA ignored suggestions for a ban and has moved onto other cosmetics research, despite evidence the treatment was dangerous.
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Despite scientists' warnings over the danger of Brazilian blowouts, a popular type of chemical hair treatment that semi-permanently straightens any hair texture, the FDA has yet to crack down on the beauty treatment.

Many of these hair treatments have been shown to contain formaldehyde or ingredients that convert to formaldehyde  — a chemical that can cause a person headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, burning of the eyes, and difficulty breathing if they're exposed to it — upon air exposure.

The chemical, which is also found in wood-burning stoves, kerosene heaters, and pressed-wood products like particle board, has been classified as a human carcinogen by the The International Agency for Research on Cancer. People whose jobs require they be exposed to formaldehyde have shown they have an increased risk for rare nose and throat cancers and myeloid leukemia.

Despite these risks and years-old recommendations from agency scientists to ban Brazilian blowouts, the FDA hasn't taken action.

From a 'priority' to silence

According to an investigation from New York Times reporter Roni Caryn Rabin, email correspondence between FDA scientists and agency leaders show that blowout health concerns were flagged as early as July 2016.

"This is a very big deal for us, and for the public," one FDA scientist wrote in an email addressed to her colleagues on July 26 of that year. Two years earlier, in 2014, FDA cosmetics-division scientists were in the process of formally analyzing the risks associated with formaldehyde-containing beauty products.

In June 2015, cosmetics division director Dr. Nakissa Sadrieh called the analysis a "priority" and that "this project is completed within expected timeline," as an increasing number of hairdressers who'd been regularly exposed to Brazilian blowouts complained to the FDA of migraines, blurred vision, and throat irritation, emails the New York Times obtained show. 

Though Sadrieh's team completed the analysis and its findings convinced her to propose a formaldehyde ban, as more emails showed, it never happened.

After December 2016, the FDA seemed to go silent on the issue, despite suggesting they'd be on the case.

The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit that advocates for environmental and human health, requested any of the FDA's internal correspondence on the matter, but the agency hasn't fulfilled that request to this day.

When Rabin reached out to multiple FDA officials about their lack of response, they denied comment or ignored her questions on the topic.

The FDA cited a shift in focus to other cosmetics as reason for its inaction

One FDA spokesperson told Rabin there wasn't a ban because the FDA is considering other "potential actions," though the spokesperson didn't cite what others the other routes could be.

The spokesperson also told Rabin that the agency's cosmetics division has turned to other products, like tattoo ink, talc, and makeup allergens, for the time being.

For now, salons are still allowed to use blowouts that contain the chemical. Though some businesses have tried to limit employee formaldehyde, using the treatment only in well-ventilated areas or on specific days, salon workers have said the FDA's inaction has made it hard for them to advocate for their health and safety.

"When I would try to speak up about this, my co-workers always said, 'If it was that bad for you, it wouldn't be legal,'" Emily Baedeker, a hair dresser in Alameda, California told the Times.

If she was in the salon while a customer was getting a Brazilian blowout, Baedeker would get migraines.

"The assumption is that there is an invisible safety net that protects us," she said.

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