Straight hair at what cost? Treatments using formaldehyde may pose a risk.

When Adelia Varga visited Brazil four years ago, she tried a product with smooth hair and couldn\'t believe how it tame her wild curly hair.
She brought it back to the Rockville salon where she worked, and now she often has similar treatments for herself and her clients.
\"My hair looks healthy,\" said Varga, 38, recently . \" Another stylist applied white liquid to her dark hair.
\"My hair is usually curly and thick.
Now it is silky and elastic.
Health officials say this smoothing product, often referred to as Brazilian treatment, can pose a risk to stylists and users.
This is because most of the chemicals that contain formaldehyde or release formaldehyde, which is considered a cancer risk.
In its Annual Report on Carcinogens, the National Toxicology Program reclassifies formaldehyde from possible carcinogens to known carcinogens this year.
Several companies that produce formaldahyde
Products based on hair smoothing are under investigation or are accused by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or the Food and Drug Administration of falsely advertising their products to expose workers to levels of formaldehyde permitted by law.
Cosmetic Ingredient Review is a group funded by the cosmetics industry and supported by the FDA, recently noting that \"in current use and concentration practices. . .
Hair care products containing formaldehyde and methanol are not safe.
\"The issues noted are high concentration of chemicals, excessive use of hair products and lack of wind in the application process.
Formaldehyde is a colorless, usually strong
Chemical scents used as preservatives and adhesives for about 70 years.
Frogs floating in science
Flooring, carpet, glue, cosmetics
And hair products.
Formaldehyde is an irritating substance and an allergen.
Some people have tears in their eyes, a runny nose and a hot throat.
More experience
Severe reactions such as cough, breathing, and even symptoms of asthma.
In addition, there are cases of hair loss and vomiting caused by a large number of hair care products with high formaldehyde content.
Therefore, David Andrews, a scientist who advocates the organization of the Environmental Working Group, said, \"these [hair]
Products are banned in Europe, Canada and Australia.
\"OSHA does not regulate the formaldehyde content in hair products used in salons.
However, it does stipulate that the air in the salon does not exceed 0.
Formaldehyde is 75 copies per million (ppm)
In 8-
No more than 2 ppm of any 15-hour shiftminute period.
When stylists dry the hair the customer has processed, formaldehyde is released into the air
Dryer or straighten iron.
\"Our responsibility is to make sure there is no danger in the workplace,\" said David Michaels, senior official at OSHA . \".
\"Formaldehyde is a hazard.
He estimates that there are 75,000 salons in the United States, of which about 500,000 people work.
OSHA does not track how many salons use formaldehyde-Based on smoking.
\"The tightness works by breaking the bond formed by hair-Kerns,\" said John Bailey, a former FDA official and former chief scientist at the trade association\'s personal care products Committee.
Doing so allows the hair stylist to reset the hair to curly or straight hair and \"stay fixed in different configurations \". Formaldehyde [then]
Combine the protein or protein with the dried hair [
In the new configuration]
And protect it from losing effect.
The FDA recently sent a warning letter to the company that made the Brazilian Blowout, saying that the company had \"brand error\" of its product as formaldehyde-
Although it \"contains a liquid form of methanol in formaldehyde, it is free. . .
Users may be harmed under the conditions of use specified by the label.
Michael Brady, chief executive of Brazil\'s blowout company, said he did not think that methanol and formaldehyde were the same.
\"For every scientist who says that methanol is the same as formaldehyde, we have a scientist who says it\'s different,\" he said . \".
He did agree that once his product was blown up,
The hair dryer or hairdryer produces formaldehyde, but he says formaldehyde emissions meet the OSHA emission standards.
The company also sells \"factory-
According to the \"proprietary bonding system and\" version 0% before, during or after formaldehyde,
According to the company\'s website, Salon smooth processing \".
The investigation by OSHA/FDA began a year ago with a complaint from a stylist in Portland, Oregon.
Mesa Ross of OSHA, Oregon, said he used a Brazilian blowout and \"experienced headaches, nosebleeds, symptoms consistent with formaldehyde exposure \".
\"We take original products as an example. . .
A series of formaldehyde was found in the product.
As far as OSHA is concerned, the methanol and formaldehyde are the same and you have to follow the same exposure rules.
\"Since then, OSHA and its national partners have conducted inspections in about 24 salons using smoke and 9 manufacturers and dealers, based on complaints across the country, and received more than 300 requests for assistance from stylists and salon staff.
Citing salons in New York and New Jersey and four manufacturers and dealers in Florida, OSHA said they failed to protect workers from formaldehyde exposure and \"communicate with product users \", according to OSHA\'s press release, such as salons and stylists, about the hazards of formaldehyde exposure. \".
The agency said \"excessive formaldehyde or hazardous levels\" were found in the air in some salons \".
In Rockville, Varga\'s stylist, David Cohen said he limited the number of Brazilian treatments to two times a day so as not to flood his salon with formaldehyde.
He also runs ventilation systems and air purifiers at all times.
\"I stopped booking Brazilian treatment online, so we didn\'t overbook it,\" he said . \".
Still, his customers are clamoring for these products, ranging from $160 to mild formaldehyde --
This will last six weeks and will be treated with formaldahyde for $450 for up to six months. “The true non-
Low formaldehyde formula-
Formaldehyde would choke others, he said, though \"as long as customers and designers understand the difference between the two, they are a good choice.
He said he was satisfied that many customers would continue to choose formaldehyde preparations unless the government decided not to sell them anymore.
\"It\'s great,\" Cohen said . \".
\"We did color processing and then put on Brazilian clothes to keep the color.
It sealed the hair.
Varga admitted she was worried it might last a long time.
Using the product Day after day can have a long-term impact on her health.
\"When I apply the liquid to the customer\'s hair, I use a mask,\" she said . \".
The desire for smooth, straight hair is strong.
Lori Pemberton, 43, said: \"You don\'t know how many times my scalp has been burnedyear-
Residents of the old district remember the sodium hydroxide or alkali applied to their hair when they were young.
She tried formaldehyde this summer.
The first time is based on smoothing.
\"I prefer this,\" she said . \"
\"It seems much easier.
My hair is brighter.
Style is easier.
I exercise every day.
I get up at 5 in the morning.
My hair is not curly now.
My hair goes straight.
Laurie Taylor, 37, is not worried about formaldehyde either. year-
The old recruitment coordinator of a regional law firm.
She used to spend more than 45 minutes a day blowing
Dry her hair, put it in the roller, and smooth it with an iron.
\"Now I don\'t have to do all these extra steps,\" she said . \".
\"Today, I woke up and washed it and put it in a loaf of bread.
It will be wavy with soft waves.
What about carcinogens?
\"There are a lot of bad things out there,\" she said . \".
\"I like my hair.
I don\'t think much.
Hambrton is from Washington.
Free writer and documentary producer.