Formaldehyde-laden 'Brazilian Blowout' shocks salons across Canada

EDMONTON — Susanne Harvey started noticing hair loss about three weeks ago; she found clumps in her brush, under her vacuum, in her laundry.

"I could feel it dropping on my arms to the point where my husband said, 'What's going on with your hair?' "

Harvey, who said she's always had long, thick, healthy locks, suspected her hair loss has something to do with her recent Brazilian Blowout, a trendy new salon treatment that has been touted by happy consumers and celebrities alike for transforming frizzy hair into soft, straight tresses without the use of harsh chemicals.

It turns out the Calgary woman may have been on to something.

On Thursday, Health Canada warned that the Brazilian Blowout solution had been found to contain 12 per cent formaldehyde. The federal authority stipulates that formaldehyde is permitted, as a preservative only, in no greater concentration than 0.2 per cent for non-oral cosmetics.

Exposure to formaldehyde causes burning eyes and nostrils and sore throats; at very high levels, it's known to cause cancer.

Stylists have been advised by Health Canada to stop using the product.

The Brazilian Blowout, which has been called revolutionary by hair-industry professionals, is marketed as a formaldehyde-free, keratin-based alternative to chemical relaxers that keeps hair straight for up to 12 weeks.

But no one knows exactly what it's made from, because the company behind the Blowout will not release its ingredient list, citing confidentiality as it awaits a patent.

And while Health Canada requires cosmetics producers to list ingredients on labels and file those lists to the federal authority, Health Canada could not reveal the contents of the Brazilian Blowout either.

"It's proprietary information; it's protected under laws. It belongs to the company," said media relations officer Christelle Legault.

Harvey, 39, had filed a consumer-product adverse reaction report with Health Canada on Sept. 27, prompting the testing which led to Thursday's recall.

While Harvey said she's happy that Health Canada moved so fast to test the product and issue the advisory, she said the process that companies have to follow to get their cosmetic products into stores and salons in Canada seems a little weak.

"All they have to do is file a material safety data sheet with Health Canada," she said. "What are we allowing? What's going on here?"

Brazilian Blowout, based in California, continues to stand by its product.

"We've sent our product out for independent testing — we have found minute traces of formaldehyde, for unknown reasons. We are assured by industry experts that these levels are of no consequence to stylists or consumers," CEO Mike Brady said in an email.

The Brazilian Blowout service is widely available in Canada at salons in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax and Montreal, among others.

When 20 salons were contacted last week in Edmonton, for example, half offered the treatment.

None of the salons contacted reported problems with the solution; but those that didn't provide the service were doubtful.

"You know and I know that when you put a conditioner on the hair and you attach a flat iron to it, there's no way that hair is going to stay straight for six months," said Amerigo Bruno, a hairstylist with Edmonton's Alta Moda Hair Design. "There has to be something — something — that physically changes the hair."

Among hair professionals, rumours had been circulating for months that there could be formaldehyde in the Brazilian Blowout; Bruno did not want to risk offering the service.

But he took a guess at why some salons weren't so cautious.

"It's big money," Bruno said. "Salons are charging $300 for a treatment and it takes just a little bit longer than a regular cut and highlight."

Health Canada said Thursday it is now working with the Canadian distributor of the Brazilian Blowout to address its findings and halt distribution.

Current legislation lacks policing, penalties, and incentives for manufacturers to do the right thing, said Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers' Association of Canada.

"There's no preventive testing. There's no testing to check up that, indeed, what is given on the label or as a listing of something entering the country is exactly what it says it is," he said.

For Harvey, Health Canada's findings still bring little relief.

"What have stylists and what have I been exposed to?" she asked. "I don't really know what that level (of formaldehyde) can do to your skin, your scalp . . . I know what it does to your hair — it comes out."



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