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Hidden Danger: Formaldehyde in Hair Products

Recently I learned that some preservatives in beauty products turn into formaldehyde gas. I’m no scientist but I know formaldehyde gas can’t be good.

To clarify some things, I spoke with Leroy Courteaux, of Vida of New Orleans. Courteaux is a biochemist research developer, and pioneered the use of enzymes in the beauty industry. He is a manufacturer and private consultant to many major cosmetic companies. Courteaux has challenged many manufacturing companies about their products and claims. He has proven to the industry that hair cannot be reconstructed. Courteaux shows his concern for people’s health through his research. Following are his answers to my formaldehyde-related questions.

Q: Are over-the-counter and professional chemicals in the beauty industry regulated?

A: No FDA approval is needed to put anything in a product.

Companies are required by law to regulate themselves. If they find a defect or problem with their product, they are supposed to notify the public and change or alter the chemical. Most manufacturers do not do that.

The FDA did finally provide some regulation after severe problems arose with formaldehyde in fingernail polish. There were a lot of problems with people’s nails. So because of its side effects, the FDA banned formaldehyde from being used in cosmetics in the United States.

Q: Is there a relatively safe amount of formaldehyde that could be used?

A: You should not use more than .02 percent of formaldehyde in any cosmetic product.

Q: Is this regulated or monitored?

No, it is not! Chemical companies and beauty manufacturers are continuing to use formaldehyde under different names. The five most common terms to watch for are: diazolidinyl urea; imidazolidinyl urea; quarterinium-15; DMDM hydantoin; 2-bromo; and 2-nitropropane 1.

When heat is applied, these chemicals are altered and release formaldehyde into the air as gas.

Q: Don’t manufacturers tell you their products are safe?

A: Yes. But remember that when you alter or change chemicals, they actually become something else. When they change, they release formaldehyde into the air.

Q: What about clothes, draperies, carpets, upholstery or Formica?

A: These are all safe as long as they aren’t exposed to heat. Formaldehyde is probably one of the most dangerous chemicals that we deal with in the beauty industry, and most people are totally unaware of it.

After speaking with a friend of mine who is a mortician, I asked him how he protects himself when he uses formaldehyde. He uses chemical aprons that go all the way to the floor, so chemicals cannot penetrate them. Also, he wears a drape that protects his arms and hands, and goggles and a facemask. He uses a gas mask because paper masks don’t make a difference.

If a client or hairdresser breathes formaldehyde gas through a paper mask, they will absorb it into their body.

Q: What are some of the side effects of formaldehyde gas?

A: Asthma, cancer, bronchitis, cellular mutation, killing of human cells, stopping new cell development. Formaldehyde will kill anything it comes in contact with.

Q: What about night creams?

A: Formaldehyde is used in a lot of night creams in different forms. One of the more prevalent forms of formaldehyde is quarternarium-15. It is listed as a preservative in cosmetics and hair products and in some conditioners, moisturizers and reconstructors, but it is in fact a chemical that will release formaldehyde when heat is applied.

Q: Anytime you blow-dry hair or use the heat of a flat iron, gases are released?

A: Yes. Some people are more sensitive than others to the trace amounts of formaldehyde released. But over time there can be health issues, eye and skin irritation, etc.

This article was written by Lori Dawn, http://www.healthytimesarticles.com/

Last Updated on Friday, 20 August 2010 02:28

White women dyeing, black women relaxing: Why it's not the same thing

Many years ago, when I was a member of the popular hair site Naturally Curly, I participated in a discussion thread about what it means to be “naturally curly.” Many black women who posted to the thread commented on the increase in members who were chemically altering their hair with “natural” products such as Naturalaxer and BodiPhier. Those of us, myself included, who wear our Afro-textured hair chemically unaltered attempted to address our beliefs with regards to whether there was a “need” for chemical alteration of tightly curled hair for “manageability,” as well as whether someone who chemically altered their texture could be said to be “naturally curly.”

It wasn’t the first time this subject had come up on Naturally Curly, which to this day hosts members of all races. Every time it did appear during my time there, at least one non-black person (usually a white person) would innocently ask why straightening or chemically altering hair evoked such heated debate among black women. This essay evolved from a very long post that attempted to answer the question. In it, I present a comparative scenario based on the belief that white women are allowed to change their hair without a lot of drama. I published the original version of this essay on my now-defunct site, Hair Food for Thought, in 2003. The Nappturality version presented here contains a few changes from the original, but I believe that the basic argument is still sound. You be the judge.

For the purposes of this scenario, I’m going to equate black women's relaxing their Afro-textured hair straight with white women's dyeing their dark hair blonde. I know this is a very broad stroke, but understand that what I’m trying to describe is an alternate universe. It’s not a perfect comparison by any means, and I’m leaving certain things out, most notably the history behind this behavior, which I’ll go into at the end of this essay. I wrote this merely to give non-black people a general idea of what it means for a black woman to chemically alter her hair texture or to leave her texture unaltered.

Keep in mind that some of the following points are true for white women in the real world…but black women relaxing their Afro-textured hair would be the same as white women dyeing their dark hair blonde only if all of the following were true.

Although the majority of white women have naturally medium brown, dark brown, red, or black hair growing from their scalps, 70-80 percent of those women dye their hair blonde, without a break, for years, often from puberty until death. For the purposes of this scenario, I’m going to describe these women as “bleached women.”

Many children, boys and girls, come out of the womb with blonde hair, but in most cases (not all) the hair color darkens over time. Some mothers wonder anxiously if their baby’s blonde strands will stay blonde or if they’ll “turn.” Some mothers go through unusual lengths to keep a child’s blonde strands, or employ folk recipes (which generally don’t work) to ensure that they will give birth to a child with blonde hair.

Going to extra lengths to create or maintain loose texture in babies’ hair isn’t very common in the black community, but it’s not unheard of.

Girls and women (as well as boys and men) with naturally light hair are generally seen as having “good” hair, and are generally considered prettier and “luckier” because of their hair.

If you identify as black and have straight, wavy, or loosely curled hair, it is assumed that you got that hair from one or more non-black ancestors. This is why “good” hair is also described as “mixed people’s hair,” as in “racially mixed.” What many people, regardless of race, refer to as “black,” “African,” or “African-American” hair is Afro-textured hair, which happens to be the most common hair type amongst members of many African ethnic groups. However, it’s not uncommon to hear statements made that suggest that all native-born Africans have Afro-textured hair, that this has been the case for centuries, and that if you are the product of a union between a black and a non-black, you are automatically “supposed” to have straight, wavy, or loosely curled hair.

Girls are taught from a very early age, consciously and subconsciously, that blonde or light hair is better than dark hair and that dark hair is a “problem” that needs to be “fixed.”

In terms of the basics of daily hair care—washing, combing, etc.—color doesn’t make nearly as much a difference as texture, so I admit this isn’t a clean comparison. However, the basic truth is this: From childhood, most black women have been conditioned away from learning how to care for natural Afro-textured hair largely because of a belief that anything other than Afro-textured hair—regardless of whether they’re born with it or whether they get it out of a bottle or jar—is “better,” “easier,” and “prettier.”

Some mothers of dark-haired daughters begin dyeing their daughters’ hair blonde as early as two or three years old.

I had my first relaxer put in when I was five. Fortunately my mother saw the damage it did and allowed it to grow out.

Parents, specifically mothers, of little girls whose dark hair isn’t bleached or otherwise disguised or covered up, wholly or partially (e.g. blonde extensions, hair colored “at least” a dark blonde, head coverings) are seen as unusual – either they’re “militant” or “lazy” or somehow aren’t doing what they should be doing for their daughters.

Let me stress here that most black parents I personally know don’t believe in chemically altering a daughter’s hair before a certain age. Most of the time the hair is lightly heat-straightened, combed out into puffs or braids, or hidden with braid extensions or even a weave or wig. However, in most parts of America, you will rarely see a little black girl with natural, unaltered, loose, authentically Afro-textured hair in the playground. Thankfully, this is starting to change…a little. One thing I’ve noticed in the last few years is that when I see a little black girl with natural Afro-textured hair cut into a short ‘fro, usually she’s accompanied by at least one white adoptive parent. The Jolie-Pitts aren’t unique in this regard.

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 February 2010 05:34

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