Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has made an effort to prevent stylists and salon workers from being exposed to formaldehyde in their workplace. Investigators have found that many salons and beauty schools continue to use products with formaldehyde in ways that violate OSHA’s formaldehyde regulations.
Formaldehyde is most often found in straightening and smoothing hair products. Already this year, OSHA officials have cited 23 salons and beauty schools in Pennsylvania and 7 other states with formaldehyde violations.
The chemical first caught the attention of the federal workplace safety agency in 2010 when a stylist wrote them a complaint stating that she had suffered eye irritation, nosebleeds, and breathing difficulty after using a product called Brazilian Blowout. The hair product, like many others, does not say it contains formaldehyde on the container, but identifies the chemical by other names like “methylene glycol,”methylene oxide,” “paraform,” “formic aldehyde,” and more.
Heath issues related to formaldehyde are most often are caused by absorbing the chemical through the skin and inhaling it in the air. Formaldehyde exposure can lead to respiratory problems, eye and nose irritation, allergic reactions, and cancer.
To learn more about what to do if you or someone you know has become ill or injured as a result of illegal workplace conditions, contact the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 610-667-7511 today.
