July 2011

Women have suffered hair loss and had difficulty breathing after using hair treatments containing up to 20 times the safe limit of the cancer-causing chemical formaldehyde, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission claims.

The consumer watchdog has warned hairdressers and consumers to check the levels of formaldehyde in hair straightening products following a spate of safety recalls in recent months.

"The ACCC has understood for some time formaldehyde has the potential to cause significant harm to consumers through dermatitis, hair loss and irritation of nose and eyes," ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell said.

"We've also understood that it has long been recognised as a substance that can lead to cancer as a result of prolonged use and significant exposure."

The permitted limit of formaldehyde as a preservative ingredient in products is 0.05 per cent but products labelled with warnings can have up to 0.2 per cent. "Some of the products we recalled had levels up to 10 per cent," Mr Kell said.

The ACCC has been inundated with complaints about the hair products.

"We have had complaints from customers who have received hair loss, suffered skin sensitivity and itchiness," Mr Kell said. "We have also received complaints from salon workers, who not surprisingly are concerned the products they use on a daily basis may pose significant health risks.

"The workers have alerted us to issues when they have had runny eyes, headaches, skin rashes and breathing difficulties."

Mr Kell said it was unusual to see so many similar products recalled in such a short time.

Six brands have been recalled in the past eight months.

"It is not common to have had this many recalls in such a short time period," Mr Kell said.

"Most consumer products known to be potentially hazardous are regulated so that finding an unsafe version in the market is a relatively rare event, so the fact that we have had to recall just about every brand of a type of product is quite exceptional."

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