Highlight
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), exposure to high levels of benzene can lead to a slew of life threatening health issues, including the risk of cancers including leukaemia, blood cancer of the bone marrow, blood disorders.
Unilever PLC recalled popular brands of aerosol dry shampoo in the US and Canada, including Dove, after discovering they were contaminated with a chemical called benzene that can cause cancer. The recall also covers brands such as Nexxus, Suave, Tresemmé and Tigi, which makes Rockaholic and Bed Head dry shampoos, according to a notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s website Friday.
In a statement released by the company on 18 October, Unilever has said that while they have had no reports of adverse effects from the products so far, and that the move to recall them is merely ‘out of an abundance of caution.’ They also added that the affected products were all produced before October 2021.
What’s the problem?
Unilever said the problem with aerosols has largely appeared to be from the propellants used to spray the personal-care products from the cans. Unilever did not release the amount of benzene found in the products, though said it was recalling them out of an abundance of caution.
What is benzene and what can it do?
Benzene is a type of chemical compound often found in petroleum products, solvents, and motor fuels, and tobacco products. Traces of Benzene can be found around us and slight exposure is considered harmless.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), exposure to high levels of benzene can lead to a slew of life threatening health issues, including the risk of cancers including leukaemia, blood cancer of the bone marrow, blood disorders.
Exposure to benzene most commonly occurs through inhalation, the risk of which is high when one uses aerosole cans of dry shampoo that may contain high levels of benzene. The FDA hasn’t set benzene limits for cosmetics like dry shampoo, it does say the products shouldn’t contain “any poisonous or deleterious substance.”
Which dry shampoos have been recalled?
Now that we know why the company decided to recall these products, here’s a quick run through of the products that are on the list:
Dove Dry Shampoo (multiple varieties)
Nexxus Dry Shampoo Refreshing Mist
Nexxus Inergy Foam Shampoo
Tresemme Dry Shampoo Volumizing
Tresemme Dry Shampoo Fresh and Clean
Tresemme Pro Pure Dry Shampoo
Bed Head Oh Bee Hive Dry Shampoo
Bed Head Oh Bee Hive Volumizing Dry Shampoo
Bed Head Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo
Bed Head Rockaholic Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo
What is a dry shampoo?
Dry shampoo is a product to absorb the dirt, oil and grease of your scalp without washing it. It usually come in a spray bottle. They are made with a base of alcohol or starch.
According to webmd, when you spray the dry shampoo into your hair, the alcohol or starch soaks up oil and grease, making it look cleaner. Spray-on personal-care products like dry shampoos often contain propellants like propane and butane, which are petroleum distillates made by refining crude oil.
Similar risks in the past
This isn’t the first time spray-on dry shampoo has been identified as a problem. P&G recalled its Pantene and Herbal Essences dry shampoos in December, citing benzene contamination. The move once again raises questions about the safety of aerosols in personal-care products.
According to Bloomberg news, a number of aerosol sunscreens have been pulled from shelves in the past year and a half, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Neutrogena, Edgewell Personal Care Co.’s Banana Boat and Beiersdorf AG’s Coppertone along with spray-on antiperspirants like Procter & Gamble Co.’s Secret and Old Spice and Unilever’s Suave.
The recalls of beauty products were set off by findings of benzene in such products by an analytical lab called Valisure, based in New Haven, Connecticut.
