--- title: FDA Sued Over Hair-Straightening Treatments description: The Environmental Working Group and Women's Voices for Earth filed a lawsuit against the FDA for harmful chemicals in hair blowout products like the Brazilian Blowout. canonical: https://time.com/4605102/brazilian-blowout-fda-lawsuit/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-16T19:39:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:09.806Z og:title: The Products Behind Your Brazilian Blowout Are at the Center of a Legal Dispute og:description: Will this popular beauty treatment be banned? og:url: https://time.com/4605102/brazilian-blowout-fda-lawsuit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42d26e0962756a71/6988b347a988ca60d46ba791/brazilian-blowout-hair-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3011 og:image:height: 1694 og:image:alt: Hair dryer, brush, comb and scissors on yellow paper background og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Products Behind Your Brazilian Blowout Are at the Center of a Legal Dispute twitter:description: Will this popular beauty treatment be banned? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42d26e0962756a71/6988b347a988ca60d46ba791/brazilian-blowout-hair-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Products Behind Your Brazilian Blowout Are at the Center of a Legal Dispute > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters.  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Dec 16, 2016 7:39 PM UTC  Pink hair dryer black brush, comb and scissors on yellow paper background Pink hair dryer black brush, comb and scissors on yellow paper background Vonschonertagen—Getty Images/iStockphoto  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Dec 16, 2016 7:39 PM UTC Your [blowout](http://motto.time.com/4337924/job-interview-preparation-different-industries/?iid=sr-link1) may be putting your hair stylist at risk. [New York _Magazine_ reported](http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/12/ewg-sues-fda-over-brazilian-blowout-keratin-hair-straightening-treatments.html) that [Women’s Voices for Earth](http://womensvoices.org./) and the [Environmental Working Group](http://www.ewg.org/) filed a [lawsuit](http://www.ewg.org/release/lawsuit-urges-fda-protect-salon-workers-consumers-formaldehyde) alleging that the FDA failed to regulate hair straightening treatments that include the chemical formaldehyde, which can cause irritation, headaches and dizziness. The two groups take the most issue with [Brazilian blowouts](http://www.instyle.com/hair/brazilian-blowouts-guides-tips), which involves liquid being applied to hair and treated with hot hair-styling tools, causing formaldehyde to be released into the air and putting stylists and clients at risk. “For years stylists have reported that the application of these hair treatments caused difficulty breathing, eye irritation and nosebleeds,” Tina Sigurdson, the assistant general counsel for the Environmental Working Group, said [in a statement](http://www.ewg.org/release/lawsuit-urges-fda-protect-salon-workers-consumers-formaldehyde). “The FDA has been aware of the health hazards associated with the products since at least 2008\. Despite these dangers, the FDA has yet to take action to remove them from the market.” **_Read More_**: [_Illinois Will Train Hairdressers to Spot Domestic Violence_](http://motto.time.com/4586285/illinois-train-hairdressers-spot-domestic-violence-support/?iid=sr-link1) The Environmental Working Group filed a citizen petition in 2011 asking that the FDA take action on the products. The FDA, which [told CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/14/health/hair-straightening-formaldehyde-fda/) that it was unable to comment on pending litigation, issued [warning letters](http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/Products/ucm228898.htm) to two companies that make the straightening products. But the FDA hasn’t issued a ban or a public warning about the chemicals, and the two groups are asking in their lawsuit that the FDA respond and further investigate the products. Under current law, most cosmetic products don’t need pre-approval from the FDA before they can go on the market. The FDA will intervene when the product poses health dangers — but, according to CNN, only nine out of the about 6,000 chemicals used in personal care products have ever been banned “because they are like truly the equivalent of poisons.” If Women’s Voices for Earth and the Environmental Working Group get their way in court, the products behind your Brazilian blowout may join that short list. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4605102/brazilian-blowout-fda-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4605102/brazilian-blowout-fda-lawsuit/"},"headline":"The Products Behind Your Brazilian Blowout Are at the Center of a Legal Dispute","datePublished":"2016-12-16T19:39:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:09.806Z","description":"Will this popular beauty treatment be banned?","url":"https://time.com/4605102/brazilian-blowout-fda-lawsuit/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42d26e0962756a71/6988b347a988ca60d46ba791/brazilian-blowout-hair-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42d26e0962756a71/6988b347a988ca60d46ba791/brazilian-blowout-hair-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hair dryer, brush, comb and scissors on yellow paper background","caption":"Hair dryer, brush, comb and scissors on yellow paper background","creditText":"Vonschonertagen—Getty Images/iStockphoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4605102/brazilian-blowout-fda-lawsuit/","name":"The Products Behind Your Brazilian Blowout Are at the Center of a Legal Dispute"}}]}] ```