ABSTRACT

Formaldehyde is a well-known toxic agent, therefore having a highly regulated status. Despite, some cosmetic firms recently introduced high and illegal concentrations of formaldehyde in hair treatments for increasing straightening and long-lasting performances. The objective of this study was to assess how and to which extent, these products may disperse formaldehyde in the environment of a hair salon, possibly exposing the consumer and the hair professional technician to hazardous airborne amounts of formaldehyde. A laboratory room was equipped with three air pumps located at three locations: close to the heads of a mannequin, nearby the hair technician and the whole volume of the room. Pumps were connected to cartridges apt at trapping airborne formaldehyde. The latter was further quantified through an HPLC procedure.

As compared to hair treatments free from formaldehyde that do not modify the airborne formaldehyde levels, products with a high concentration of formaldehyde (1.7% and 9.3%) disperse this compound in the environment to a high and hazardous concentration, detrimental to both consumer and hair professional. The brushing procedure on the hair led to a much higher dispersion of airborne formaldehyde than the hair straightening/ironing technique. To conclude, the use of hair treatments that contain high and illegal amounts of formaldehyde creates a hazardous environment to all people present within a hair salon.

Implications: This methodology adopted here might be used to evaluate during conception phase the level of Formaldehyde release and be used as part of safety data for the registration. However, the present work also strongly promotes the adoption of electronic detectors (commercially available) that continuously record the aerial concentration of Formaldehyde, when dealing with hair styling products that contain legal or illegal (> 0.2%w/w) content of Formaldehyde These detectors not only cover an adequate and realistic range of aerial Formaldehyde but can be used and transported at different locations of a given space. Such a cautious measure comes from common sense as it relates to the health status of consumers and operators present in a hair salon environment.

摘要

甲醛是一种众所周知的有毒物质，因此受到高度管制。尽管如此，一些化妆品公司最近在头发护理中引入了高浓度且非法的甲醛，以增加拉直和持久性能。本研究的目的是评估这些产品如何以及在多大程度上将甲醛分散到美发沙龙的环境中，从而可能使消费者和美发专业技术人员接触到有害的空气传播量的甲醛。一间实验室配备了三个气泵，位于三个位置：靠近人体模型的头部、靠近理发师以及整个房间。泵连接到适合捕获空气中甲醛的墨盒。后者通过 HPLC 程序进一步量化。

与不改变空气中甲醛含量的不含甲醛的头发护理产品相比，含有高浓度甲醛（1.7% 和 9.3%）的产品会将这种化合物分散到环境中的高浓度有害浓度，对消费者和头发都有害专业的。与头发拉直/熨烫技术相比，在头发上刷牙的过程导致空气中甲醛的分散程度高得多。总而言之，使用含有大量非法甲醛的头发护理剂会给美发沙龙中的所有人带来危险的环境。

含义：此处采用的这种方法可用于在受孕阶段评估甲醛释放水平，并用作注册安全数据的一部分。然而，目前的工作也大力提倡采用电子检测器（市售），在处理含有合法或非法（> 0.2%w/w）甲醛含量的美发产品时，可连续记录甲醛的空气浓度这些检测器不仅涵盖足够和现实的空气甲醛范围，而且可以在给定空间的不同位置使用和运输。这种谨慎的措施来自常识，因为它关系到美发沙龙环境中消费者和经营者的健康状况。