Unilever recalls Dove, Tresemmé dry shampoos over cancer risk

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Unilever has recalled prominent brands of aerosol dry shampoo, including Dove, after discovering that they were contaminated with benzene, a chemical that has the ability to cause cancer.

The recall also includes brands such as Suave, Nexxus, Tresemme and Tigi, which make Bed Head Dry and Rockaholic shampoos. The issue has come to light recently after the US Food and Drug Administration posted a notice on its website. Unilever’s recall is only restricted to products made before October 2021.

The move has had the public questioning the safety of aerosols being used in personal-care products. A number of sunscreens with aerosol in them, such as J&J’s Neutrogena, Edgewell Personal Care’s Banana Boat and Beiersdorf ’s Copperstone have been taken off the shelves in the past year and a half.

Along with these, spray-on antiperspirants like Procter & Gamble’s Secret, Unilever’s Suave and Old Spice have also been taken away. The recalls came after an analytical lab called Valisure, based in New Haven, Connecticut, found benzene in the products starting in May 2021.

Spray-on dry shampoo has been in the limelight as a problem for quite a while now. After the findings by Valisure, P&G tested its entire portfolio of aerosol products and then recalled its Pantene and Herbal Essences dry shampoos in December.

They cited benzene contamination as the reason. Propellants used to spray the personal-care products stored in cans are where the problem with aerosols lies. Unilever has cited that it is the same problem that has led to the recall.

The company has not disclosed the amount of benzene recovered from the products but has said that it has recalled them out of caution. On the other hand, the FDA has said “daily exposure to benzene in the recalled products at the levels detected in testing would not be expected to cause adverse health consequences.”

However, the agency has also explained that exposure to benzene can lead to leukemia and other types of blood cancers. Spray-on personal care products like dry shampoos contain propellants which are petroleum distillates like propane and butane. Benzene is a known contaminant of petroleum products.

While the FDA has recognised that the propellants are a potential source of benzene contamination, it has not set a cap on the usage of benzene in cosmetics like dry shampoo. It, however, says that the products must not contain “any poisonous or deleterious substance.”