THE RESULTS ARE IN!
EXPOSURE LEVELS TO COSMETOLOGISTS AND CLIENTS CONSIDERED SAFE!
FORMALDEHYDE GAS LEVELS ARE WELL BELOW OSHA’S PERMISSIBLE EXPOSURE LIMITS (PEL)
Independent salon air monitoring performed by one of California's leading environmental safety companies has concluded that Cosmetologists exposure levels are more than SIX times lower than OSHA's most stringent and conservative standard for air quality safety.
On October 9, 2010, the Air Monitoring Study was administered over an eight-hour period in a typical salon environment, while cosmetologists performed multiple Brazilian Blowout professional smoothing treatments throughout the day. The table below details the results of this scientific testing.
Test Summary: The breathing air (breathing zone) of two licensed cosmetologists was monitored while each performed two Brazilian Blowout Professional Smoothing Treatments in the same test salon, over the same eight-hour period. Their separate exposures to Formaldehyde gas in the air was determined to be 0.064 ppm and 0.073 ppm, which is well below OSHA's most stringent requirements for an eight-hour period, called the eight-hour time weighted average (TWA).
What does this mean? The safest and most stringent level of exposure set by Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is called the OSHA Action Limit and is even more conservative than their "Permissible Exposure Limit" (PEL).
The OSHA Action limit is 0.5 ppm, therefore, these two Cosmetologist's exposures were more than six times below OSHA's most conservative measure for safety where the potential for formaldehyde gas exposure is concerned.
Conclusion: These levels indicate that OSHA safe levels of exposure are NOT exceeded.