Henkel and Thriving Brands admit no wrongdoing, but have agreed to settle allegations in Connecticut federal court that they knowingly or negligently sold US consumers adulterated and misbranded antiperspirant products containing hazardous levels of benzene.

In comments to the US FDA, PCPC provides a “highly conservative” risk assessment of benzene impurity in a dry shampoo product, showing that “even a benzene concentration of 15 ppm in a hypothetical aerosol dry shampoo product would have an acceptable level of risk for a lifetime of daily use.” The exercise was undertaken in response to Valisure’s petition for FDA regulatory action on benzene-tainted dry shampoos.

Valisure found 70% of 148 tested dry shampoo batches contained ‘quantifiable’ benzene. The US FDA advises a strict 2ppm limit when benzene’s use is unavoidable to produce a drug product with a “significant therapeutic advance.” In dry shampoos, “any significant detection of benzene could be deemed unacceptable,” Valisure suggests in its 31 October citizen petition to the agency.