Recently, benzene has been found in certain aerosol personal care products. The complaint for this class action calls benzene “a carcinogenic impurity that has been linked to leukemia and other cancers.” It brings suit against Church & Dwight Co., Inc., alleging that its dry shampoo products also contain benzene.
A class and two subclasses have been defined for this action:
- The Nationwide Class is all persons who bought the products in the US, for personal or household use, within any applicable limitations period.
- The Illinois Subclass is all persons who bought the products in Illinois, for personal or household use, within any applicable limitations period.
- The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Subclass is all persons who bought one or more of Church & Dwight’s products in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, or Washington, for personal or household use, within any applicable limitations period.
The products at issue include at least the following:
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Bare
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Clean & Light Bare
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Plus Brilliant Blonde
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Floral & Flirty Blush
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Divine Dark
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Hint of Colour for Dark Hair
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Dark Hair
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Tropical Exotic Coconut
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Classic Clean
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Clean & Classic Original
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Light & Breezy Fresh
- Batiste Dry Shampoo Volumizing
The complaint alleges that benzene causes cancer in humans, referring to designations or warnings from the World Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cacner (IARC), the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The complaint quotes a 1939 study of benzene as saying that “exposure over a long period of time to any concentration of benzene greater than zero is not safe.” It quotes a list from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as saying that people can be exposed to benzene by “inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion, skin and/or eye contact.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the complaint alleges, “allows for up to 2 parts per million of benzene in products where the use of benzene is ‘unavoidable’ to product a drug product with a significant therapeutic advance.” However, the complaint points out that dry shampoos are not drugs and do have a therapeutic purpose.
How do we know the products contain benzene? The complaint reproduces testing results for the dry shampoos by Valisure, an independent lab, that runs tests on various types of products. The concentrations of benzene found run from .19 to 14.9 parts per million, but neither the ingredient list nor any warning on the labels warn of the presence of benzene.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Batiste Dry Shampoo Products Benzene Content Complaint
December 30, 2022
Recently, benzene has been found in certain aerosol personal care products. The complaint for this class action calls benzene “a carcinogenic impurity that has been linked to leukemia and other cancers.” It brings suit against Church & Dwight Co., Inc., alleging that its dry shampoo products also contain benzene.
Batiste Dry Shampoo Products Benzene Content ComplaintCase Event History
Batiste Dry Shampoo Products Benzene Content Complaint
December 30, 2022
Recently, benzene has been found in certain aerosol personal care products. The complaint for this class action calls benzene “a carcinogenic impurity that has been linked to leukemia and other cancers.” It brings suit against Church & Dwight Co., Inc., alleging that its dry shampoo products also contain benzene.
Batiste Dry Shampoo Products Benzene Content Complaint