A salon offers Brazilian-style smoothing treatments. The chemistry-and-safety concern that California regulators have repeatedly flagged is that many such products release:
Explanation
Many keratin smoothing systems contain methylene glycol (formaldehyde dissolved in water) or other formaldehyde-releasing ingredients. When the product-saturated hair is flat-ironed at high temperature, the solution releases free formaldehyde into the breathing zone of the stylist and client, often exceeding the Cal/OSHA permissible exposure limit (0.75 ppm 8-hour TWA) and short-term exposure limit (2 ppm 15 min). Cal/OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard §5194 requires accurate SDS disclosure, employee training, and engineering controls (local exhaust ventilation). Options A, B, and C minimize or misstate the hazard. The exam tests recognition that formaldehyde is the regulated airborne contaminant, not water vapor or CO2.
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