Unilever's dry shampoos sprayed benzene — five brands recalled at once

Unilever sells dry shampoo as an aerosol under Dove, Nexxus, Suave, TRESemmé and TIGI — a spray-on hair freshener for days between washes. On October 18, 2022, the company announced a voluntary US recall of select dry shampoo aerosols produced before October 2021, after its own investigation found the propellant could carry elevated levels of benzene, a human carcinogen.

The FDA published the recall on October 21, 2022, noting the products were distributed nationwide. Benzene exposure is linked to cancers including leukemia. Unilever said daily exposure at the detected levels would not be expected to cause adverse health consequences and reported no adverse events — but it still pulled the products from shelves and told consumers to stop using them and throw the cans away.

The recall landed in the middle of an industry-wide reckoning. Procter & Gamble had already recalled more than 30 aerosol haircare and deodorant products in 2021 over benzene, and now Unilever's dry shampoos showed the same contamination pattern. The defect was not in the shampoo but in the shared aerosol propellant supply — and it had already been proven dangerous the year before.