Rio salon hair turned into floating oil-absorbing barrier to shield mangroves

In Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay, the NGO Fiotrar has deployed a 350-meter oil-absorbing barrier constructed from hair waste donated by roughly a dozen local beauty salons. The hair, cut as short as 2.5 cm, is rolled in cotton mesh and fastened to an existing orange floating containment system, creating a continuous line that can remain effective for up to four months. Laboratory tests show that one gram of hair can absorb about five grams of oil, making the material ideal for capturing both chronic discharges and occasional spills.

Environmental engineer Ana Beatriz Gonçalves oversees maintenance, while chemist Caroline Carvalho notes the barrier also traps pollution from vessels and illegal releases. Fishermen such as Sérgio Carvalho, who regularly encounter oil slicks, hope the mats will help restore the bay’s mangrove ecosystems. The project builds on earlier hair-based oil-capture work used in Chile and the United States and is supported by Orla Sem Lixo Transforma and the Grupo Boticário Foundation. Fiotrar’s founder Mariana Robrahn, who previously created a wig-donation NGO, sees the initiative as a way to turn abundant salon waste into a practical environmental tool.