This is why a growing number of women are going gaga over the hundreds of colorful shades and hues of hair dye treatments. In 2003, US Census Bureau approximated that over 22 million women dyed their hair that year, while about 12.5% of men used hair dye products to cover up graying head and facial hairs. Trends show that this number increases dramatically each year and today, it is estimated that some 50 million women in the US - almost half of their female population - are regular users of these dyes. Hair dye manufacturing has become a $7-billion industry that just keeps getting bigger each year.
Possible harmful side effects
Permanent and semi-permanent types are the most potent kinds of hair dyes as they contain stronger chemicals meant keep the color from fading away after rinsing. Of course the stronger the chemical content of the product, the higher the chances of it causing harmful side effects to you, especially in the long term. When you read the labels of hair dye products, you'll know some of the obvious risks of using them. Here they are:
1. Hair damage - this is probably the least harmful and the most common of all the side effects that hair dyes can bring after repeated use. Hair dye usage can make your hair brittle and dry unless you regularly treat it with deep conditioners and hot oils that can help bring the moisture back. If left untreated, you may end up with damaged, "overcooked" tresses.
2. Skin irritation - when using hair dyes, you're advised to keep the mixture away from your skin as much as possible. This is because itchiness and redness may develop on contact, and worse, it can cause severe allergic reactions such as formation of rashes, scaling, pain, swelling, and even difficulty in breathing! Because of this life-threatening risks, performing the patch test is highly advised by dermatologists. We'll talk about how to do the skin patch test later on.
3. Blindness - if strong hair dye mixture comes in contact with the eyes (like when you try to dye your eyelashes or eyebrows to match your head hair), this can cause eye irritation, swelling and even blindness! Packaging instructions will tell you to flush your eyes immediately with water and call a physician.
Dangerous ingredients of hair dyes
Actually, the most problematic ingredient in hair dye that makes it so notorious is p-phenylenediamine or PPD. It's a substance that belongs to a family of chemicals called "arylamines", which have been known to cause cancer in animal experiments. PPD also causes allergic reactions in some people.
P-phenylenediamine is what makes the permanent and semi-permanent hair color last through several washings. It is a colorless ingredient that needs oxygen before it can become colored. This is why most hair dye products come in two containers - one for the dye that contains PPD and another one for the color developer or oxidizer.
PPD is unfortunately found in almost all types of hair dyes in the market today - yes, even those that claim to contain "natural" or "herbal" ingredients still contain it. The darker the hair dye, the higher the concentration of PPD it contains.
Apart from PPD, other hair dye ingredients that can be dangerous to humans are hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. Individually, these substances are harmless but when mixed together, the combination produces a potentially carcinogenic chemical. This is why many hair dye products have replaced ammonia with other alternatives so that their consumers won't have to be exposed to this dangerous combination.
Hair dyes and the dreaded "C"
The debate on whether long term use of permanent and semi-permanent hair dyes can cause cancer has been heated up by inconclusive results of several tests and studies conducted over the years.
The "Annals of Epidemiology" of 1992 concluded that using hair dyes posed no significant risks to women. After studying 3,234 women - half of them being healthy, other half had breast cancer - the study also found out that there was no correlation on the number of years that hair dye was used, how early they started using it or even how often they dyed their hair to their propensity of developing the dreaded "C".
A 1991 study published in the "American Journal of Epidemiology" had the same findings as that of the 1992 study, although it emphasized that hairstylists who worked with hair dyes for 5 years or more had three times the risk of developing breast cancer. This is because, according to the study, hair stylists were more exposed to the dye's strong fumes and chemicals as they prepared the mixture and applied it on their customer's hair on a daily basis.
What is it about hair dye products that lead to deterioration of the human body? According to the March Medical Sciences Bulletin published in 1994, hair dyes have certain chemicals that have been found to trigger mutation and cause cancer in lab test animals. Because of this, the American Cancer Society launched a 6-year study to monitor over half a million women who used hair dyes.
Analysis on the ratio between those who died because of cancer and the total population of women monitored revealed again that the use of hair dyes did not increase the incidence of cancer. However, the study found out that those who used black hair dye for 20 years and up had an increased risk of developing multiple myeloma (i.e. cancer of plasma cells in the blood) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (i.e. a type of cancer affecting the lymphatic system).
Hairstylists and barbers, according to 1995 European Journal of Cancer Prevention not only had a higher risk of developing breast cancer. They also had the same increased risk of developing non-Hodgkins lymphoma, bladder and bone marrow-related cancers
There are about eight studies that found an increase risk of developing hematopoietic cancers (i.e. cancers of the blood or lymph systems) for people who dyed their hair frequently and long term, especially if they started changing hair color before the 80's (formulation of hair dyes back then were much worse compared to what you can usually find today). Although in 1998, another study conducted by a team of researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston debunked these results.
Better safe than sorry
If you are worried about the perils of using hair dyes, then heed the advice of natural health care guru Dr. Andrew Weil: don't use them at all!
According to Dr. Weil, certain additives in hair dyes are considered as "energetic molecules" that can interact with human DNA. Though yet to be proven, Dr. Weil believes that this reaction can trigger mutations that may lead to cancer. The natural health care community agrees with Dr. Weil and suggests that if you have to color your hair, do it as infrequently as possible and choose safer alternatives like the following:
1. Natural hair dye products - these commercial variants do not contain ammonia or peroxide but they still contain some levels of PPD (in lower concentration compared to the regular variants). Consider it as the "lesser evil" option if you need to color your hair permanently.
2. Vegetable-based rinses - probably the safest (and probably the cheapest) alternative to commercial hair dyes because is completely non-toxic. Vegetable or herb-based rinses use natural ingredients and can be used even by pregnant women! The only downside to using homemade vegetable or herb dyes is that it will wash out in 8-10 washes and must be repeated more frequently. Here are some vegetable or herb concoctions recommended:
a. Grey hair coverage - simmer herbs like sage and rosemary in water for about an hour and allow to steep. When cooled, strain the herbs and rinse hair with concoction. Other plants that can address grey hair coverage are walnut husks, betony and hollyhock.
b. For brunette shades, rinse hair with any of these rinses: cooled water from boiling unpeeled potatoes, black tea or coffee, or teas from herbs like sage, rosemary, parsley, catnip or raspberry leaves.
c. For red shades, rinse hair with cooled water from boiling strong black coffee, rosehips, calendula, saffron or red hibiscus.
3. Henna - another healthier alternative to using commercial hair dyes. Henna comes from the powdered leaves of Lawsonia inermis plant and has been used for thousands of years to color leather, silk, wool, hair, nails and skin. It produces a reddish shade when applied and its effects last much longer than vegetable rinses. Henna not only adds color, it also brings shine and bounce to your hair.
If you really need to use permanent and semi-permanent commercial hair dyes, there are also other ways to minimize your risk of exposure to the harmful chemicals. The mere act of following instructions when using the product can make a big difference: wear plastic gloves when handling dye mixtures, wear a mask to prevent unnecessary inhalation of strong fumes, and as much as possible (though admittedly unavoidable) do not apply or rub dye mixture on your scalp, neck and face, especially on already irritated or wounded skin. Make sure that the place where you are doing the hair dye application is also well ventilated.
Do the skin patch test: apply a small amount of the prepared dye to a small area behind your ear or inside your arm and leave it untouched for at least 24 hours. If after this you notice pain, redness, formation of rashes or blisters near the area, this means you're sensitive or allergic to this dye. Do not proceed with using it.
If you notice no reaction to the skin patch test, then you can use the hair dye. Skin patch test should be repeated every time you color your hair as sensitivity to the dye's chemicals may change later on (repeated exposure to chemicals sometimes may increase skin sensitivity).
Loving your natural hair color
The best way to avoid all the side effects and risks mentioned above is to not use commercial hair dyes at all.
Instead of risking hair damage from excessive use of commercial hair dyes, keep your tresses well conditioned and trimmed regularly to avoid split ends and damage due to dryness. Remember that no matter what hair color you have, you will look beautiful if it's healthy.
Sources:
http://www.squidoo.com/hairdyedangers
http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip622.htm
http://www.keratin.com/ai/ai021.shtml
http://www.naturalnews.com/022575.html
http://www.network54.com/Forum/246853/message/1050481306/Hair+Dyes,+to+Die+For-+The+Dangers+of+Hair+Dyes
http://www.healthiertalk.com/what-your-grey-hair-says-about-you-0408
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/multiplemyeloma.html
http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/cancer/non_hodgkins.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4486852_make-vegetable-hair-dye.html
