Hair Dyes Are Chemical

Over 50 million women in the US dye their hair regularly. Many more say they will once they start to turn gray, and many girls use hair dyes from an early age. However, there are risks associated with using these products. One of the main chemicals in most hair dyes was once banned in several European countries, and hair dye chemicals have been shown to have a variety of harmful effects in scientific experiments. Use of hair dye has been linked to allergic reactions, respiratory disorders and even cancer.

Read on to learn more about the real risks associated with dyeing your hair, and the alternatives to chemical hair coloring.

kin and other allergic reactions pose the biggest risk to hair colour users. It's difficult to say how many dye users suffer from allergic reactions, as most do not seek medical attention. However, there are many cases where allergic reactions to hair dyes have been severe or even fatal.

Signs of a mild reaction may only be irritation of the upper eyelids or rims of the ears, but in more severe reactions, the whole head or body may be involved.

A severe form of allergic reaction is anaphylactic shock. When this occurs, the mouth and tongue swell and the airways constrict. Anaphylaxis can be rapidly fatal, and there have been isolated cases of hair dyes causing anaphylactic shock.

Skin reactions can occur on a person's first exposure to hair dye, or can suddenly occur in a person who has been using them long-term. A patch test before every dyeing is important to help detect skin allergies, but very time dye is applied to the skin, the immune system may become sensitized, increasing the risk of future allergic reaction.

Working as a hairstylist is associated with an increased risk of skin allergies. One review found that 17-80% of stylists suffered from allergic reactions on contact with hair dye (Khumalo et al, 2006).

Hair Dye Allergy Suspected in Teen Death - ABC News,The death of a British teen who screamed in agony and collapsed moments after coloring her hair has put the spotlight on D-I-Y dye. Seventeen-year-old Tabatha McCourt from Lanarkshire, England, died in hospital after what medics suspect was a severe allergic reaction to p-phenylenediamine, or PPD.

Hair stylists are at risk of developing occupational asthma, both from the persulfates used in bleaches and PPD from hair colours. Long term exposure sensitizes the airways, leading to asthma attacks on exposure to the chemicals.

A number of studies have confirmed that hair stylists have higher levels of asthma than the general population.However, new studies have linked it use to development of a specific type of cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (Zhang et al, 2008). This study looked at groups of women suffering from this disease, and a control group. It was found that women who started using it, particularly darker colors, before 1980 had an increased risk of developing the disease.