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 Is Hair Coloring Safe?

There is always the thrill of popping into hair salons specializing in color and coming out with a new look but there is the worry of hair color causing cancer.

Is hair coloring safe? Well, according to the National Cancer Institute, there are over 5,000 chemicals in hair colors, 80 of which have the potential to cause cancer but this doesn’t mean that you will get cancer the first time you color your hair.

How safe hair coloring is depends on several factors such as:

The type of dye you use

If you have been researching hair coloring you must be aware that there are many hair dyes in the market you can use. The most popular ones being:

Permanent hair dyes: From their name, they cause long-lasting chemical changes to the hair shaft often because they contain a cocktail of chemicals. As you are buying permanent hair dyes, you should note that the darker the dye, the higher the chemical concentration hence the higher the chances of the chemicals causing cancer.

Some of the harmful chemicals in these dyes include: coal tar, para-phenylenediamine, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia.

Semi-permanent and demi-permanent dyes: These dyes will add color to the hair but they don’t last as long as the permanent dyes. In most cases, the semi-permanent dyes last for about 6-12 shampoos while the demi-permanent dyes last for 24-26 shampoos. Both of them contain some hydrogen peroxide that can be harmful.

Temporary hair dye: They are made up of water, organic solvents, and other agents that cover the hair shaft but don’t penetrate it. They come in different forms such as sprays, gels, and rinses that often last between one and two washings.

Natural hair dye: As you can expect, since this dye is natural, it’s chemical-free. While this might be good for you as it means that it’s harm-free, it doesn’t last as long as the chemical dyes so you will need to reapply it every 2-4 weeks.

The frequency at which you apply the dye

The other factor that will influence how safe the dye is is the frequency at which you apply it. Studies done by the University of South California showed that women that applied permanent dye at least once a month for a year had double the chances of developing cancer compared to those that didn’t.

The study showed that you even triple the risk if you apply the permanent dye for 15 years or more.

From the studies, you can tell that if you want to reduce the risk, you should minimize the frequency at which you apply the dye.

Your DNA

The other thing that will affect your results is your DNA makeup. Researchers have found that if you have a slow gene, you have triple the risk of developing bladder cancer as a result of using the hair coloring dyes.

The main culprit for this condition is arylamine, a derivative of ammonia absorbed through the skin during the dyeing process. According to the researchers, permanent dyes contain more of the toxic compound compared to semi-permanent dyes.

When you started dyeing your hair

Dyes manufactured before 1980 have been shown to contain high levels of toxic chemicals such as organic compounds and aromatic amines which are harmful to your health so if you started getting balayage hairstyles Rockville MD and other styles that involve hair coloring, you are at least 40% greater risk  of developing Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other forms of cancer compared to women that started dyeing their hair later in life,

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