Many people that color their hair don't often consider the dangerous risk they are taking each time they cover their grays or refresh their reds. In fact, most hair dyes products contain toxic, carcinogenic, and corrosive ingredients that not only irritate the scalp, but also severely damage the hair and can cause serious health issues such as cancer, chronic allergies, reproductive systems disorders, and immune deficiencies. If you're someone who colors their hair on a regular basis, it's important that you understand the dangers that you are facing and that there are other alternatives that you may not be aware of.
Toluene-2,5-diamine sulfate (PTD): PTD is a substituted aromatic amine salt that is a potent carcinogen which is known to cause severe and irreversible damage to the human immune system and is closely linked to bladder cancer.
Ammonia: This corrosive alkaline ingredient is used specifically to rough and corrode the cuticle and left it open to allow hair dye to penetrate into the hair shaft. While it serves as an excellent corrosive agent, it also damages the sebaceous glands, which provides sebum, the hair's natural moisturizer. Worse yet, it damages the hair tyrosine protein. Tyrosine regulates the hair's melanin, which provides hair its ability to "hold" hair color. Finally, ammonia has the effect of damaging hair follicles to the point where they go dormant and many dermatologists now agree that ammonia in hair dye is a key cause of hair thinning and loss.
Paraphenylenediamine (PPD): PPD is widely used as a permanent hair pigment. The use of PPD as a hair pigment is popular because it is a permanent dye that gives a natural look. Hair can also be shampooed without fading. PPD can be a dangerous allergen and for that reason poses dangers as an ingredient in hair color. Individuals and salon professionals should conduct a simple skin patch test to test for allergies to PPD before using any permanent hair dye.
Alternative Options to Harmful Hair Color
Many people who seek safer, more natural alternatives to hair dye turn to henna because it is mostly naturally derived from plant pigments. Most people don't realize that henna, especially black henna, is loaded with PPD's. While this natural approach to hair dye may help avoid some of the toxic colors found in other hair dyes, the effect is not the same. Henna is more of a color coating that rests above the hair dye and only provides a semi-permanent affect.
Another, more popular approach, is turning to organic hair color. Modern Organic hair color does not contain any ammonia and instead depends on natural organic extracts to lift the cuticle and allow a permanent color to the hair. These products usually rely heavily on organic ingredients while supplementing their effectiveness with some mineral pigments and a minimal amount of synthetics. Unfortunately, the best organic hair colors such as Organic Color Systems are only sold to salon professionals.
What are the three most Dangerous Ingredients in Hair Color?
Resorcinol: This is often found in hair coloring products and bleaching agents and is a extremely toxic skin irritant that is extraordinarily dangerous to the immune system as it disrupts the thyroid hormonal synthesis and produces severe hormone imbalances. After prolonged exposure to resorcinol, this imbalance can become irreversible. While the Federal Government regulates resorcinol exposure in the workplace, it ignores the resorcinol exposure that salon professionals are exposed to on a daily basis and there are no regulations limiting the amounts of resorcinol in cosmetics or hair care products.Toluene-2,5-diamine sulfate (PTD): PTD is a substituted aromatic amine salt that is a potent carcinogen which is known to cause severe and irreversible damage to the human immune system and is closely linked to bladder cancer.
Ammonia: This corrosive alkaline ingredient is used specifically to rough and corrode the cuticle and left it open to allow hair dye to penetrate into the hair shaft. While it serves as an excellent corrosive agent, it also damages the sebaceous glands, which provides sebum, the hair's natural moisturizer. Worse yet, it damages the hair tyrosine protein. Tyrosine regulates the hair's melanin, which provides hair its ability to "hold" hair color. Finally, ammonia has the effect of damaging hair follicles to the point where they go dormant and many dermatologists now agree that ammonia in hair dye is a key cause of hair thinning and loss.
Paraphenylenediamine (PPD): PPD is widely used as a permanent hair pigment. The use of PPD as a hair pigment is popular because it is a permanent dye that gives a natural look. Hair can also be shampooed without fading. PPD can be a dangerous allergen and for that reason poses dangers as an ingredient in hair color. Individuals and salon professionals should conduct a simple skin patch test to test for allergies to PPD before using any permanent hair dye.
Alternative Options to Harmful Hair Color
Many people who seek safer, more natural alternatives to hair dye turn to henna because it is mostly naturally derived from plant pigments. Most people don't realize that henna, especially black henna, is loaded with PPD's. While this natural approach to hair dye may help avoid some of the toxic colors found in other hair dyes, the effect is not the same. Henna is more of a color coating that rests above the hair dye and only provides a semi-permanent affect.
Another, more popular approach, is turning to organic hair color. Modern Organic hair color does not contain any ammonia and instead depends on natural organic extracts to lift the cuticle and allow a permanent color to the hair. These products usually rely heavily on organic ingredients while supplementing their effectiveness with some mineral pigments and a minimal amount of synthetics. Unfortunately, the best organic hair colors such as Organic Color Systems are only sold to salon professionals.