As she gets older, Auntie Wang's gray hair is getting more and more, and she wants to go to the barber store to dye her hair black. After knowing that, her sisters, who are dancing together, told her that dyeing her hair is very hurtful and may cause cancer, and advised her not to go.
After listening to the sisters, Wang Da-ma is very entangled. So, can hair coloring really cause cancer and harm the body?
Let's first understand what common hair dyes are on the market.
Currently, there are 3 common hair dyes on the market: temporary hair dyes, semi-permanent hair dyes, and permanent hair dyes.
Temporary hair dye: belongs to a one-time, high security, with a shampoo will be washed off the color.
Semi-permanent hair dye : It only takes 20-30 minutes to get the color on, and the color will come off after about 6-12 shampoos.
Permanent Hair Dye : It is also divided into synthetic, natural and inorganic hair dyes, of which synthetic hair dyes are most commonly used.
Most of the permanent hair dyes used by barbers in the market today are not expensive, but they are easily allergenic and even cause a series of health risks, so you should be careful to use them and reduce the number of times you dye your hair.
In this regard, Harvard Medical School conducted a study and published the results in the British Medical Journal, which triggered a hot debate.
Since 1976, researchers have tracked 120,000 American female nurses. Every 2 years, the researchers sent the female nurses questionnaires about whether they dyed their hair, how often they dyed their hair, and whether they had cancer.
After 36 years, 20,000 of the nurses were diagnosed with cancer, 23,000 were diagnosed with basal cell epithelioma, and 4,860 died of cancer.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that nurses who had used hair dye and those who hadn't didn't show significant differences in the incidence of most tumors.
However, there was an increased risk for some tumors, such as basal cell epithelioma, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.
Taken as a whole, the study showed that hair dyes, while increasing the risk of some cancers, did not do so significantly, such as a 5% increase for basal cell epithelial tumors, a 2%-9% increase for breast cancer, and a 9% increase for ovarian cancer.
The researchers also found that nurses who used permanent hair color frequently did not have an increased cancer risk. Even dying their hair about 200 times in 36 years did not induce cancer, meaning that it's probably safer to use permanent hair color.
So there's no need to be too alarmed about the safety of hair dyes.
The IARC classifies hair dye as a 2A carcinogen, but not for hair dye itself, but for occupational exposure to hair dye. In other words, hair stylists who are exposed to hair dye on a daily basis, or workers who make hair dye, are the ones at risk.
Still, we can't be too careful.
A recent study found that the use of permanent hair color is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in men.
In an article published in the journal Cancer, researchers at the National Cancer Institute noted that men who used oxidizing hair dyes had a 77% increased risk of prostate cancer compared to men who didn't use oxidizing dyes, and that the reason for this may be related to aromatic amine compounds found in most oxidizing hair dyes.
People who color their hair frequently, especially women, may be relieved to read this, believing that it's not harmful. But in fact, frequent hair coloring is still harmful to your health.
The p-phenylenediamine and metals in hair dye can penetrate the scalp and cause peroxidation, leading to dryness and hair loss.
Some people also have dermatitis, which makes the scalp appear erythematous, itchy, flaky, and edematous. It may even trigger acute toxicity of phenylenediamine, causing methemoglobinemia.
For the sake of physical health, these types of people are not recommended to dye their hair:
So, for those who love beauty, and want to dye their hair, and want to minimize the risk of hair coloring, what should be done?
1. Pick hair dyes that are less irritating
Try to use plant-based hair dyes, which are less toxic and irritating. If you are using a synthetic hair dye, then you should choose a product with phenylenediamine content of less than 2%. Of course, the most important thing is to use regular, qualified products.
2, do allergy test before dyeing hair
Allergy test before dyeing hair, that is, a small amount of hair dye applied to the back of the ear, the inside of the arm, etc., after 72 hours, if there is no allergic reaction, you can use it normally.
3, avoid direct contact with the skin
When dyeing hair, try not to let the hair dye touch the skin, if the skin is accidentally stained with hair dye, it should be washed off immediately with water or coated with petroleum jelly. If necessary, you can also apply a layer of lotion to the areas that are easily accessible to the hair dye to isolate it.
4, hair coloring no more than 2 times a year
To control the number of times of hair coloring, not more than 2 times a year. After all, the more often you color your hair, the greater the health risks.
Xiaojiu would like to remind everyone: the number of times of hair coloring should not be too much, at the same time in the selection of hair dye, but also to be more mindful, the best choice of stimulation of small, less toxic, so as not to cause harm to the body.
For people who are not suitable for hair coloring, it is better not to risk doing something harmful to your health.
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