Day 39: To Be or Not to Be Blonde? Hair Colour, Safe or Dangerous?

Spring is here.  Time to feel light, carefree and bright!  It's a time when in the past I would be heading to my hair colourist to get a sun-kissed glow on my crown!

For 27  years I highlighted my hair blonde.  I went for touch-ups anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks.  My hair grew lighter and lighter with various shades of blonde interwoven.  Hair bleach and hair dye are chemicals. 
Last fall I started doing research on hair colouring.  After spending nearly half my life colouring my hair, could I be putting myself at risk?

I did research from various sources and decided to go back to my natural colour.  As a child I was a dark blonde. My shade faded to light brown as a teen and I dove into using spray on lighteners before going full force into cap and then later foil highlights.  It wasn't until people in my peer group were being diagnosed with cancer that I started to question not just what I put in my body but also on my body.

Unlike henna which is natural, bleach and hair dye is toxic.  Hair stylists wear gloves to apply the colour.  The smells can be noxious if ventiliation is poor at the salon. 

What does Dr. Oz have to say about hair colour?

Read below and find out.

Artificial coloring on your hair, whether you're bleaching it or coloring it, is the equivalent of artificial coloring in food - it may make it look as pretty as can be, but it's not always the healthiest thing you can do to your head. There is some suspicion that permanent black hair dye can cause leukemia and lymphomas and some chemicals that are no longer used caused bladder cancer. Because of extensive lobbying in the 1930s, hair-dye manufacturers only have to put warnings on the labels for skin and eye irritation. But in the late 1970s, the FDA proposed a warning linked to products that used two coal-tar ingredients - 4-methoxy-m-phenylenediamine (4MMPD) or its sulfate cousin (it never was implemented).
Temporary hair dyes are safer than permanent dyes, so the purple Mohawk you're considering probably poses little risk to your health - though it won't help you ace your next job interview, either. Bleaching, on the other hand, will really run up your hair bill as you try to salvage permanent damage.
Here's why: The pigment of your hair comes from the inner two layers. When you bleach your hair, you damage the shingles that create the covering of the hair shaft. The dye, which slips through the gaps in the outer layers, swells to give your hair a different color. But the prior or current damage the bleach caused allows the dye to slowly slip out of the hair, so we end up losing the full body of the hair faster than if we had just left it alone.
Now, in the olden days, hair dyes were toxic. Women who had their hair dyed monthly were twice more likely to get bladder cancer. Dyes have changed, but some still contain lead, known to cause neurologic damage. Others contain the skin-irritant coal-tar; if you get it in your eyes, you can lose your vision. Coal-tar hair dyes have also been linked to cancer in animals. The FDA has tried to put a ban on hair dyes that contain a coal-tar-like chemical called 4-MMPD, but manufacturers have fought this. Any dye that penetrates the skin is a cause for concern. It will take several more decades to know if hair dyes currently in use have subtle side effects.
I'll quote Billy Joel when it comes to bleaching, dying, and adding hot-pink highlights: "I like you just the way you are."

Find out more about this book: YOU: Being Beautiful

Another article is found in the International Agency for Researchy on Cancer, March 26, 2008.

Article date: March 26, 2008

Regular exposure to hair dyes, processing agents, and other chemicals used in hair salons and barbershops probably increases cancer risk, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization panel that maintains the world's most commonly-used system for classifying carcinogens. But there’s not enough evidence to say whether personal use of these products is linked to elevated risk, according to the report.
The IARC has labeled these occupations as "probably carcinogenic to humans," a classification the agency reserves for those exposures backed by fairly strong evidence.

It took me to my mid-forties to feel good about being who I am, all natural, darker hair and all.  The confidence that my highlights gave me is not as strong as the belief I have that I am making a healthier choice today for tomorrow!

Be you rather than Blonde, Brunette or Red!