Hair Dye Causes Cancer

A recent study made headlines for its scary findings. Does hair dye cause cancer.

Can Hair Coloring Products Hurt You Or Cause Cancer

In the mid 1970s some research concluded that components of permanent hair dyes including some aromatic amines did cause cancer in animals.

Hair dye causes cancer. However due to this high concentration of chemicals the hair dyes are more likely to cause cancer than other less permanent hair dyes according to research. Early hair dye formulations contained chemicals including aromatic amines that were found to cause cancer in animals. Early hair dyes contained chemicals including some aromatic amines which were found in the late 1970s to cause cancer in lab animals so hair dye manufacturers changed some of the chemicals in their products.

For decades people have considered hair dyes to be one of the primary causes of cancer. They last the longest by creating colored molecules within the hair shaft itself. It is not known whether some of the chemicals still used in hair dyes can cause cancer.

Permanent dyes are by far the most popular making up about 80 of the market. According to the american cancer society acs some studies have suggested hair dyes slightly increase the risk of non hodgkin s lymphoma and leukemia in women but most of these women started. A study published in december 2019 in the international journal of cancer found that women who use permanent hair dye regularly were 9 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than those who didn t use these products.

In the mid to late 1970s however manufacturers changed the components in dye products to eliminate some of these chemicals 2 3 5. Apart from the types of hair dyes based on the duration of results they offer the duration frequency of use and hair dye shade selection may also contribute to an increased risk in developing cancer. The study used data from the sister study.

Specifically the study found the use of hair dye did not increase risk of cancers of the bladder brain colon kidney lung blood and immune system or most cancers of the skin or breast. Hair straightener and permanent dye products may be associated with a higher risk of breast cancer especially among black women. Although it is enlisted as a probable carcinogen by the world health organization researchers have recently concluded that dyeing hair is highly unlikely to lead to cancer in a new study which appears in the british medical journal.

The first line of evidence to suggest that hair dyes may cause cancer came from animal studies performed on mice and rats where. Specific compounds can cause cancer in rodents and cell studies. Studying exposure to hair dyes from decades ago may not be the same as studying current exposures.

Do Hair Dyes Cause Cancer