Hair Dying and Allergic Reactions: The Ugly Truth

By Dying Your Hair You Risk Developing a Severe Allergic Reaction Over Time

Atomic Pink, Shocking Blue and Purple Haze are not just something that sounds like song titles, they are hair dye colors and probably colors your kids or kids you have seen are coloring their hair with. But a new study from the British Medical Journal shows that the world's hair dying trend is also causing more and more people to develope allergic reactions to hair dye. Some people who dye their hair frequently may not even know they are allergic to the dye until it is too late.

The reaction's can cause dermatitis on the face and in more severe cases facial swelling.

The allergic reactions are showing up more and more in young adults who are changing their hair color frequently due to an active ingredient in their hair dyes. The ingredient, para-phenylenediamine or PPD has already been banned in some European countries including France, Germany and Sweden. In the UK alone 750,000 people have tested positive for the allergic reaction.

I will admit that I use two hair dyes when I'm coloring my hair, Kinky Red which is a more purple-ish red and Dark Brown which, when mixed together, comes out looking dark red with my hair. It took me many dye jobs to get it just right and when I was younger I used a lot of very bright colors such as pink and blue to color my hair with. Looking back on my high school years I can only imagine what I was doing to my hair.

I was surprised to learn from reading this study that more than two thirds of hair dyes currently contain para-phenylenediamine (PPD) and other related agents. Current European Union legislation allows PPD to comprise up to 6% of the constituents of hair dyes on the consumer market, but no satisfactory or widely accepted alternatives to these agents are available for use in permanent hair dye.

The report also states that Dermatologists are reporting the positive reactions to PPD is increasing. A recent London based survey also confirmed a doubling in allergic reactions to PPD over six years in a clinic for adults with contact dermatitis. But the trend has also been observed in other countries in Europe where people tend to dye their hair frequently.