Cancer and Hair Color Products

Today, we hear about exposure to a wide range of chemicals have not been discovered to be at the cause of cancer in many individuals. The sad news is that many individuals work in plants, factories, offices, and even use products that can be harmful to their health for years before the discovery is made. Hair color products are not going anywhere. Many American women and men use permanent hair dyes. As a person ages the desire to stay looking as young as possible by covering gray hair is of course one of the main reasons we all dye our hair. In 2003, the US Census Bureau reported that more than 22 million women dyed their hair.

We all know that the harsh chemicals cause stress on our hair and even cause it to weak but what about cancer. The cause of many of the different cancers is not known, but we have been given a list of risk factors once they are discovered. We know that smoking and exposure to toxins at the work place are both high risk and have been associated with different cancers.

Of course, in cancer cases, there are more factors at work than just one. Some of the factors include person’s genes, their general health, and their exposure to carcinogens. Carcinogens are cancer-causing substances and many chemicals are included in this list such as the ingredients used to create hair dyes. Recent research implies a link between bladder cancer and hair color products but other research shows this to be false.

Research published on May 26, 2006 in the American Journal of Epidemiology is the most recent study conducted on the risks involved with hair color products. The study was conducted at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, Spain. The information was gathered from six countries in Europe, which showed the risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma increased by 19% in those that used hair color products occasionally, whereas those that used hair color products on a regular basis the risk increased to 26%.

The evidence shows that the risk of developing cancer from hair color dyes increases with the amount of usage. The study went on to prove the hair coloring does not have an effect on bladder or breast cancer, however, does raise the risk of multiple myeloma and leukemia even those the risk was low.

One must remember that the studies on cancer and hair color dyes was random and was not performed on each and every hair coloring product on the market using chemicals.