Welcome to Hair Color Concerns
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Coloring our hair is a multi-billion dollar business in the U.S. Most women either have or will color their hair sometime in their life, and now many men are also jumping on the bandwagon. While over 50% of women over the age of 25 color their hair, we begin coloring our hair younger and younger each year. Has the safety of using these chemicals ever concerned you? Do you recall the hair color “scare” of the 1970s when some of the chemicals were shown to cause cancer in laboratory mice? If you’ve been pregnant, did your doctor caution you about exposure to hair color early in your pregnancy? If you are a stylist, have years of constant exposure to these chemicals concerned you, or worse, have you had symptoms related to your exposure?
If you can answer yes to any of these questions, I’m especially glad you’ve found Hair Color Concerns. This web site is intended as a resource for you. Please post your questions and discuss your concerns with others. I have tried to include some basic information about the dangers of hair color, and some known preventive measures. As time goes on, this web site will grow and more information will be added. Ultimately, I hope collectively we will become a significant voice demanding innovation that results in safer products. For now, welcome, and please let me know how I can help you in your quest for beautiful hair AND a healthy and happy life.
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This web site has three purposes:
- To inform hairstylists and consumers about the dangers of hair color chemicals, especially PPD.
- To inform hairstylists about easy preventive measures to prevent over exposure to PPD, and
- To encourage new research into safe and PPD-free hair color alternatives.
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Simple Preventive Measures for Stylists
- Always wear gloves, even while mixing and shampooing color out of hair.
- Use gloves only once. PPD residue can remain on gloves even if you think you've washed it out.
- Use Nitrile gloves if possible. Latex rubber is also a common allergen. In fact, black colored rubber gloves also contain PPD, so do not use them.
- When possible, consider reordering your work routine. Cut hair before coloring whenever possible. PPD remains in the hair even after shampooing. This is the time of greatest exposure!
- Protect Your Clients! Always perform the required patch test. A reaction to PPD can happen on the first time or the 50th time someone colors their hair, and can result in anaphylactic shock or even death.
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To learn more, check out these books that describe
the chemicals to be
aware of,
how they got into our lives,
and what do to about it.
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