Cancer & Hair Dyes - A Connection?
Never mind that permanent hair dyes with a high chemical composition may stress and dry out your hair. There is a lot more questions about what hair dyes can do besides causing damaged or destroyed hair follicles.
A large percentage of both American men and women use permanent hair dyes of some sort. Since the current population of Baby Boomers is aging, the number of people dying or coloring their hair in the US has been increasing steadily. The US Census Bureau estimated that over 22 million women alone would dye their hair by the year 2003.
It is estimated that one in eight men between the ages of 13 and 70 use some form of hair dyes to color their graying hair and beards. This number is increasing by the year.
Hair dyes and related products is very big business. Commercial dye-makers sell over $7 billion dollars worth of hair dyes worldwide every year.
So what else can hair dyes do to you? If you believe many of the scientific studies that have been done over the past 20 years, hair dyes may be carcinogenic. Why? Hair dyes are applied directly to the scalp, nearest the root. This is where the blood supply is the richest in the entire human body. It is also where the blood supply may carry any carcinogenic components right into the blood stream.
So can hair dyes cause cancer? It depends on whom you listen to and what you believe.
Many scientists and natural health care practioners believe that the chemicals in hair dyes, especially the dark colored permanent dyes, are easily absorbed into the body via the scalp. Once absorbed into the body they become concentrated in the bladder. Dark hair dyes are of particular concern because they contain a much higher concentration of chemicals than the lighter dyes.
There is some good news. Although dark colored strong permanent hair colors may be dangerous to your health, bleaching agents have not been proven to be carcinogenic. Neither have the nonpermanent vegetable based dyes or henna of any kind.
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