Is it harmful to dye your hair occasionally?

Love of beauty is a common trait of many people. Now, hairdressing and hair dyeing have become things that many people do frequently in their lives. In particular, many young people like to have more personalized and popular hairstyles. Especially for hair dyeing, it is no longer just the patent of young people. Many elderly people often dye their gray hair black, which will make them look younger. However, hair dyeing will cause some harm to your health.

Is it harmful to dye your hair occasionally?

To be precise, every time you dye your hair, the damage to your hair caused by hair dye chemicals is equivalent to boiling your hair in 100-degree water for five minutes. Even if it is done occasionally, the damage to your hair is enormous. If you dye your hair frequently, you are prone to scalp cancer.

The dangers of hair dyeing

Hazard 1: Carcinogenic

Researchers at Yale University in the United States once surveyed women who started dyeing their hair before 1980 and found that more than one-third of them would develop lymphoma.

There have been many studies internationally on whether hair dyeing causes cancer, but whether it does or not is still controversial. However, since the late 1970s, some ingredients in hair dyes that have been shown to cause tumors have been gradually eliminated from their formulas.

Hazard 2: Skin allergies

In EU countries such as France and Germany, paraphenylenediamine (the main ingredient of hair dye) has been expressly banned from being added to hair dye, but in my country, it is still used. (When dyeing your hair, it is best to check the ingredients of the hair dye)

Hazard 3: Damage to the liver and kidneys

In order to enhance the dyeing effect, some products on the market add heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. The lead content in some products is even 5-10 times that of paint. Long-term use will cause chronic damage to the body. Not only may symptoms of lead poisoning such as dizziness, numbness of the limbs, and abdominal pain occur, but the functions of organs such as the liver and kidneys may also be damaged.

Harm 4: Hair loss

Benzene compounds such as p-phenylenediamine in hair dyes can penetrate into the cuticle, an important component of hair, and cause peroxidation, leading to dry, breakable and even hair loss.

What issues should be paid attention to when dyeing hair:

1. It is best for young people to dye their hair mainly with highlights, and try not to dye the hair close to the roots to avoid contact between hair dye and scalp, and reduce the risk of harmful substances penetrating into the head.

2. Don’t dye your hair on foggy days: Hair dyes contain harmful secondary amines, which can react with tobacco smoke or exhaust gas in the air to form nitrosamines, a strong carcinogenic chemical. Therefore, the risk of cancer from dyeing hair may be higher on foggy days.

3. Dyeing and perming your hair can cause severe damage: The chemicals used for perming often contain alkaline ingredients and oxidants, which can damage the hair's surface, leaving the hair's internal structure unprotected, causing it to turn yellow, become brittle, and lose its elasticity and luster. Dyeing your hair at this time will undoubtedly make the already damaged hair worse.