Date:25/04/2005 Author: Pat Thomas

Behind the Label- Clairol Nice n'Easy Hair Dye

In a culture obsessed by quick fixes, permanent hair colours are a fashionable and inexpensive way to transform your life. Change your hair
colour and you too can have celebrity good looks and youthfulness. And, as an extra bonus, most colorants now boast ‘gentle�?ingredients that nurture your hair. Business is understandably booming, overshadowing a disturbing amount of data linking regular hairdye use with a range of different cancers.

Permanent hair dyes consist of two components: colour and developer. The colour component usually contains a range of synthetic dyes and intermediates such as ammonia, diaminobenzenes, phenylenediamines, resorcinol and phenols.

Mixed with a developer such as hydrogen peroxide the colour oxidises to produce a particular shade. Many hair-dye ingredients are powerful
irritants and allergens. As a result, hair dye sold in the EU containing phenylenediamines, resorcinol and 1-naphthol must carry the following warning: ‘Can cause allergic reaction. Do not use to colour eyelashes or eyebrows.�?

In the US products containing the coal-tar ingredient 4-methoxy-m-phenylenediamine (4-MMPD, 2,4-diaminoanisole) must carry this warning: ‘Contains an ingredient that can penetrate your skin and has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals.�?No such warning is required in the EU.

Other hair-dye ingredients (4-chlorom-phenylenediamine, 2,4-toluenediamine, 2-nitro-p-phenylenediamine and 4-amino-2- nitrophenol) have also proven carcinogenic in at least one animal species. And coal-tar dyes have been found to cause cancer in laboratory animals, yet no warning is required for either.

Media coverage of recent hair-dye disasters has tended to defer to the default position of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association that all toiletries and cosmetics are safety-tested. Most of these tests look for skin reactions only. In truth, anaphylactic shock, the most extreme and life-threatening allergic reaction, is a rare reaction to hair dye.

More disturbing are the longer-term effects associated with permanent hair dyes. These include breast cancer, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as a signifi cantly increased risk of otherwise rare cancers such as non-Hodgkins lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Several factors provide a safety net for a largely self-regulating industry. One is the large variation in the chemical content of hair dyes.
This means that when an association with a health risk is found it is diffi cult to know which ingredient is the culprit. In addition, cancer is a
slow-developing disease. By the time it surfaces, it is diffi cult to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt which particular exposure was the cause.
This is good news for manufacturers, which can continue to produce potentially toxic products with impunity and without risk of litigation,
but bad news for the rest of us.

• 
  Hexylene glycol
  Solvent,
  Irritating to eyes, skin respiratory tract. Prolonged contact may cause dermatitis.
  
• Propylene glycol
  Solvent,
  Irritating to eyes, skin respiratory tract; penetration enhancer; alters skin structure, allowing other more toxic chemicals to penetrate more deeply into the skin, and eventually the bloodstream.
  
• Soytrimonium chloride
  Surfactant, detergent
  A quaternary ammonium compound and as such toxic by all routes of exposure. Skin and airway irritation are common. Depending on the concentration, quaternary compounds may also produce nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, anxiety, restlessness, coma, convulsions, respiratory muscle paralysis.
  
• Isopropyl alcohol
  Solvent
  Irritates eyes and mucous membranes; central nervous system depression. Prolonged contact can cause eczema and sensitivity.
  Animal studies show inhalation can damage the liver.
• 
  Ethanolamine Surfactant,
  dispersant
  Irritating to the skin, eyes and lungs; asthma; at high
  concentrations, central nervous system damage; quickly absorbed into the skin, can accumulate in the liver and kidneys; can mix with other ingredients (ie, quaternary compounds) to form carcinogenic nitrosamines during storage and use.
• 
  O leth-5, oleth-2 Emulsifiers,
  surfactant
  Allergens; in the same family as PEG compounds; may contain impurities linked to breast cancer (eg, 1,4-dioxane, ethylene oxide); toxic to aquatic organisms.
• 
  Parfum Fragrance Asthmatic reactions; skin irritation; central nervous system disruption (eg, headache, mood swings, depression, forgetfulness);
  artifi cial musks are hormone-disrupting.
• 
  Cocamidopropyl betaine
  Surfactant
  Skin/eye irritant; may cause allergic reaction; can promote the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• 
  Ammonium hydroxide
  pH adjuster
  Highly corrosive; irritation and burns to the skin, eyes and respiratory tract; skin cancer.
• 
  p-phenylenediamine
  Coal-tar dye
  Potentially carcinogenic; immune system dysregulation; skin damage and allergic reactions; irritating to the eyes; toxic to
  wildlife, soil.
• 
  1-naphthol
  Oxidising agent
  Derived from coal tar, linked to cancer and other potential health problems in humans; pesticide ingredient.
• 
  Resorcinol
  Oxidising agent
  Irritating to eyes and skin; allergen; hormone-disruptor linked to reproductive effects; thyroid damage; central nervous system effects,
  including dizziness, nausea, altered heart beat and restlessness.
• 
  Phenyl methyl pyrazolone
  Intermediate, oxidizing agent
  Irritant; inhalation may result in headache, runny nose, cough, shortness of breath, chest pain; derived from coal tar, so potentially
  carcinogenic; animal data suggests in utero exposure increases learning difficulties.

There is no such thing as a hair colour that drops off a tree. With the exception of Aromantic, most natural alternatives contain the same ingredients as their conventional counterparts, though most claim the levels are much lower.

Since labelling laws do not require manufacturers to list the percentages of each ingredient, buying alternatives is still something of a lottery. But here are some options:

John Masters Organics www.johnmasters.com
Aromantic www.aromantic.co.uk
Naturtint Permanent Hair Colour www.naturesdream.co.uk
Tints of Nature www.herbuk.com
Herbatint www.herbatint.co.uk

From: http://www.theecologist.org/behind_the_label.asp