Recently, according to CCTV Financial reports, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering banning certain hair straightening products in the United States, saying that these products may cause cancer.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a ban on straight hair products containing formaldehyde or containing methylene glycol, which releases formaldehyde, is being considered. The chemical hair straighteners release carcinogens, and inhaling formaldehyde gas can cause a range of health problems, from inflammation of the eyes and throat to coughing, wheezing, chest pain, to chronic headaches, asthma and cancer, the agency said. ①
Photo by Jin Peng
Tracking 30,000 people in 10 years proves that direct hair causes cancer!
In October 2022, a study that followed 33,000 people (women aged 35-74 years) over a 10-year period was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, confirming that the use of chemical hair straighteners was associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer in women; And the more frequently it is used, the more pronounced the risk increases. ②
The study followed 33,947 women and divided them into three groups based on direct hair frequency:
Those who do not use hair straightener (0 times)
Those who do not commonly use hair straighteners (1-4 times a year)
Those who use hair straighteners frequently (> 4 times a year)
Over an average follow-up period of up to 10 years, 378 women developed uterine cancer. Among them, compared to those who never use a hair straightener (0 times),
Participants who used hair straighteners had an 80% increased risk of uterine cancer;
Participants who used the hair straightener 4 times ≤ had a 20% increased risk of uterine cancer;
Participants who regularly used hair straighteners had a 155 percent increased risk of uterine cancer.
Even more alarming, the results also showed that people who regularly used hair straighteners also had a significantly increased risk of uterine cancer. The risk was 42% higher than for those who had never helped someone else with a hair straightener. So hairdressers beware!
In fact, not only straight hair, but also many studies in recent years have found that frequent hair dyeing and straight hair are very harmful to the body.
People who frequently dye their hair and straighten their hair should beware!
1. Increased risk of cancer
In 2020, a study published in the British Medical Journal confirmed that the use of permanent hair dye was associated with an increased risk of skin cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and lymphoma, and that the incidence was positively correlated with the dose of hair dye used. ③
Users of permanent hair dye had a 6% higher risk of skin basal cell carcinoma compared with non-users; For every 50 times of hair dyeing, the risk of breast cancer increases by 1%~2%; People who used permanent hair dye had a 21% higher risk of ovarian cancer than non-users; Women with naturally dark hair who had used permanent hair dye had a 289% increased risk of Hodgkin lymphoma.
2. Damage to the liver
Huang Tao, deputy chief physician of the Second Department of Infection of the Fifth Hospital of Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, pointed out in an article published in his hospital in 2022 that most hair dyes contain dozens of chemical components, and many chemicals are toxic, such as nitrobenzene, aniline, etc. These substances are easily absorbed by the skin and endanger human health.
Toxins penetrate into the body with hair follicles and skin, and the harm to the liver is not only not easy to detect, but also relatively large. Once the toxin enters the human body, it requires liver catabolism, frequent hair dyeing, not only will increase the burden on the liver, but also the toxic components in the hair dye that harm liver cells will damage liver cells and cause liver diseases. ④
3. Hair loss
The stimulation of hair dye will cause an inflammatory reaction of the scalp and hair follicles, and over time it will cause the hair follicles to shrink, and the hair will change from coarse to thin, and finally fall out. Therefore, the hair of people who regularly use hair dye is likely to become dull and even lead to pathological hair loss. ⑤
4. Allergies
After dyeing your hair, be sure to closely observe whether there will be mild symptoms such as scalp redness, itching, and scaling, as well as more serious allergic symptoms such as scalp and facial edema and blisters, which occur within a few hours to several days. If scratched, it is very easy to cause bacterial infection. ⑤
Don't dye your hair more than this every year!
Liu Weiping, chief physician of the Department of Lymphomacology of Peking University Cancer Hospital, said in a Health Times article in 2017 that there is currently no completely harmless hair dye on the market, so it is best to pay attention to the frequency and method of hair dyeing. Generally, do not dye your hair more than twice a year, and it is best not to dye your hair during pregnancy or breastfeeding. ⑤
In addition, it is recommended that everyone must do these points well before perming and dyeing hair to reduce the harm.
1. Do not wash your hair 2-3 days before dyeing and straightening your hair, the oil secreted by the scalp can play a certain protection;
2. Rub a little petroleum jelly on the scalp before dyeing your hair, which can play a protective role and avoid scalp contamination;
3. It is best to do an allergy test before each hair dyeing, there are many people who are allergic to hair dyeing, and the allergy is very serious;
4. Strictly follow the instructions for use of hair dye, do not let the dye stay on the head for too long;
5. If dyeing your own hair, wear gloves when using hair dye and rinse your scalp thoroughly with water after use;
6. People with head and face skin damage, dermatitis, and people with low immunity are best not to dye their hair.
This article is synthesized from:
(1)2023-10-18 CCTV Finance 《Straightening hair products cause cancer? These products may be banned in the United States →
②Che-Jung Chang, et al.,(2022). Use of Straighteners and Other Hair Products and Incident Uterine Cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djac165.
③Yin Zhang, Brenda M Birmann, Jiali Han. Personal use of permanent hair dyes and cancer risk and mortality in US women: prospective cohort study. BMJ2020;370.
(4)2022-08-05Shijiazhuang Fifth Hospital "Frequent hair dyeing leads to medicated liver! Expert tip, don't let health be a stepping stone to beauty! 》
(5)2017-06-07Phoenix Health "White hair dyed black is amazing! How to dye hair to minimize the harm"
(6)2017-08-04Health Times "Frequent hair dyeing is harmful"