Be Aware Of These Harmful Chemicals Found In Hair Dye

Women of all ages enjoy dying their hair, from teens who want to experiment with crazy colors to older women looking to cover up their grey hairs. But the problem with conventional hair dyes that you find at your favorite hair salon or pharmacy is that they are full of harmful chemical ingredients.

Because you are applying these dyes directly to your scalp, and your skin is your largest organ that absorbs everything you put onto it, you are exposing yourself to these toxic ingredients which, in the long run, can lead to health issues.

If you want to learn more about the harmful ingredients found in common hair dyes, read on for the ones that you should definitely make it a point to avoid. Once you have learned about how dangerous hair dyes can be to your health, opt instead to search for natural hair dyes from companies that make sure they don’t include these ingredients in their products.

There are a variety of brands out there that provide hair dyes that have been proven safe for humans and have not been tested on animals, and they are able to give you the permanent or semi-permanent colors you desire to enhance your appearance.

Resorcinol

This chemical is found in most commercial hair dyes, although alternative natural hair dye companies make it a point to leave this ingredient out. Resorcinol is an endocrine-disrupting agent, meaning it will adversely affect the part of your body responsible for the production and balance of various hormones in your system.

An example of a hormone-related condition that resorcinol can cause is hypothyroidism, which causes your thyroid to slow down its production of hormones related to your metabolism. There are also some concerns that this ingredient can cause organ system toxicity, and it certainly does cause severe irritation of the skin and eyes. Resorcinol is toxic even to the environment.

Ammonia

This ingredient can irritate the respiratory system, so people with allergies or asthma should avoid it, as it can create breathing problems. It has also been known to cause eye irritation.

P-phenylenediamine

This chemical ingredient is also known as PPD for short, and it is one of the worst ingredients found in conventional hair dye products. It has been associated with an increased risk of developing cancer, and is toxic to the body overall, especially to the immune system, organs, and nervous system. Those who are particularly sensitive to it can find that upon inhalation of hair dye products, they develop breathing difficulties, and when applied to the skin, severe irritation can occur as part of an allergic reaction as well.

Lead Acetate

This is yet another one of the ingredients in hair dye that is particularly harmful to humans. It adversely affects the organs as well as the respiratory and reproductive systems and is known to be toxic in the environment as well as a possible carcinogen. Being that this ingredient not only harms humans but also wildlife and the environment, it is best to avoid it altogether.