Hair color 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.
What makes hair dyes harmful? In a word: chemicals. To achieve luscious shades of chestnut brown or mahogany, permanent hair dyes must contain both color and a developer. The developer actively lifts the outside covering (or "cuticle") of the hair, allowing easier access for the color to penetrate. Sounds simple--except that the developer contains a not-so-simple (or healthy) combination of peroxide and ammonia, which not only alters the molecular structure of hair and damage it, but may cause allergic reactions. While these chemicals are not carcinogenic, they can be very dangerous to those with chemical sensitivities. Permanent dyes also contain tiny but potentially harmful petrochemicals (like coal tar), which, like developer, penetrate the hair shaft to deposit color.
Now that I have scared you off hair color forever let me give you a great alternative to the vast majority of hair color products on the market. The product is called Naturtint, and it has significantly less chemicals and no ammonia. In a perfect world it is probably be not to use hair color at all, but if you need to use them give Naturtint a try.
