Healthy Nature

Tons of men and women dye their hair on a regular basis, or at least once or twice in their lives. Bringing a box or hair dye home or going to the salon for a professional job is often second nature for many people and they do not think twice about it. 

However, you should be thinking about dying your hair, if it is toxic, and if there are risks associated with hair dye. 

The short answer is, yes, hair dye is highly toxic, and it is not recommended to dye human hair, even though it has not been deemed unsafe on a legal level. 

In this post, we will go over the main reason why hair dye is not safe to use and what some safer alternatives to hair dye are.

Ingredients that are toxic in hair dye 

When you dye your hair, you are trying to achieve permanent color that will not wash out after you get in the shower. To achieve this, products will either contain ammonia or ethanolamine if the product is ammonia-free, p-phenylenediamine, and hydrogen peroxide. These chemicals are associated with numerous health risks and can have a negative impact on your body. 

Ammonia is a respiratory irritant, can worsen asthma, is an endocrine disrupter, and bad for the environment. P-phenylenediamine is another highly toxic chemical you should avoid at all costs. It can cause birth defects, irritate your skin, cause severe allergic reactions, and can be toxic to your liver and your blood. This type of dye comes from coal tars, which is a product of petroleum. Coal tars have been proven to trigger many types of cancer and have not been approved by the FDA, and likely will never be. 

Toluene is another chemical often found in hair dye. It is a chemical used in many personal care products, makeup, soaps, etc. It is a known neurotoxic, can lead to birth defects, and in severe cases a pregnant woman may lose their baby. 

Studies have also found that hair dye can lead to breast cancer in some women. A new study also confirms these findings and found that women have a 9% increased risk of breast cancer if they dye their hair regularly and African American women have a 45% increase in risk. 

These are just a few ingredients found in hair dye that are toxic and dangerous for the human body. There may be hundreds, or even thousands of more chemicals in hair dye we are not even aware of. 

What are safer alternatives to conventional hair dye?

Luckily, there are some safer alternatives to conventional hair dye. However, there is no such thing as an all-natural, organic, completely chemical-free hair dye. In order to color your hair permanently, chemicals need to be involved or it will simply not work. If you want to avoid any of these chemicals, you will not want to dye your hair. Stick to your natural beautiful hair color!

However, if you want something different, try to find slightly healthier and more natural options when possible. Naturtint Hair Color does not contain ammonia, has no parabens, and is eco-friendly. Herbatint Permanent Herbal Gel is also more natural, is paraben-free, ammonia-free, and alcohol-free.

Just keep in mind there are still chemicals in these hair dyes, even though they are more natural and contain natural and healthy ingredients. These do not necessarily cancel out the negative effects of the other chemicals in the hair dye. Dying your hair is up to your discretion, but it is important to be informed about the health risks before you make such a big decision that may impact your body negatively.