About 50% of women and 10% of men over the age of 40 dye their hair. Traditionally, they would go to hair salons for this, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most have resorted to dyeing their hair at home to combat gray hair.
This raises the question for many about whether the chemicals in permanent and semi-permanent hair dye products could cause cancer. According to the Harvard Medical School Journal, occupational exposure to hair dye may increase the cancer risk for hairdressers who inhale fumes or continually touch the products. However, little is known about whether personal use of these hair dyes can cause cancer.
Recently, researchers found that individuals who used permanent hair dye did not experience an increased risk of various cancers, although there was a slight increase in the risk of basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, along with breast and ovarian cancers.
Dr. Shingita Das, a board-certified dermatologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, stated, "This study was mostly well-designed, but since it was mainly conducted on Caucasian nurses and did not examine men or other racial or ethnic groups, it was limited. It also did not specify how many dark-haired women used additional chemicals to lighten the dye significantly."
She added, "More research is needed to study diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, specific hair dye colors, cancer subtypes, and exposure levels. With the information we currently have, we can say that hair dyeing is considered safe, but it does increase the risk of most types of cancer or cancer-related mortality as well."
On his part, Dr. Herman Katlof, a prominent oncologist in Los Angeles, noted, "It is generally clear that hair dyes do not increase the risk of most types of cancer, but there may be a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer. However, this study is complex and difficult to analyze to determine if the risk is real or linked to something else. My wife dyes her hair now, and I certainly will not stop her from doing so."
