Does Hair Dye Cause Cancer?

Pradeep Chauhan
Never mind that permanent hair dyes with a high chemical composition may stress and dry out your hair. There is a lot more questions about what hair dyes can do besides causing damaged or destroyed hair follicles.

A large percentage of both American men and women use permanent hair dyes of some sort. Since the current population of Baby Boomers is aging, the number of people dying or coloring their hair in the US has been increasing steadily. The US Census Bureau estimated that over 22 million women alone would dye their hair by the year 2003.

The causes of most cancers are unknown. However certain risk factors, for example smoking or exposure to toxins at work, are known to be associated with certain cancers. In every case of cancer there are multiple factors at play. Your genes and your general health will both play a part in determining whether your exposure to known carcinogens (cancer causing substances) will result in your contracting cancer. Research that suggested alink between hair dye and bladder cancer has been contradicted by more recent research and it is now thought there is no such link.

The most recent research on the hair dying problem was carried out a few months ago and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology on May 26, 2006. It was conducted at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona on data gathered from six European countries. The analyzes showed that the risk of suffering from non – Hodgkin's lymphoma increased with 19% in individuals that use hair color from time to time, while those who get their hair dyed on a regular basis – like monthly - the risk of cancer raises to 26%.

Strong evidence showing that the use of hair dye increases the risk of cancer. Specifically, the research team found that, worldwide, the use of hair coloring products has no apparent effect on breast and bladder cancers, but may slightly increase the risk of leukemia and multiple myeloma. However, they said that the causal effect was too weak to be a major concern.

Some research has indicated that using hair dye may lead to increased risk of bladder cancer, while other research has suggested it doesn´t. Some of the research has considered different types of dyes and others haven't. Some studies have probably been too small to show up any small increase in risk. In the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) May 2005, there was a large meta analysis published that looked into all the research on hair dyes causing cancer. A meta analysis is research that pulls together all previous study results. This has found that there is unlikely to be any link between hair dye use and bladder cancer.

An analysis of the many studies examining a possible link between hair dye use and cancer was unsupportive of a cause and effect relationship. Although it remains unlikely, there could still be a small risk associated with certain cancers. More studies focusing on hairdressers, who are routinely exposed to the chemicals in hair dyes, may shed more light on a possible connection with cancers.

Hair dye is unlikely to be a significant risk factor for cancer, if it is one at all. Family history, diet, smoking, and exercise have far more to do with cancer risk than whether or not you choose to be a brunette or a blonde.

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