Hair Coloring Products That Won’t Trigger Any Allergic Reactions May Soon Be Available

People dye their hair for different purposes. An older person might apply one to hide their white or gray hair; a younger person might apply it for fashionable purposes; others might use one just because “they are cool with it”. However, it has been discovered that these dyes contain ingredients that are likely to produce allergic reactions to the users – asides from its function of permanently coloring the hair, it also produces side effects such as itching, eczema, and swelling. This has caused a few people to back out from using hair dyes since they do not know which products to trust for effective results that at the same time produce no allergic reactions.

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Researchers at ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering took this to heart and began to research ways to modify these traditional hair dye products to reduce their allergic effects.

The study

During the research, they found this common ingredient – Paraphenylenediamine (PPD) – in most permanent dyes, and traced it to be the cause of the allergies. PPD is a white solid derived from aniline – the simplest aromatic amine. Exposure to high levels of this amine compound may cause severe dermatitis, eye irritation and tearing, asthma, renal failure, and coma in humans.

The application of dyes containing this compound to the hair causes it (the dye) to react with it (hair), giving the hair a dark color – the actual dying process. However, this compound also causes other side chemical reactions that result in compounds that penetrate the user’s skin and bind to their proteins. This, they discovered, is what stimulates the allergic reactions which users experience when they use such products. Therefore, they worked towards modifying this compound – this became the purpose of the research.

Dying Hair

Dying Hair

They worked on modifying the amine component of the compound, making it less reactive to body protein, and unable to penetrate the skin, while still retaining the permanent dying property. They manufactured seven different dyes with the ingredient based on the above modifications, in different proportions, testing their effects.

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One test showed that the compounds generated from the reaction of this modified PPD on hair samples, produced an anti-inflammatory response in cells; another showed that five out of the seven dyes were weak skin sensitizers; and, another showed that all seven dyes colored hair samples permanently without fading even after three weeks of daily washing.

Though more research needs to be carried out for more effective results, the researchers have been able to modify the effect of paraphenylenediamine in hair dyes, making them less harmful to users.

Clinical significance

The discovery from this study is important as it helps reduce the occurrence of the harmful side effects and allergic reactions in humans that make use of hair dye products containing this compound.

Conclusion

People, especially the young folks, that dye their hair for fashionable reasons can now apply these products while being assured that the products would be completely safe for use.

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References

Synthesis and Assessment of Non-allergenic Aromatic Amine Hair Dyes as Efficient Alternatives to Paraphenylenediamine

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