Whether it’s to touch up my roots or try a brand new color or highlights, I make the trip every so often to my salon to get my hair dyed. I thought I was safe until I heard about a new European study that suggests that using hair dye may increase the risk of lymphoma, a type of cancer. Could it be that my fun trips to the salon is putting my health at risk?
"Our data suggest that personal use of hair coloring is associated with a small increase in lymphoma risk, particularly among women who started using hair coloring products before 1980," Dr. Silvia de Sanjose of the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona and colleagues write in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
The results from the study showed that those who dyed 12 or more times a year faced a 26 percent increased risk. Since I’ve been coloring my hair since I was 15 and over the past three years have been doing so very regularly, according to this study, I’m definitely at risk. Should I be worried?
Last year, there were almost 64,000 diagnosed cases of lymphoma. Of those cases, only two were related to use of hair dye. Phew! From 1978 to 1982, the ingredients of some types of dyes were reformulated to eliminate some that were potentially cancer-causing. Experts say that it's still not known whether the newer types of hair dyes are free of risk and more research needs to be done. Good thing I know there are already some safe dyes out there like ISO’s i.color which has Vitamin C, proteins, and antioxidants in its formula – at least those ingredients are definitely healthy for you!
Until more research is done and there’s harder evidence that proves hair dye is cancer-causing, I think it’s safe to say I’m going to keep coloring my hair!
