Study Shows Hair Dyes & Chemical Straighteners May Cause Breast Cancer

Many hair products contain endocrine-disrupting compounds and carcinogens potentially relevant to breast cancer.

Do Hair Dyes Cause Cancer?

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). Its major goal is to identify causes of cancer. IARC has concluded that workplace exposure as a hairdresser or barber is “probably carcinogenic to humans,” based on the data regarding bladder cancer. (The evidence for other types of cancer is considered mixed or inadequate.)

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is formed from parts of several different US government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The NTP has classified some chemicals that are or were used in hair dyes as “reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens.”

Are Hair Dyes Regulated?!

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the safety of cosmetics, including hair dyes, but there are limits on what the FDA can do. The FDA does not approve each ingredient used in hair dyes before it goes on the market, and in general the responsibility for the safety of products and ingredients falls to the manufacturers. Yes, the companies that make hair dyes self-regulate the safety of their own products.

• The FDA can take action only AFTER cosmetics are proven harmful or in violation of the law (such as being mislabeled).
• This only applies to new ingredients used in hair dyes as the older ingredients still in use in hair dyes were excluded when the FDA was given the power to regulate them.
• If cosmetics (including hair dyes) or their ingredients are found to be unsafe, the FDA can request that the company recall the product, although it can’t require a recall.

So should I limit my exposure to hair dye?

Cancer.org says: more studies are needed to help clarify this issue.

Cancerzen.com says Yes! Yes, you probably should. But, if its that one thing you can’t do without – so be it. If you make every effort at clean living in the other areas of your life, you are well on your way. And eventually, there will be newer hair dye products that are vegetable based and less dangerous available.

Stay well!