Guest post by Dr. Hannah Gardener
A Green Slate Consulting
December 4, 2019

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Lets talk about hair dye.

Many of you likely saw the headlines circulating today about a recently published analysis of data from the NIH-funded Sister Study showing an increased risk of breast cancer among women who reported frequent use of permanent hair dye, and this association was particularly strong among black women. This is an observational epidemiological study so it is unable to identify which specific hair dyes and which specific ingredients may be underlying the association if it is causal. But we know that there are many toxic ingredients in typical hair dye including ammonia, PPD, coal tar, formaldehyde, and harsh preservatives.

What to do?

My first reaction is to say fuck the patriarchy, embrace your natural color, embrace the grays! But really we can say fuck the patriarchy and also want to change up our hair color. Feeling good about how you look has real positive health effects, and for many people that involves dying their hair. If dying your hair makes you feel great and confident then I would not let this news stop you from coloring your hair entirely. But you may want to reconsider what you are using and how often?

Here is my advice:

1. Only dye your hair if it makes YOU feel good!
2. Don’t dye your hair when pregnant or breastfeeding. Hair dye is not a necessity and I suggest being conservative about what you put in and on your body when it impacts small developing fetuses/babies.
3. Avoid the use of hair dye on children (other than Kool aid which works very well!). Children are more susceptible than adults to carcinogens and endocrine disrupters.
4. If your goal is just to reverse grays and you have a moderate amount of gray hair then you are in luck… there is a totally nontoxic option for you called Hairprint.
5. If you want to dye your hair a color different than your natural color I suggest avoiding permanent dyes, going to the salon as infrequently as possible (I go about 3x/year), choosing a salon that uses safer/healthier hair dye brands, and avoid dying up to the roots/scalp when possible. I started dying my hair last year and I go to a more natural salon that uses healthier dye (Sky Salon). They have used the brand All Nutrient to do my balayage treatments. There is no smell and no scalp irritation.
6. In the context of an overall lifestyle that aims to minimize exposure to toxic chemicals I am not too concerned about occasional use of safer semi-permanent/temporary hair dyes among non-pregnant adults. If you are going to spend the money I suggest supporting salons and stylists who are using less toxic options. But if you are very concerned about the risk I would encourage you to embrace your natural look!

Dr. Hannah Gardener’s Links

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#hairdye #breastcancer