Hair Dye Allergy Reactions | September 2015

Hair Dye Allergy Reactions | September 2015

I can’t figure out everything about the future, although I worry a lot about it. However, I know I have the ability of making it easier to do a skin allergy patch test. One of the things I have done, is a independent survey about hair colourants and how many people do a patch test. Nearly half of people never do a patch test when using a home hair dye kit.

Since having my patent pending confirmed, there have been 3 near fatal allergic reactions -warning graphic photos of allergic reactions (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3079638/Mother-left-looking-like-Elephant-Man-severe-allergic-reaction-hair-dye.html , http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/6581128/Teen-almost-dies-twice-after-using-hair-dye.html , http://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/wembley_barrister_lucky_to_be_alive_after_suffering_allergic_reaction_to_hair_dye_1_4216582 ) and 1 allergic reaction which left a woman with temporary blindness http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3210029/Mother-30-left-temporarily-blind-looking-like-Nutty-Professor-horrific-allergic-reaction-hair-dye-used-10-YEARS.html and those are the ones which are reported in the press. There are some that are shared on Twitter. There have also been numerous black henna dye allergic reactions.

The saddest of all was the coroner’s findings on Julie McCabe’s death due to a fatal hair dye allergic reaction – it all started when she had a black henna tattoo. Black henna tattoos have also been highlighted in the news this summer.
Please read the coroner’s pleas to make a change in the hair dye industry.

Yesterday, it was reported in both the Brent & Kilburn Times and Evening Standard that Marina Williamson, a barrister, had a near fatal allergic reaction to using hair dye – she did carry out the patch test before using the hair dye kit but reaction times vary from person to person. The patch test in the instructions for the product she used is also not the full chemical reaction, which happens when both colourant and developer are mixed.

Instructions should be made in a larger font and more importantly the patch test should be easier to do. The instructions do have all the legal warnings, the box is covered in the warnings (it’s a legal requirement) but the methods for each brand of dye are different. In some cases the skin allergy patch test varies from country to country.

It’s a problem that is only going to get more common as findings were released on 9th July 2015 that:-

Hair dye takes up the slack

The researchers found that hair dye chemicals feature much more heavily in the 2005-2014 group than in the 1995-2004 group.

Hair dye chemicals, collectively, accounted for 31% of the allergy cases between 2005 and 2014. A substance called para-phenylenediamine (PPD), also known a coal tar, accounted for 16% of skin allergy cases.

The researchers believe the popularity of black ‘henna’ tattoos might be partially to blame. These tattoos often contain no henna (a type of shrub) at all, but they do contain PPD. Having a henna tattoo just once is enough to make a person have an allergic skin reaction at a later date.

Other hair dye ingredients that cause skin reactions include 4-aminophenol (8% of cases) and para-toluenediamine sulfate (7% of cases).’

You can read the whole article here .

It’s not just hair dye – it’s dye for eyebrows and beards too – anything that requires 2 parts being mixed together.

If you have any any questions please leave a comment below. If you have any other questions do contact Allergy UK , your GP, hairdresser or contact the brand of hair dye you want to use.

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