Severe Side Effect and Death From Hair Color

At the end of last year, various reports on the danger of using hair dye surfaced in UK. Majority of us in America are completely unaware of this. But now it is about time that we learn about it because the brand involved is sold even here in the US.According to British media, right after 20 minutes of applying hair dye, a 17 year old girl fainted and died. Another lady named Julie McCabe collapsed, but was left with severe brain damage.  She experienced breathing problem while washing the dye off of her hair.  Doctors basically reported that her brain did not get enough oxygen at the last minute for which it went through the damage. What brand of hair dye was she using? It was none other than L’Oreal Preference.

It is predicted that p-Phenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical compound which usually goes in the hair dye is behind these cases.  Experts, however, have been saying that it couldn’t be so. Studies show that death from p-Phenylenediamine cannot occur that easily. Really? But they do conclude that it can give severe allergic reaction! If we use medical terminology we will see that another name of severe allergic reaction is anaphylaxis. One of its symptoms is breathing difficulty. Later death is possible. Julie McCabe did trouble breathing for which she suffered the brain damage. L’Oreal is aware of all the cases, but has not shown any interest in recalling their hair colors. The toxic chemical PPD is also found in majority of the Revlon, Garnier and Clairol hair colors.

The only way to avoid it is to go organic. However, caution must still be applied. PPD does sometimes make it to organic hair colors. A good example is Naturtint. Therefore, it is best to investigate the label of whatever hair color grabs your attention. You should also try practicing caution while buying commercially processed henna tattoo paste or powder because makers often add PPD to it.