According to a new study, these beauty products and accessories used every day emit chemical particles that are bad for your health. What are they ? What consequences? How to cure it ?
Some styling tools damage your hair, but also your health. A study, conducted by the American Chemical Society and published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, revealed that a combined use of hair products and heating appliances could promote the spread of harmful compounds.
What products to avoid?
When it comes to hair styling, oils, sprays and serums combined with hair dryers and straighteners are the key to successful blow drying. But this beauty routine would not be without consequences for health. Researchers have revealed that many styling treatments contain volatile chemicalsas siloxanesof the silicones which make hair shine but are criticized by medicine. To measure their impact on the body, they studied in real time the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in particular cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS) before, during and after hair styling of healthy volunteers, aged 18 to 65 years old, and regularly using hair care products. It has been shown that when applied, these particles evaporate into the air and can be inhaled. “The chemical the most important – and the most worrying – inhaled is decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (aka siloxane D5)“, specified Nusrat Jung, researcher for this study. “Siloxane D5 causes adverse effects on the respiratory tract, liver and nervous system laboratory animals”, she added. But that’s not all !
Even worse if you use a straightener…
These toxic compounds would be released even more on contact with a heating device, such as a hair straightener or curling iron. The heat would act as a booster and would increase them tenfold in the air. Faced with temperatures of 210°cresearchers found that chemical emissions from hair care products increased by 50% to 310%. Although it is recommended to apply a heat-protective spray before drying, straightening or curling your hair, it would now be essential to check its formulation.
This study demonstrated that daily inhalation of these particles could be of the order of 17 mg per day : “On average, a person can inhale a cumulative mass of 1 to 17 milligrams of chemicals potentially harmful during a single hair care session at home”, reported the scientific team. That’s a fairly substantial quantity. However, it was observed that a air extractor fan made it possible to eliminate volatile compounds of the room 20 minutes only. A solution to which researchers set limits because the compounds are then released into the outside air, impacting fauna, flora and the oceans. The ideal for users of styling products is to opt for 100% natural products.