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Hair Dyes

Contact Dermatitis

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Abstract

The desire to change the color of one’s own hair is probably about as old as mankind. Techniques used nowadays involve chemically active substances, mostly in terms of components of so-called oxidative or permanent hair dye cosmetic products. The reaction chemistry is briefly reviewed. Contact allergy to many of these compounds is well demonstrated experimentally and also common according to available clinical data. On a population level, contact allergy to p-phenylenediamine (PPD) affects around 1%, while with morbidity-driven selection, the prevalence of PPD contact allergy in consecutively patch-tested patients is around 4–6%. However, surveys of labelled ingredients indicate that in some European countries (in contrast to, e.g., the USA), PPD has largely been replaced by toluene-2,5-diamine (PTD), which only partially cross-reacts to PPD, and other derivatives. Evidence on the frequency of positive reactions to substances beyond PPD is available from several clinical studies which are presented here. In conclusion, patch test diagnosis has to rely on an adequate hair dye/hair cosmetics series, such as the one suggested recently and presented here. The components of non-oxidative hair dye products need further investigation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Wolfgang Uter

  2. Laboratoire de Dermatochimie, Institut Le Bel, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Jean-Pierre Lepoittevin

  3. Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Carola Lidén

Authors
  1. Wolfgang Uter
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  2. Jean-Pierre Lepoittevin
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  3. Carola Lidén
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wolfgang Uter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Amtssygehuset Gentofte Dept. Dermatology, Hellerup, Denmark

    Jeanne Duus Johansen

  2. Federal Institute for Vaccines & Biomed, Paul Ehrlich Institut Federal Institute for Vaccines & Biomed, Langen, Bayern, Germany

    Vera Mahler

  3. Institut le Bel Labo. Dermatochimie, Strasbourg CX, France

    Jean-Pierre Lepoittevin

  4. Hautklinik, Städtische Kliniken Dortmund Klinikzentrum Mitte, Dortmund, Germany

    Peter J. Frosch

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Uter, W., Lepoittevin, JP., Lidén, C. (2019). Hair Dyes. In: Johansen, J., Mahler, V., Lepoittevin, JP., Frosch, P. (eds) Contact Dermatitis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72451-5_90-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72451-5_90-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-72451-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-72451-5

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Contact Allergy to Hair Dyes
    Published:
    10 June 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72451-5_90-2

  2. Original

    Hair Dyes
    Published:
    17 October 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72451-5_90-1

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