HAIR TODAY …                                                Richard J B Willis

… gone tomorrow!  A writer of yesteryear said, 'The average women is composed of two hundred and forty-three bones, one hundred and sixty-nine muscles, twenty-two old newspapers, and two hundred and ten hairpins'!  Now it is not the styling that is being commented on but other concerns - enough to make your hair stand on end.

A European Commission watchdog is worried that some hair dyes could cause cancer.  In particular, dark-coloured, permanent dyes used every 4-6 weeks.  Scientists are studying the effects of two chemical ingredients: para-phenylenediamine, and tetrahydro-6-nitroquinoxaline.  Both have been shown to damage genetic material and, in laboratory studies, have caused cancer in animals.  Other studies have linked hair dyes to arthritis, and damage to the unborn.

A University of Southern California study found that women who used permanent hair dyes were three times more likely to develop bladder cancer if they dyed their hair once a month.  Currently, Edinburgh University are recruiting volunteers between ages 18-30 to take part in a skin cancer study.  Blondes, brunettes and redheads are required to investigate the variation in sensitivity to sunshine.

Other hair study may bring benefit.  Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Rockefeller University, New York, have pinpointed the subtle chemical signals that stimulate hair production.  It is hoped that this insight will help to explain the baldness of some people, and the way that delicate chemistry influences cancer growth.  The research is centred on two proteins - Wnt and noggin - that contribute to the changing shape of cells.  Wnt has been linked, in some studies, to the spread of breast and colon cancer.

More recently, concerns have been expressed about the use of deodorant chemicals and other cosmetics.  Studies in Britain have shown that traces of chemicals absorbed into the skin migrate to breast tissue, especially traces of chemicals called parabens.  A University of Reading study tested 20 different human breast tumours and found traces of paraben in each.  Animal studies have shown parabens to mimic the action of the hormone oestrogen.

There is no suggestion that dyes, deodorants and cosmetics pose major risks at this stage, so we need not let our hair fall out with worry.  Keeping our hair on may be the bigger problem!