Awareness, prevalence of hair smoothing products that contain formaldehyde and determinants of their harmful effects among women in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Individuals who use hair smoothing products at home or in a salon work environment are at risk of exposure to various chemical compounds. Formaldehyde mixed with keratin as a hair straightening product is in common use by women in Saudi Arabia. The high temperatures used during blow-drying can release gas fumes that have several implications to include irritation of the skin, eyes and respiratory complications. Furthermore, formaldehyde is classified as a known human carcinogen. The aim of this study is to assess the source of keratin hair treatment among women, demonstrate the symptoms related to formaldehyde exposure during keratin hair treatment process and determine the practices that can increase the exposure to formaldehyde and to evaluate the level of formaldehyde in the keratin hair treatment products. A national cross-sectional survey was first conducted during March-April 2017 on Saudi Arabian children and women aged between the age of 12 and 50 years old. A standardized, fully confidential questionnaire was provided to participating members. A total of 330 filled questionnaires were obtained within the study location. Moreover, 30 hair salons that used keratin-based products were visited in 3 different cities in Al Qassim province to check the location of keratin hair treatment, ventilation procedures and take samples of hair products that were later analyzed. Most commonly reported symptom was irritation of the eyes reported by 135 people. Other symptoms described include irritation of throat, burning sensation of the nose, headache and nausea. Argan e Ojon was one of the most famous product tested in this study with formaldehyde levels above 0.2% threshold

A Bio-Indicator Pilot Study Screening Selected Heavy Metals in Female Hair, Nails, and Serum from Lifestyle Cosmetic, Canned Food, and Manufactured Drink Choices

“…Heavy metals, including Cr, Al, Cd, and Pb, which were selected for study in this paper, interact with the human body through many proteins, genes, and DNA by losing one or many electrons and manufactured metals cations, which have many affinity sites to various macromolecules, and many tissues and body organs are also affected [ 6 , 17 ]. The current results for groups 1 and 2 ( Table 2 and Table 3 ) may also be due to the daily use of other cosmetics, food, or drinks, and previous research has indicated various kinds of food contamination and toxicity, including those that are manufactured or fresh [ 14 , 15 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Hence, the human body’s direct exposure to heavy metals from food, beverages, cosmetics, soil, air, tobacco, dust, and skin can affect internal biological systems depending upon the dose, leading to acute early effective and chronic accumulation, consequently, leading to various macromolecule infection and health issues, including deadly neurological, brain, liver, kidney, bone, skin, and other fetal diseases [ 1 , 38 ].…”